Preload for noob?

Sorry guys I am a total noob when it comes to setting a bike up. When I bought the bike the PO had everything set as low on the pre-load as possible. The bike was bouncy and so soft it was like a sofa. I have since brought the rear up to standard and the forks up to the low mark. This has taken the bouncy out for the most part. I am around 180 pounds is this close to correct?

 

4 adjustments on a shock. Rebound, damping, preload, and the ride height. Rebound has to do with how fast the shock returns to its normal height after you compress it. Damping is how fast its allowed to compress. Preload is the adjustment to your weight, and ride height is the adjustment front and rear to attain desired geometry for certain aspects of performance.

Now these bikes come a lil soft even on max settings for most American riders.. usually preload requires the springs to be adjusted and only up to a certain point b4 u need to go to a higher rate spring to get you to the propper ride height and preload. Now if its feeling soft as in your goin down the road and you kinda feel like Ur floating you need to increase the damping setting and if its at its max you either get the shock revalved to meet Ur requirements. Same goes for rebound. I usually like my rebound on the soft side cause I don't like feeling like I'm riding a pogo stick goin down the road. But when u hit a bump and you bottom out either tighten up the springs a lil if the bike is sagging a lil and increase your damping a lil more and decrease your rebound just a tad. Now if your ride height front to rear isn't adjusted uniformly depending on where it is affects your steering and responsiveness of how you turn. For instance if your front is adjusted lower and the back is higher that decreases your rake makes the bike more flickable and a lil more unstable at high speeds. And if its higher in the front increases your rake. makes it a lil sloppy in the corners and more stable in the long stretches. That's why u see bikes like cruisers all raked out they aren't lookin at turning performance they are looking at long stretch stability. So if you are a dragon spine flyer drop Ur front suspension. But if u like the high speed cruising stability raise it up a lil bit or lower the back a smidge. It's all about geometry. Hope i helped a lil bit.

 

Ya that helps alot! I dont think I can adjust anything but preload on this bike though.

 

Well on that beast looks like you have damping and rebound adjustments that's what the lil knobs are for. To adjuwt the prwload on the front entails pulling the tops off the forks and shimming or replacing the springs. The rear shock may have a spanner to adjust preload. Not sure with the newer ceptors. Usually 4 is the highest setting. Take and set your damping to 4 front and rear. If there is a rebound setting half it and set it at 2. That's where I would begin. Someone will pipe up as to where they have them set at I'm just not to familiar with the newer ceptors. On my 1krs the forks my damping is up top and rebound is a small dial on the bottom left. On my back I have a small cable that sets on the side I can adjust my damping. If you find an un balance like back is more solid than the front like you dive when u hit bumps you may have to put a lil heavier oil in the shocks to increase damping. It's all a balancing act. It's all about finding the sweet spot it takes time but you will get it adjusted properly.

 

another cook to screw up the recipe. Those stock shocks are garbage out of the factory when they were new! Now 20 years later, do you think they aged well? Nope...Stand in back of your bike and carely stand it up with the grab rails (you got em deploid right?) then bounce the rear seat with your hands. See how fast it re-bounds up after you squash it. I bet it comes up fairly fast. Also, after you do this, your still in the same position, (back of the bike, lift up the tail section, willing to bet that you have a decent amount of lift after the bike settles. All this means that your rear shock is shot, if you love that bike invest in a rear shock and do the forks with proper springs/gold-valves...You wil be amazed at the transformation...

Nice thing with the suspension, is that once you have it dialed in, you rarely have to change it...

 

If you're going to invest in the suspension and want to save some money and do it yourself, look into the book 'Racetech's Motorcycle Suspension Bible'. It has valuable information on all of what was mentioned above as well as some "how tos" on tuning and repairing/upgrading your shock and forks. Another route to take is to look into Daugherty Motorsports - Motorcycle Suspension Performance and Modification, Jamie Daugherty is a member here and has helped many a VFR member improve their suspension, for a fraction of the cost of buying all new suspension (i.e. Ohlins rear shock, custom forks, etc.). He rebuilt my rear shock and supplied the front end components for my '09 VFR800. All I did was tell him what I was looking for and the typical riding style and the different weights that I would be loading the bike with (i.e. Tank/Rear bags, my weight, combined passenger weight, etc.). Technically he could have rebuilt the front forks too, but since this is my daily commuter, I didn't want to be without my bike for any length of time. I have since installed the rear shock but ironically have not had time to install the front end components due to work schedule and a bit of traveling.

Cheers

 

It actually returns pretty well. That being said the back end is soggy for sure. I will find out how much he wants for a new rear shock etc.

 

have you set the sag? when was the last time the fork oil was changed? have the forks ever been disassembled and inspected internally? have you measured the free length of the fork springs to make sure they are in spec?

What i'm trying to say is that there is a metric assload more to this than just spinning adjusters or bouncing the seat up and down, do some research and get an idea of what it is you are dealing with, if you don't want to take the time, go find a professional who is willing to spend his time explaining things.

FWIW - The preload adjuster is a ride height adjustment........they do not change the spring rate.





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