rear pre-load

I weigh probably more than the average guy of 6' tall... maybe not more than the average 50-60 year old biker though... but am feeling that the rear needed to be pumped up on the pre-load.

I had set the pre load to minimum as per manual's recommendations for 'solo riding' and noticed that for 'solo with loaded luggage' the setting is 9 clicks from maximum....I consider my stomach to be some of the luggage!

so I started to turn the preload to get to the maximum... I should have allowed more time than my coffee break for this exercise as 34 full turns (clicks) later I hit the maximum.

I decided that my stomach is only half the weight of loaded luggage after full consideration and turned it back 17 clicks... to halfway ... I'll see how that goes... I would normally set the sag at around 25-30mm when sitting with a mate measuring, but social distancing has made this awkward. (any ideas on DIY sag measurement?)

MrPix said:

I weigh probably more than the average guy of 6' tall... maybe not more than the average 50-60 year old biker though... but am feeling that the rear needed to be pumped up on the pre-load.

I had set the pre load to minimum as per manual's recommendations for 'solo riding' and noticed that for 'solo with loaded luggage' the setting is 9 clicks from maximum....I consider my stomach to be some of the luggage!

so I started to turn the preload to get to the maximum... I should have allowed more time than my coffee break for this exercise as 34 full turns (clicks) later I hit the maximum.

I decided that my stomach is only half the weight of loaded luggage after full consideration and turned it back 17 clicks... to halfway ... I'll see how that goes... I would normally set the sag at around 25-30mm when sitting with a mate measuring, but social distancing has made this awkward. (any ideas on DIY sag measurement?)

Click to expand...

I think i'd use my "butt dyno" and start with the rider + luggage setting and go from there based on how many inches you bounce off the seat hitting bumps

You got 34 clicks to full or 34 full rotations? I’m sure I read somewhere it maxed out at 18.... to be fair I haven’t wound mine right up, just adjusted the sag into range. The clicks on mine are inconsistent and not at the full rotation point.

MrPix said:

(any ideas on DIY sag measurement?)

Click to expand...

Not unless you have a transistor radio with a telescopic antenna you can stick under some sprung part of the bike, then get on it and measure how much the antenna got pushed in

REBLX136 said:

You got 34 clicks to full or 34 full rotations? I’m sure I read somewhere it maxed out at 18.... to be fair I haven’t wound mine right up, just adjusted the sag into range. The clicks on mine are inconsistent and not at the full rotation point.

Click to expand...

34 clicks, each click whilst seemingly a full turn is in fact half a turn, my bad...

update on my progress, so here goes....

After a trial run yesterday and various attempts to feel what was right rather than use measurements I ended up on 14 clicks preload from max.

I have further set up the suspension more scientifically today and the preload 14 clicks from max that I ended up at by feel alone gives me a 'rider sag' 25mm of suspension travel when I sit on it upright and lift my legs off the ground momentarily. I ended up using a monopod (a telescopic single legged camera steady) strapped firmly to the rear end that had just enough resistance to be able to record the movement and stay in position afterwards. I tested 5 times and got within 1mm each time. I measured 6mm between upright under it's own weight and rear end lifted to the top of the suspension travel, giving me a total rider sag (inc bike sag) of 31mm.

The rear wheel travel is 107mm so 25%-30% is the goldilocks zone for most suspensions for rider sag so I am close to the top of the zone at 28.97% with the range from 26.75mm to 32.1mm with 29.45mm being bang in the middle.

I also adjusted the rebound and compression damping on the rear so that I added a bit of comfort. I had them both set to '2' rotations from hardest previously which is the recommended Sport setting, Comfort is fully anticlockwise @ just over 3 turns on both from hardest and I have settled on 2.5 turns each. This feels much better than the slightly firmer sport setting I had them on now I have settled on the preload.

I also changed the front so the bike remains 'flat' (there is no preload on the front unfortunately) and the front rises and falls at the same rate as the rear... this was closest at 1 turn from max for both rebound and compression, I had it on 2 turns previously and the front felt sloppier than the rear... now it feels perfect... it may be too hard when the temperature cools down for winter, but right now, it's great!