Suspension travel video, advice needed.

[mckeann]

Any suspension experts able to help??

I was feeling like the bike was too quick to dive at the front and then lift the rear wheel when braking at Brno recently so filmed my fork travel and made some changes.

Starting point was 9 clicks out of compression, 12 clicks out of rebound. (Factory settings in the manual for Ktech dds forks are 16 and 18 so I'm already on the stiffer side)

Sag settings are 31mm rider sag (out of 134 total travel) so about 25% sag. That's with 11.0 springs in and 8 turns of preload.

Cheers folks.


https://vimeo.com/278681719

[Mr OCD]

I'm not an expert by any stretch of imagination with suspension.... but my first observation is I'd be looking at the rear based on the video after you've added compression to the front.

There seems to be a lot of travel due to excessive squat from the rear?

my 2p.

[mckeann]

Mr OCD said:

There seems to be a lot of travel due to excessive squat from the rear?

my 2p.

Can you explain that to me please??

[neelyp]

mckeann said:

Mr OCD said:

There seems to be a lot of travel due to excessive squat from the rear?

my 2p.

Can you explain that to me please??

https://www.scottishslimmers.com/

[mckeann]

neelyp said:

https://www.scottishslimmers.com/

Lots of other skinny slow s have said the same thing.

[curlie467]

It's bottoming out so is running out of travel and lifting the rear which you know and don't want.
I would be starting by putting more preload on the forks.

One thing at a time.

[dc2rr07]

I am sure SB will be along shortly to keep you on track.

[curlie467]

dc2rr07 said:

I am sure SB will be along shortly to keep you on track.

He will, he's got a suspension woes radar.

[mckeann]

dc2rr07 said:

I am sure SB will be along shortly to keep you on track.

I hope so. Steve Bass is the greatest thing to ever happen to PHBB and ontop of that, I've heard he is a kind and generous lover*

• may not be true but I need his help so go with it folks.

[Mr OCD]

curlie467 said:

It's bottoming out so is running out of travel and lifting the rear which you know and don't want.
I would be starting by putting more preload on the forks.

One thing at a time.

What he said.

Then look at rear ... to stop the front rising so much.

Thing is your static setting is ok ... which makes me wonder if you need beefier springs.

How much weight have you gained fat boy?

[MrGman]

I'm no expert myself but is this not more of a compression issue? As Mckeann, has said it's the rate at which the fork compresses that looks wrong?

[curlie467]

MrGman said:

I'm no expert myself but is this not more of a compression issue? As Mckeann, has said it's the rate at which the fork compresses that looks wrong?

You said it
Just jessin.

[anonymous-user]

Compression looks quite weak, all the travel is being used and there’s not much rebound? Where are those settings, are you maxed on anything, where’s the preload?

[mckeann]

Ktech DDS cartridge forks. They have 30 clicks of adjustment.

Standard setting is 16/18 comp/rebound
I started at 9/12 and ended at 5/10.

134mm total fork travel.
With 8 turns of preload (which is what I was running) I have 110mm static and 103 rider. So 31mm overall sag.

With full 18 turns of preload I can get to 117mm static and 116mm rider, so 18mm overall sag

[MrGman]

curlie467 said:

You said it
Just jessin.

haha fair point!

I think what i meant is surely it's a front fork suspension setting rather than a rear suspension issue.

[mckeann]

Mr OCD said:

Then look at rear ... to stop the front rising so much.


How much weight have you gained fat boy?

Can you explain what you mean by looking at the rear to stop the front rising so much??? The front is diving too much, I'm not sure what you mean

[mckeann]

MrGman said:

haha fair point!

I think what i meant is surely it's a front fork suspension setting rather than a rear suspension issue.

If the rear rebound is too slow, then the bike can stoppie into the corner as the rear wheel can't drop down quickly enough. But as the front forks are bottoming out , I don't think it's a rear rebound issue

[clen666]

mckeann said:

Mr OCD said:

Then look at rear ... to stop the front rising so much.


How much weight have you gained fat boy?

Can you explain what you mean by looking at the rear to stop the front rising so much??? The front is diving too much, I'm not sure what you mean

Looks like the forks are just extending under hard acceleration to me, so interested to hear the reason too.

Are you sure you have 11.0 springs fitted? What is the recommended grade of oil and is that what you are using?

[curlie467]

MrGman said:

curlie467 said:

You said it
Just jessin.

haha fair point!

I think what i meant is surely it's a front fork suspension setting rather than a rear suspension issue.

I'm not either but know to just do one thing at a time and I pinpointed the bottoming out as a starting point as it can cause havoc with how a bike handles.

[anonymous-user]

mckeann said:

Ktech DDS cartridge forks. They have 30 clicks of adjustment.

Standard setting is 16/18 comp/rebound
I started at 9/12 and ended at 5/10.

134mm total fork travel.
With 8 turns of preload (which is what I was running) I have 110mm static and 103 rider. So 31mm overall sag.

With full 18 turns of preload I can get to 117mm static and 116mm rider, so 18mm overall sag

If it were me, and it’s not as you’re faster, I’d increase the preload to stop the forks bottoming so easily.

When you changed the compression and rebound what did you find? Are you using standard weight oil and levels?