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Fz 07 newbie suspension upgrade for more comfort?


frk2

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They look macho and attract women. It's that simple. Ordinary motorcycles just don't have the same "everyman ( woman)" appeal. How many people , when you say you have a motorcycle say " you got a Harley?". It even happens in Australia...
Sounds like marketing! Unless Harleys are just truly deeply beautiful! Even I think they are pretty but I don't know why.
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Have you decided how you are approaching the comfort suspension cure?
Doesn't seem like there's much I can do other than shocks and forks (I'm doing both). Matt ( pattonme) was nice to send me in some forks which I'll put on soon. I put in a penske double clicker in the back - helps somewhat. Seems to help more for the really big bumps but not so much for smaller ones. Definitely makes the ride feel safer though!
[bra 
Shock should be tuneable with the clickers to smooth out the little hits, have you set the proper sag? If you're having trouble getting a good setting talk to your vendor
By forks do you mean cartridges?
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Yup cartridges! I'm running the shocks on the lowest settings and even at that it seems harsh. What numbers are you running (assuming you have the clickers)

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 It is why cruisers are so popular in the US ( and here especially with the older crowd) ...you just sit and hang on... you haven't got much choice...
I sat on a cruiser a couple months ago while the FZ was getting inspected and my near 63 year old leg muscles instantly cramped up at my hip. It wasn't even cool on the showroom floor. I'll never get it. 
I experienced the same every time I came to a stop while riding my friend's 883.  I am not fond of the 883 but do like other cruisers, especially the Indian Scout and other baggers.
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Yup cartridges! I'm running the shocks on the lowest settings and even at that it seems harsh. What numbers are you running (assuming you have the clickers)
 
 
Really? Still harsh? Go see the vendor man, Penske ain't cheap you should get a good ride for the money,
Are you sure the Spring is to your weight? I can't give you clicker numbers.
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Yup cartridges! I'm running the shocks on the lowest settings and even at that it seems harsh. What numbers are you running (assuming you have the clickers)
Really? Still harsh? Go see the vendor man, Penske ain't cheap you should get a good ride for the money,
Are you sure the Spring is to your weight? I can't give you clicker numbers.
Gonna agree. With compression damping adjustable (imo, for most of us, going high and low speed is not cost effective), you should be able to really smooth out the bumps. But if you have too much spring rate to begin with - or dialed too much preload for your weight, the shock will never be able to work properly and you'll just bounce down the road.  
I have the rebound only adjustable Ohlins and the ride is night/day in comparison with the OE trash. 
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You know that's really insightful. I can't say mine is night and day (at all) - but if you do then maybe there is still hope! So I do have this giant shad sh50 case that I carry on a rear rack. I wonder if thats heavy enough to change the geometry or center of gravity such that it changes the equation?
 
Are you carrying a rear rack or top case by any chance?

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The worst place to carry weight on any motorcycle is up high and behind the rear axle.
 
I do have a small rack, but I got that just so my seat bag doesn't ruin the finish on the tail section. I carry most of my stuff on this bike in soft panniers and a tank bag.
 
An empty top case probably isn't gonna make much difference. But I suspect if you have 20 lbs in it, you'll have to bump up preload some to compensate.
 
It's been my experience that OE, springs are usually too soft. For me, that's just fine as I weigh well at the low end of the bell curve. For me, going aftermarket, even with specifying my flyweight and my desire for more cush than performance will usually result in a spring that's got a rate a bit on the high side.
 
The stock settings for the Ohlins shock i got is 14 mm of preload and 14 turns out on the rebound adjuster. I'm currently at 10 mm and 20 turns out - so much softer (rebound adjust on a single clicker will also affect compression - not the same with yours) The back end is still nicely controlled and the ride is nearly plush.
 
The springs that came with my Andreani set-up are definitely stiffer than the OE springs, which for me were near perfect. Combine that with the resistive flow designed in to a one-valve each-side system and the control is great, but I'd still like just a tad more cush to the sharp edge bumps.
 
You need to go back to basics. As suggested, get sag set properly - and that should include any stuff you normally travel with in the case. If the back of the bike is down, it'll slow steering, maybe even to the point of causing it to slow speed wobble a bit. If you have to go half way on that preload ring, you should probably have a stiffer spring. Conversely, if you have to back the ring all the way to the stop, again, the spring is wrong for your weight. Nothing you do with the clickers will work properly until that's correct.
 
Then you need to start messing with clickers. as you're not happy with compliance, I'd start with the rebound set where they recommend and then 2 clicks at a time, back off the compression and go find some bumps to see how it feels. Once you're happy with that, I'd back the R, (again 2 clicks at a time so you can feel the change) until the bike starts to feel a bit bouncy and then add some R back.
 
It's a process that can take some time to dial in. The more adjusters, sometimes the more time. But better to have adjusters than be stuck with bad from the factory.

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http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/24/9dcbdbf4d449f9c35b47ccc91fac9c43.jpg 
My stabilizer
 
Bike is noticeably more stable above 70mph. Suspension still bouncy though.
 
Above 70 the front end gets light and wobbles easy.....no matter how good your forks. Wind lifts. Simple physics.
 
I doubt ill ever have a bike without a stabilizer
 
 
Have a look at your rear sag.
A well sorted suspension is balanced fore and aft and provokes no wobbles
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Sag is ok....the bounce is definetely from being a low end shock. Not horrible but i can tell its just not a great spring. I feel like the forks suffer from a similar problem. The forks would greatly benefit from progressive springs alone, but they are nearly half the cost of some of the cartridge upgrades.....might as well just go that route

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@rick - Thanks! my top case + base + rack probably weighs around 10-15lbs itself. I'm gonna go all the way back to the basics and re-adjust the sag and see how it performs. Also I haven't changed the forks to cartridges yet - so I wonder if I'm feeling the pogo-y effect of the front too much.
 

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Stand beside the bike, grab a handful of front brake and give the front a good push downward. Watch how it just snaps back up, bounces off the top-out spring and settles back down. The front is also badly underdamped. That'll be fine most of the time. But if yer on the heavier end of the bell curve, you'll also find out the front is under sprung as well. Start going over big bumps or dips and all of a sudden, it not only feels harsh, but also bouncy - all at the same time.
 
One of the bad things that results from having a really nice shock in back is that the limitations of the front OE stuff really becomes obvious. Getting a nice balance between front and back - especially when the bits come from different sources - can still be a challenge. I know I'll be back inside my Andreanis to try and soften the damping (that might just require a Pattonme special). It handles so much better than OE, but it's not as balanced as I know it could be.
 
That you haven't (yet) swapped out the front bits, for now, I'd say make the back as soft (especially on the C adjuster) as you can get away with (w/o inducing bounce in the back) to try and achieve a balance between the head and tail.
 
 

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Just to give an idea on what rick is referring to in regards to the fast rebound and a pogo type effect from it. This is not from a FZ-07 but another bike but it gives an idea what it looks like with data acquisition.
 
Sprint%20ST-1.jpg
 
Terry
 

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Nice! Is it possible to graph that while on the bike? :) is there a sensor kit or something one can buy? (Wishful thinking)! That'll be the ultimate way to tune the suspension!

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Nice! Is it possible to graph that while on the bike? :) is there a sensor kit or something one can buy? (Wishful thinking)! That'll be the ultimate way to tune the suspension!
Yes it is able to be mounted on the bike during a riding session to log what the suspension is doing. Cost a little over $1000.00 back in the day and they are running right about $3000.00-4000.00 in today's market. 
Terry
 
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But you still need the data logger, The potentiometer is only part of the equation. Granted it will reduce the cost.
 
Terry

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