suspension set up
 

I know this horse has been beaten many times. I have listened to quite a few opinions ans suggestions about adjustment of the stock suspension. I have found that as every one says, the OEM set up is bunk. No matter how I set the shock it's way too stiff or soft. The forks cannot be dialed stiff enough, they still bottom out and give me a weird feedback. After messing with it to make it right for now, until I can get proper components this is what I found works for me. I am 165 to 175 and 5'-10". I have the front preset at two lines showing and the damping at .5 out from as far as it will go in. The shock is set at the 2nd notch from the lowest and the damping is .5 , same as front. Jamie suggested adding a little 30wt to the forks as a bandaid until I get decent springs and valves. I took it out for a ride and it still leavs a lot to be desired but it's tolerable for now. I am thinking of dropping the forks 10mm and adding a shim to the top of the shock. The cct's are next, maybe this week end then comes setting up the carburetors, and adjusting the tps if it needs it. (it stutters and shudders in 1st and the real surge of power comes in 3rd at about 3000rpm)

I don't believe Jamie told you to add 30wt, if I recall he told you that would screw up the valving even worse. I think he said to add some 10wt, I don't recall how much so that you wouldn't slow down the valving.

As for dropping the fork and reaising the back, I'm not sure that you want to do that until the forks are fixed, but hey he's the suspension guy, if it's good with him it's good with me.

I believe you're right, I mis spoke. My bad. :spank:

Actually, 10w is too thick too. I suggest you drain out the stock 7.5-10w fluid and replace with Honda Pro Oils 5w. This is not the SS grade stuff but rather the Pro Oils fluid in the black quart bottle. You will still have the lack of low speed damping problem but turning the rebound screw in should help that. It's much less than ideal but for $10 it makes a difference.

That's good advice regarding fork oil and using the rebound needle to increase low-speed compression damping, since the bleed works in both directions.

Regarding spring preload; you can't get enough preload to set proper sag in the front with the stock springs without adding a preload spacer. But the more preload you add, the closer you will get. I would suggest running the spring preload all the way in, to raise the front. Don't lower the forks in the triple clamps. Eventually, you'll need to go to a higher spring rate in the forks.

In the rear, you want more swingarm angle to control the anti-squat characteristics and decrease the front rake angle. If you are not adding a 5mm spacer at the top of the rear shock, you'll want to increase the spring preload in the rear, to extend the shock and increase the swingarm angle. The rear of the bike should have about 5mm unladen sag.