Front Fork Spring Preload.

[stretchabusa]

Hi All,
As per title, when I bought my Gen 2 I dialled a bit of preload into the front forks, on my Gen 1 Busa's I had the Pre Load set with 3 rings showing and this system worked well for me, trouble is the Gen 2 dosen't have these rings to view, so has anyone got an idea of how many turns from standard setting would be the equivalent to my Gen 1 with 3 rings showing.

Thanks in advance, Stretch

 

[stretchabusa]

OK,
Don't remember exactly how much I had dialed in before, so have started again from stock settings, full clockwise turning until it stops, then six turns back is stock, so I have dialed in stock +3, anyone else know how much they have applied, it was much easyer on my Gen 1 with the three rings showing.

Best regards Stretch

 

[stretchabusa]

Come on Gen 2 Guy's, sombody must know how much spring pre load they have put into their front forks from the standard setting,(6 turns down from max is standard) that works for them.

Best regards Stretch.

 

[Tufbusa]

Your Gen II has .95 springs (I originally thought they were 1.0) and your Gen I had .85 springs.

The amount of Preload should be a direct result of predetermined sag. Measure your sag and I can give you a baseline preload adjustment. Without measuring sag it's just a guessing game and you have little chance of correct preload nor sag.

 

[stretchabusa]

Your Gen II has .95 springs (I originally thought they were 1.0) and your Gen I had .85 springs.

The amount of Preload should be a direct result of predetermined sag. Measure your sag and I can give you a baseline preload adjustment. Without measuring sag it's just a guessing game and you have little chance of correct preload nor sag.

Thanks for the info. Tufbusa, I was hoping for something simpler.

Best regards Stretch.

 

[mabupa]

If you don't get your answer before I get home. I'll look for my notes I have from when I adjusted mine.!!

 

[mr8ball]

I just looked at mine and it has 4 threads showing. Hope this helps

 

[E Zurcher]

I'm 250 lbs and have mine set 3 turns in from stock and it works well. I will probably go in one more turn because I am getting up on the tank more in the twisties. I have my rebound set at 3 clicks in from stock front and rear. Compression is stock. My back preload is 1/8 inch screwed down from stock and it also works well. I do not ride on a track but I do some spirited riding in the mountains around Albuquerque. My bike runs smooth and precise, never bottoms and stays level over bumps (no pogo) even in turns. I am not interested in all that sag setting stuff and I believe if you start from stock, consider your weight and try going in whichever direction suits your weight in slow increments you can find settings that suit you. Whatever you do to the front, do to the back the same. When you are close, find some nice expansion joints or a road with some good ripples in it and check the bike reacts even front and rear. Then adjust the softer side a bit tighter. You can always go back to stock settings and try again. The stock suspension is more than adequate for 98 percent of the riders out there and a great deal of us are over 160 lbs. Oh, and before anyone else tells me I'm wrong, remember, not everyone has unlimited funds to throw on ohlins or wants to tear their bike apart to respring everything. OK Tuff, shoot me down again!

 

[Tufbusa]

I'm not going to shoot you down just launch a shot across your bow

The entire reason you adjust your preload is to set your sag properly. All it takes is a tape measure calibrated in MM. Have a couple buddies help you and in a few minutes you can have your sag properly set by using the preload adjustments and you are off to a better ride. There is no other way. You cannot feel your way through sag settings. The purpose of setting proper sag is to place the working range of the suspension travel into the middle one third of total suspension travel.

Adding or reducing preload has nothing to do with stiffness, it's all about setting proper sag. For the same preload adjustments to work for two different riders they should both weigh in within 10 pounds of each other.

Rider sag at the forks should be someplace between 35 & 40mm. I like to set the rear sag closer to 35mm if possible. In any case I prefer to have more sag at the forks than shock, up to 5mm difference.

Don't be afraid to play with your suspension settings to see how it rides. Just remember where the OEM settings were before you start so you can go back to those if things get out of hand.

I had an old racer tell me once: "Home suspension tuners usually adjust their suspension until it's noticeably worse, then they stop"!

 

[stretchabusa]

I'm not going to shoot you down just launch a shot across your bow

The entire reason you adjust your preload is to set your sag properly. All it takes is a tape measure calibrated in MM. Have a couple buddies help you and in a few minutes you can have your sag properly set by using the preload adjustments and you are off to a better ride. There is no other way. You cannot feel your way through sag settings. The purpose of setting proper sag is to place the working range of the suspension travel into the middle one third of total suspension travel.

Adding or reducing preload has nothing to do with stiffness, it's all about setting proper sag. For the same preload adjustments to work for two different riders they should both weigh in within 10 pounds of each other.

Rider sag at the forks should be someplace between 35 & 40mm. I like to set the rear sag closer to 35mm if possible. In any case I prefer to have more sag at the forks than shock, up to 5mm difference.

Don't be afraid to play with your suspension settings to see how it rides. Just remember where the OEM settings were before you start so you can go back to those if things get out of hand.

I had an old racer tell me once: "Home suspension tuners usually adjust their suspension until it's noticeably worse, then they stop"!

Tufbusa, once again, thank you for your replay.

I will get the measure out and sort out a measurement

 

[mr8ball]

I found this in the manual

2B-5 Front Suspension:
Front Suspension Adjustment
B815H22206003 After installing the front fork, adjust the spring pre-load
and two kinds of damping force as follows:
Adjust the left and right front forks to the same setting.
Spring Pre-load Adjustment
• There are five grooved lines on the side of the spring adjuster.
Position 0 provides the maximum spring pre-load and position 5 provides the minimum spring pre-load.
• Turn the adjustment (1) to the desired position.
STD position 3-1/2 (6 turns out from the maximum position)

It also has pics but I could not copy them for some reason.

 

[mabupa]

Ok!! So according to my notes this is stock setting for front and rear on a genII:

Front:

Preload. - 6 turns ccw
Damp. - 8 turns ccw
Rebound. - 8 turns ccw

Rear:

Rebound - 12 turns ccw
Comp. damp. - 8 turns ccw

I turn them clockwise all the way and then start counting CCW. hope this helps!!

 

[stretchabusa]

I found this in the manual

• There are five grooved lines on the side of the spring adjuster.
It also has pics but I could not copy them for some reason.

Hi mr8ball, on the Gen 2 there are no groved lines, only on the Gen 1.

Best regards Stretch

 

[mr8ball]

Hi mr8ball, on the Gen 2 there are no groved lines, only on the Gen 1.

Best regards Stretch

I have an 08 and mine has them. What I posted is from the 08 manual.

 

[stretchabusa]

I have an 08 and mine has them. What I posted is from the 08 manual.

Oh well Brother, you live and learn, mine is a K11 and has no groves.

Best regards Stretch.

 

[mabupa]

Ok!! So according to my notes this is stock setting for front and rear on a genII:

Front:

Preload. - 6 turns ccw
Damp. - 8 turns ccw
Rebound. - 8 turns ccw

Rear:

Rebound - 12 turns ccw
Comp. damp. - 8 turns ccw

I turn them clockwise all the way and then start counting CCW. hope this helps!!

I just read your first post again and realized this post of mine is not what you wanted. I don't know if I was drunk when I read it the first time or what :-) sorry hope somebody can help you out.

 

[MICHAELSHUKER]

Hi All,
As per title, when I bought my Gen 2 I dialled a bit of preload into the front forks, on my Gen 1 Busa's I had the Pre Load set with 3 rings showing and this system worked well for me, trouble is the Gen 2 dosen't have these rings to view, so has anyone got an idea of how many turns from standard setting would be the equivalent to my Gen 1 with 3 rings showing.

Thanks in advance, Stretch

Gen 2 Hayabusa has the rings to set the pre load, just undo the four allen bolts that secure the handlebars and raise them slightly so that you can view the rings then replace the handlebars after adjustment to the preload. Regards

 

[mark3evo]

Come on Gen 2 Guy's, sombody must know how much spring pre load they have put into their front forks from the standard setting,(6 turns down from max is standard) that works for them.

Best regards Stretch.

hi stretch

mark here, i can give you my modified settings, from MCT, dont know the standard

they were set when i weighed 96 kg

let me know

 

[squale147]

I'm not going to shoot you down just launch a shot across your bow

The entire reason you adjust your preload is to set your sag properly. All it takes is a tape measure calibrated in MM. Have a couple buddies help you and in a few minutes you can have your sag properly set by using the preload adjustments and you are off to a better ride. There is no other way. You cannot feel your way through sag settings. The purpose of setting proper sag is to place the working range of the suspension travel into the middle one third of total suspension travel.

Adding or reducing preload has nothing to do with stiffness, it's all about setting proper sag. For the same preload adjustments to work for two different riders they should both weigh in within 10 pounds of each other.

Rider sag at the forks should be someplace between 35 & 40mm. I like to set the rear sag closer to 35mm if possible. In any case I prefer to have more sag at the forks than shock, up to 5mm difference.

Don't be afraid to play with your suspension settings to see how it rides. Just remember where the OEM settings were before you start so you can go back to those if things get out of hand.

I had an old racer tell me once: "Home suspension tuners usually adjust their suspension until it's noticeably worse, then they stop"!

+1000......proper sag is a must