I'm 6 ft 175 lbs lol ..... Pretty sure I did it right. I lifted the front so the forks had no weight and was fully extended and the same with the rear.

 

Something is wrong then because thats just not possible with .68kg/mm springs [stock] and your weight. I had preload cranked all the way down and couldn't get correct sag numbers and I only weighed 150lbs at the time. Ideal spring rate for your weight is more like .90-.95kg/mm.

 

I'm curious, my suspension will bottom out with my and my girl riding, about 330 pounds, is there a way to make it stiffer? Or at least raise my height of my bike because it sits pretty low for me and I would like to be a little higher up in the back? any suggestions?

 

Adjust your rear spring adjuster up to 5 or so and see if that helps if not try 7. As far as the front adjust the preload and stiffen the rebound a little and see if that helps. Remember all this will affect your bikes steering and may take a day to get use to the new settings

 

Adjust the preload and compression damping. Adding rebound will make it harder for the springs to un-compress after a bump which is exactly what you don't want. Otherwise you need to change the springs. The rear will adjust fine, the front won't FYI.

 

Hi Guys im a full track day rider i own a cbr600rr 2008 model (stock forks and shock), ive seen the vids on sag setting and that was a breeze its really simple to set, now on the other hand setting rebound and compression is very deficult mostly because there are no commun formulas that can de used, so i deviced this plan, lets say rebound has 10 turns from the softest to the hardest position and compression has the same amuont of turns, now if i set both at 5 turns each both rebound and compression should be at 50% working cappabilities, since the idea is that the forks and the schock to rebound and compress at the same ratio, im i on the right track with tis approach?

Many thanks!!

MK

 

I think you are on the right track, setting rebound and compression like you broadly outline there. Your adjustments, however, are unlikely to have ten "turns" of adjustment, more like 2 1/4 full hard to full soft on most Hondas I've worked with. Most bikes are supposed to have 'clicks' you can feel or hear as you adjust the rebound and compression settings...but sometimes these are non-existent or hard to feel.

Once you have your bike 'in spec' for sag and ride height....What I like to do is to start at the Factory settings with the compression and rebound. Get yourself a notebook or keep track in your workshop manual of EVERY change you make...Unless you are pretty familiar with setting up track suspensions, you're better off only changing one setting at a time....You'll "get lost" if you start twisting all the screws all at once...you won't be able to know what has done what to change the way the bike handles. Suspensions are very complex "systems" and every setting change you make will also affect all the other settings...It's all connected...

If you can find someone at the track with a similar bike, talk to them...someone who's riding well and looks like they are knowledgeable. They may be able to expedite your arrival at good settings...

Be patient, be meticulous. I use half-turn increments when I start with a new-to-me bike...If I make a change and ride a bit and find it not working better....I undo that change and go half turn the other way.....see what that feels like. If that doesn't do it, I go back to the original setting and try another adjustment....Repeat, endlessly....

It is somewhat of an art, dialing in all your settings...Read up on it, keep a good log of your changes...don't be afraid to try different settings, but don't just go cranking down the adjusters on a whim....think it through and pay attention to what your bike does after you change something....

It's actually very rewarding to make progress...I recently got a new to me F4i that was so badly set up, suspension-wise, that I was amazed the kid could even ride it like that! The rear was like a brick and the front wanted to dive over onto it's side in slower corners....simply awful! Putting it back to stock settings, adjusting the sag and ride height and servicing the forks made a world of difference...and from there I have made good progress getting MY own good adjustments....
Have fun, Don Hanson