Bikw see,s unstable in hard cornering

Ok, I need help. I can't seem to peg the suspension on my 99 800 FI. It seems to wallow a little under hard cornering. I've played with the damping and preloads until I'm blue in the face. Any ideas from a more accomplished tuner?

 

Usually that indicates a lack of rebound damping, as in you need to add some more.

Increase the rebound damping until the wallowing stops. If you have too much rebound damping, a series of bumps will cause the suspension to "pack down", meaning that it does not have time to recover in between bumps.

What works the best for me is to bring whatever adjusting tools I need and ride the same piece of road between adjustments. It is also a good idea to let the suspension warm up for about fifteen minutes before making adjustments (that one got me at first).

 

Set your sag properly first. If you can't obtain proper sag, you need to re-spring for your weight, or live with it. Changing your fork fluid wouldn't hurt at all.

You may need to replace your rear shock.

 

A general observation. If you are like me at 200lbs a bit over the design weight for the VFR (160lbs) the bike is somewhat understrung. Mine is a Gen 6 but I suspect the issues are similar. I have to set the rear spring preload to maximum and have increased the rear damping somewhat from the standard setting. Still not right though. I have been told I really need to respring the front with a heavier spring. Unfortunately you can't adjust the damping on the front, which I must say pisses me of with a bike of this cost. It is mostly pretty good in tight choppy stuff but bumps in high speed sweepers still make her wallow a bit. I have had the suspension adjusted for me by a pro so the preload is good and the setup is pretty much as good as I can get with the standrd suspension.

 

As much as I hate to say it, the stock suspension on a 5th generation bike is one of the worst performing suspensions ever made for people who like to push it in the corners, even when completely dialed in your going to get that pogo stick like feeling. If your one of those riders who like to do a little peg scrapping, your going to need to upgrade the the rear shock and the front with springs and gold valves, the difference is like night and day...

 

most original Honda shocks are good for only about 25-30,000 miles before they get weaker.

 

The original VFR shock is good for..........the trash bin, or ebay

 

Does anybody rebuild the stock shock? And what weight fork oil weight is good? The Honda recommendation is Honda 8ss but I will be running aftermarket. Thanks for any help.

 

I agree! My biggest and one of the only complaints on this thing.