Suspension Ignorance

[huntly2]

Hello Experts,

It seems no matter what I ride, the ride always seems too harsh for my tastes.

I probably weigh about 195 all dressed and ready to go. My tire pressures are 32 front and 36 rear. I have the front shock spring preload at 2 clicks from the lightest setting, the rear just below the standard mark and the rebound set at soft. What I really want to know is this: Does the rear wheel setting in any way affect the action of the front wheel?

[marc]

The rear pre-load will have an effect on rear ride height. Changing the ride height changes the geometry in a way that the bike might feel more or less planted in the front, with turn in getting faster or slower.

The best way to set up your bike is by measurement. Ignore any markings on the preload adjuster and measure the sag with you on the bike wearing your normal riding gear. For the GS you want about 25% of total travel on the front (48mm sag) and about 30% of total sag on the rear (60mm). You can google how to set the sag.

When the sag is set push down on the back of the bike to compress the suspension then let go. Watch how the bike bounces. If it returns to its starting position slowly you are over damped. If the bike bounces you are under damped. You want the bike to return to its starting position without extra bounces.

That set-up is your starting point for fine tuning. Fine tuning is done by riding, tweaking a single setting, then riding some more. Repeat until everything is just the way you like. Maybe. It still might seem harsh to your taste. I don't know your taste. If it is still too harsh you're only choice may be after market shocks. Some after market shocks will give you more adjustability, including high and low speed compression damping which might better address your complaints. But then it gets quite pricey.

[pdxrmccgs]

Most suspension experts will admit that suspension set up is wee bit
of a trial and error proposition. Fortunately there is quite a bit on
the internet about what a lot of people refer to as the "black art"

With the GS one of the first rungs of the knowledge ladder is to
understand that the dampening valve controls the volume of oil
transfer from one side of the shock piston to the other side. This
controls the spring primarily on the extension stroke. There is a lot of
energy being absorbed and shocks will get warm when put to the test.

If you go through a systematic spring pre-load and shock dampening adjustment
you should be able to get close to maximizing what your looking for within the design parameters of the bike.

Let us know what set up you finally come up with.

[huntly2]

Thanks. If I now have the suspension set soft all around, and the front wheel does not bottom, but is not compliant to the smallest road imperfections how can I improve this reaction? Am I wrong in thinking that any move to stiffen the rear will not make the front more compliant?

[marc]

The only front adjustment available to you is spring pre-load. You can not set the damping on the stock front shock. It sound like you prefer a smaller amount of compression damping. That will require an after market shock. I'd try to take test rides on bikes with after market shocks before spending your money... you may not find the difference (if any) worth the cost.

FWIW freeway expansion joints were jarring with my stock suspension set up correctly. They are not jarring with my after market Ohlins set up correctly (but I can still feel them).

[huntly2]

Thanks Marc.

You just put it all down and to the point making me accept that the stock suspension is far from perfect. I will not upgrade, but I can accept. After all, the bike handles with confidence.