SUSPENION SETTING GUIDE - 2011

Setting up you RGV suspension can appear daunting and confusing so hopefully this guide will
answer some basic questions and help you achieve a set up you feel happy with.

As well as the suspension components the rider must consider other elements that affect handling;
Tyres, Geometry and also the condition of components. There is little point fitting an Ohlins shock to a
bike with worn fork or loose cushion lever (the rear shock linkage) bearings. So, we’re going to
assume that someone who wants a sweet handling RGV has already got tyres in good condition with
greased serviceable bearings (including wheel and headstock bearings) and the bike set up in the
factory defaults for fork protrusion etc. It’s also well worth ensuring your suspension oils are the
correct grade, correct quantity and the in good condition but we’ll talk more about that later.

Find a new note book and make columns for the set up figures with a column for your thoughts on how
the bike felt when riding. Add things like rake and trail figures or forks setting in the yokes if required.

Front R.Sag Rear R.Sag Fork Preload Rear Preload Rear Comp. Rear Rbnd Symptoms

SPRINGS

A spring exerts force in response to how far it is compressed. A 2kg/mm spring compressed by 10mm
will exert 20kg of force. The other way around, if you put a 20kg load on the spring it would sag or
compress 10mm.

This can be expressed as F = k * x

F = Force
k = Spring constant (for our purposes we’ll stick to metric kg/mm)
x = Distance

Most springs are linear, ie k remains the same however far it is compressed, but this is only valid until
coils start touching each other.

So on your bike what does the spring do? A: It stores energy and then releases it.

As you’re riding along you’ll inevitably hit a huge bump or pothole – especially if you live in the UK!
The spring compresses, absorbing and storing the energy rather than it transferring it to your spine. It
then releases it to return to it’s natural length, the natural tendency here is for it to start “bouncing” as it
oscillates at the same frequency. This is a feature of a spring we don’t want.

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DAMPING

Damping is used to take the force out of the spring, in essence control its input and release at a rate
that suits our needs for the motorcycle.

So we have a spring that controls how far the wheel moves (remember the distance x in our formula)
and we now have a feature that controls how fast it moves, in 2 directions. When you sit on your bike
you’ll notice it doesn’t immediately compress to where the natural spring loading would be, it arrives
there at a rate and this rate is determined by your COMPRESSION damping. When you get off the
bike it will rise back to its natural position set on the spring, at a rate control by the REBOUND
damping.

You may have heard of hi and lo speed compression damping, this simply refers to the compression
damping being split into 2 separate speeds. Hit a bump and the hi speed circuit will control damping,
adjust the throttle or body position and the lo speed damping will be in effect. This allows you to set
quite a hard low speed damping to reduce squat on acceleration while having a softer hi speed
damping to soak up bumps.

GEOMETRY

Often you’ll read in magazines and manuals the

confusingly named RAKE and TRAIL. What do they
actually mean and how do they effect a bike? Well
we know it effects handling but how can we be in
control of it?

Rake is the steering head angle relative to an

imagined vertical line.

Trail is the distance between the imaginary line

extending from your centre line of steering spindle
down to the ground and the centre your tyres contact
patch. This is where people get confused. Most think
if you decrease yoke offset that because the bike will
be shorter, it will turn quicker. What you have actually
done is increase the trail, which makes for slower
turning.

Generally sports bikes have a relatively steep rake

which creates a short trail, this increases the speed
of direction changes at the expense of stability.

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RIDE HEIGHT

Adjusting preload or moving the fork in the clamps will change the ride height at either or both end of
the bike. It must be remembered that these changes effect the geometry and therefore the handling.
Example: So if you’ve added a few turns of preload to the rear shock and prefer the feel at the back
you may now be unhappy with the handling (it’s now a bit quicker) and decide to undo the change you
made…..STOP. Consider the rake and trail. See if you can obtain the original preferred rake and trail
form before you adjusted the pre-load, compensating for the change you made at the back. If you’ve
raised the rear you may also need to raise the front by adjusting the fork tubes. This will alter the
geometry without affecting the forks rate or damping. You now have your preferred pre-load and
preferred geometry. If you have a rear ride height adjuster you can use this to adjust rear height
rather than the pre-load.

PRELOAD and SAG

What preload does not do is stiffen suspension it alters its range of operation.

Ideally you need a spring suited to your weight. In general terms Suzuki supply UK bikes with a spring
suited to 14Stone riders but it may not always seem as if this is correct, especially if it is nearly 20
years old! This article assumes your spring is close enough to work with.

Preload. Simple! We put a 1kg/mm spring 300mm long in a 280mm box. It is now obvious to you
having read the rest of the article that it is putting 20kg of force on the lid. If we want to compress the
lid we need to put more than 20kg on it before it will overcome the spring and start to move. As the
spring is linear if we put 21kg on it, it will move 1mm – 20kg to overcome the preload and 1kg to move
it.

This is the theory you use to set your sag:

1. Support the bike in the air so the forks extend fully, measure the exposed chrome portion and
note it down as L1
2. Sit on the bike and let your friend lift the bike then let it settle, measure the same exposed
area and call it L2
3. Push down on the bike and let it raise back up, measure the same area and call it L3

The difference between L2 and L3 tells us how much friction there is present in your set up and allows
for it.

Now we have the figures to work out the SAG which = L1 – (L2+L3)/2

Repeat for the rear but use 2 fixed positions such as rear axle to a bolt on the seat unit.

Preferences vary, especially the differences between bikes with a lot of engine breaking compared to
a 2-stroke. You will also want differing amounts for road and track.

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STATIC (No Rider) F 15-25mm R 4-10mm. LOADED (Rider onboard) F 30mm-40mm R 30mm-40mm.
Note the smaller numbers are aimed at track use. As a rough guide your weight should use about 1/3
of the available travel.

You can now check roughly if you have the right spring for your weight/bike combo.

Carry out the same process with no rider on the bike ideally it should be between 5 and 10mm. If you
have no sag at all and the bike is topped out then you had to add too much preload and you need a
new stiffer spring.

FORK OIL and the AIR GAP

When you add oil to a fork you reduce the air gap, when the fork is compressed the volume decreases
pressurising the air, this acts as a small secondary spring. As pressure doubles when volume is
halved we have a secondary spring with an exponential relationship. So under normal conditions the
air gap has virtually no effect but as the fork compresses under heavy braking, it reacts rapidly
providing a convenient anti-bottoming effect, this can easily be altered by reducing or increasing the
air gap by altering the amount of oil we put in the forks.

This is very useful to know because if you’ve set your bike up perfectly and are otherwise happy with it
apart from bottoming out under braking we can adjust the air gap rather than the preload. This way we
don’t have any input to the geometry which adjusting preload would give us. It is important to note we
are discussing the AMOUNT of oil and not a change in oil grade or viscosity.

FORK OIL WEIGHT

It’s always best to adjust valving rather than the oil viscosity the designer intended their valves to work
with a certain viscosity of oil after all. However on most RGVs there is no damping adjustment so a
change of weight can be the only solution if not 100% satisfied with either Suzuki or aftermarket
valves. It’s very simple, thinner oil provides less damping with thicker oil giving firmer damping.
Believe it or not you can mix them so by measuring carefully you can create the weight of oil you
need. A 50/50 mix of 10 and 5 weight will give you 7.5 weight oil!

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DIAGNOSTICS
CORNER IN
SYMPTOM
Steering heavy and slow
Steering is too quick
Bike is difficult to “flick”
Bike is unstable when moving
transitioning side to side
Hard to lean while trail braking
CORNERING
SYMPTOM
Chatter
Ground clearance, scraping
pegs etc
Ride is harsh or rough
CAUSE CURE
Trail too large Reduce trail options:
1. Raise rear ride height
2. Raise forks in
clamps(lowers the front)
3. Reduce fork preload
Trail too small Add trail options:
1. Lower rear ride height
2. Lower forks in
clamps(lowers the front)
3. Increase fork preload
Centre of gravity is too low Raise both ends of the bike
Not enough rebound causing Increase front and rear rebound
the chassis to unload or damping or reduce compression
compression damping is too (check your settings). Most rgvs
high. do not have this adjustment on
the forks, a compromise is to
use thicker or thinner oil but this
affects both compression and
rebound. It is unlikely you’ll need
thinner than the std 10SAE.
Not enough rake angle Add rake options:
1. Lower rear ride height
2. Lower forks in
clamps(lowers the front)
3. Increase fork preload
CAUSE CURE
Tyre Balance Check Tyre
Centre of gravity low Raise both ends of the bike or fit
springs of a higher rate
Suspension is bottoming out Reduce rebound, fit stiffer
springs or increase preload
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Ride wallows and feels loose Not enough rebound Add rebound rear and front if
applicable
Lose traction over bumps Suspension is set too hard/stiff Reduce rebound/compression
or preload

CORNER OUT

SYMPTOM CAUSE CURE

Running wide
Loss of rear traction
Wheelies far too easily, looks
cool but loses time
Bike pitches you forward or back Too much weight transference
too much
Front tyre losing traction
Rear Tyre Losing traction
Centre of gravity too high
Add low speed compression to
reduce squat. Adding rear
preload or ride height may also
help
Reduce low speed compression
to allow more squat
Remove girlfriend from pillion
seat or lower front and rear of
bike an equal amount
Add rear compression damping
and reduce front rebound if
applicable. Maybe lower the
whole bike to lower the centre of
gravity

GENERAL

SYMPTOM CAUSE CURE

Weaving Not enough rear damping
causing rear spring oscillations
Lack of front feel Not enough weight on front tyre
Add rear rebound or low speed
compression
Check fork oil or reduce fork
preload. Check trail and
increase if required

Add trail options:

1. Lower rear ride height
2. Lower forks in
clamps(lowers the front)
3. Increase fork preload

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