Improved suspension settings
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Joined: Jun 2006
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From: South Africa
Improved suspension settings
Finding the standard suspension settings on my 06 CBR 100 RR to soft even for road use, I got some advice from the pros and made some changes. This made the world of difference to my bike, not only on the road but also on the track.
The biggest problem is that the pre-load is too soft both front and rear and hence both compression and rebound are well of the mark too. These recommended settings are with a fully leathered rider weighing around 90kg on board.
For the front fork take a 22mm socket with a brace bar on it and wind out the nut anti-clockwise until it lightly seats. This is the softest setting. One turn in is 1mm of pre-load and you want 10mm of this, so turn the nut clockwise ten times, standard setting is 7mm. Once you have done this screw in the rebound adjuster (clockwise) on top of the fork leg until it lightly seats and then back it off 1 ½ turns (standard 2 1/4). Then move to the bottom of the fork leg for the compression adjuster and screw it in (clockwise) until it seats, then screw it out to 1 ¼ turns (standard 1 ¾).
For the rear shock take out the C-spanner tool in the tool kit and move the pre-load collar to position 7 (standard is 4). Then while you are lying down there screw in (clockwise) the black rebound damping screw until it lightly seats then back it off 1 turn (standard is 2 ¼ ). Finally above the hugger you will see the screw for compression damping. Screw this in (clockwise) until it lightly seats and then back it off 8 clicks (standard 17 clicks), and that’s it.
These settings were achieved at Kyalami, South Africa, where the last leg of the WSB will be held in October, using standard Bridgestone BT015 road tyres, so they might not be spot on for sticky race rubber. It has made a dramatic change and the whole bike now works – turning and braking much better, and for two-up road riding its helpfully stiffer too. I don’t know if this will work for the 2004/5 bikes, but something similar is surely worth a try if you are bored in the garage one day.
Just remember to make a note of the standard settings first in case you hate a firm ride, if you know what I mean!
The biggest problem is that the pre-load is too soft both front and rear and hence both compression and rebound are well of the mark too. These recommended settings are with a fully leathered rider weighing around 90kg on board.
For the front fork take a 22mm socket with a brace bar on it and wind out the nut anti-clockwise until it lightly seats. This is the softest setting. One turn in is 1mm of pre-load and you want 10mm of this, so turn the nut clockwise ten times, standard setting is 7mm. Once you have done this screw in the rebound adjuster (clockwise) on top of the fork leg until it lightly seats and then back it off 1 ½ turns (standard 2 1/4). Then move to the bottom of the fork leg for the compression adjuster and screw it in (clockwise) until it seats, then screw it out to 1 ¼ turns (standard 1 ¾).
For the rear shock take out the C-spanner tool in the tool kit and move the pre-load collar to position 7 (standard is 4). Then while you are lying down there screw in (clockwise) the black rebound damping screw until it lightly seats then back it off 1 turn (standard is 2 ¼ ). Finally above the hugger you will see the screw for compression damping. Screw this in (clockwise) until it lightly seats and then back it off 8 clicks (standard 17 clicks), and that’s it.
These settings were achieved at Kyalami, South Africa, where the last leg of the WSB will be held in October, using standard Bridgestone BT015 road tyres, so they might not be spot on for sticky race rubber. It has made a dramatic change and the whole bike now works – turning and braking much better, and for two-up road riding its helpfully stiffer too. I don’t know if this will work for the 2004/5 bikes, but something similar is surely worth a try if you are bored in the garage one day.
Just remember to make a note of the standard settings first in case you hate a firm ride, if you know what I mean!
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