RE: New subscribers

[Paul Master <master@xxxxxxx>]

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The Doc Wong suspension clinic was pretty insightful. It is presented by
Gary Jaehne, a sportsbike enthusiast, racer, etc.. I really hope I haven't
stepped on any copyright toes or anything, but the handout wasn't so marked,
and Gary seems genuinely interested in educating the motorcycling public, so
here goes.
They have found, in the year or so that this clinic has been presented, that
there is too much info for a single evening, so it is broken down into two
parts. Part one is on basic suspension setup. If you ever have the
opportunity to attend (Woodside, CA, just below San Francisco by ~25 miles),
try to.

Gary has this stuff down pat, and many of the points are made in a question
/answer format, where he poses a questions and elicits responses from the
audience. It works quite well, and ensures good participation. 

Prior to making ANY suspension changes, first pre-check and adjust/repair as
necessary ALL of the following;
correct chain tension, tire pressure, tire wear not excessive, rear wheel
alignment, leaky fork seal(s)/fork oil level, steering head bearing
adjustment/lubrication, and read suspension linkage freedom of
movement/lubrication. If you don't, you may be trying to solve a problem you
cannot fix by suspension adjustment or replacement. Also, it can be very
expensive to replace suspension parts, more so when that is not the problem.

We then went through a couple of sheets of suspension terminology, to set
the stage for the discussion. We primarily focused on pre-load adjustment.
The second clinic goes into rebound damping and compression damping. The
actual preload adjustment is very straightforward, and something that is not
well understood by the general motorcycling populace. The whole idea is to
setup your bike so that sitting on it in riding position, you utilize the
first 30-33 percent of the total available suspension. If you have too much
preload, you effectively reduce the available amount of suspension, and with
too little, your wheels won't be able to hug the tarmac as they go over
depressions in the roadsurface. Makes pretty good sense to me.

For the ST, with 5" of fork travel, 30% is 1.5 inches. The rear shock, with
4.7" of travel, 30% is 1.4". It is important to check with the rider fully
equipped, ie helmet, boots, leathers, and gloves, as this can add as much as
20 pounds to the equation, and equally important that they assume their
normal riding position, which effects how much weight is over each
suspension component. To measure, with the aid of a couple of friends, place
a bit of tape directly above the rear axle on the body work. All
measurements will be taken from the top of the axle to the bottom of the
tape. Have one friend straddle the front wheel and hold the bike vertically
while the rider clambers aboard and assumes the normal riding position. Take
the measurement. Put the bike on the center stand, and re-measure. This is
the maximum travel and if the magazine article is correct, should be 4.7
inches.. Subtract the first measurement from the second, this is the rider
sag distance, it should be 1.4 inches. Adjust the monoshock accordingly, and
retake the first measurement until it is 3.3 inches. Make sure you have the
bike off the stand. Do the rear adjust first, as it will effect the front
adjustment.

To do the front, place a tie-wrap on one fork, push the tie down until it
rests on the fork seal boot. Have one person hold the bike by straddling the
front wheel facing the rider, and have the rider assume the normal riding
position. As the weight is borne by the fork, the tiewrap will be pushed up
by the fork seal boot. It is important that the rider not bounce up and
down, but achieve a static position, then carefully dismount, not putting
any additional weight on the fork in the process. Measure from the top of
the fork seal  boot to the closest edge of the tie-wrap. This dimension
should be 1.5", again assuming the magazine had the dimension of 5" correct.
(Sorry, I don't have an owners manual, yet). Adjust the preload adjusters on
the top of the forks to achieve that measurement. 

That's all there is to it. Gary posed an interesting question. This is a
relatively straightforward measurement and adjustment, and should be
included as standard practice at any bike shop selling you a vehicle. How
many of you have had the dealer make this measurement and adjustment before
they sent you merrily on you way on your new bike? Not a single hand was
raised. Also of equal importance, especially for ST owners, is recording the
adjustments (clicks, lines showing etc.) for the solitary rider (no pillion
or luggage), the touring rider (single rider with bags laden), and the
touring rider and pillion, again, with and without luggage. Then it should
be an easy enough task, (although I am quite willing to concede I don't have
any experience adjusting the ST monoshock) to dial in the correct settings
without having to remeasure. This will ensure you of maximizing the usable
suspension travel for any riding event.

Gary told us a quick story about giving a friend's girlfriend a ride around
Laguna Seca. She was new to biking, and he didn't want to scare her, so he
told her to just thump him if she felt uncomfortable with the speed. He took
her out on progressively faster laps, awaiting the thump, which never came.
So he went faster and faster until coming out of the corkscrew, he bottomed
the rear suspension rather heavily. He had not adjusted the pre-load to
support the additional weight of a passenger. And while it was not a life
threatening issue, he really didn't enjoy that lap too much. I would assume
that there is quite enough to deal with on the downhill left-hander without
getting the chassis and suspension wildly upset going into it.

Well, wordy me again. Sorry if I get a little carried away. Hope this is
useful to some, at any rate.

From: Eric Sheley [mailto:eric@xxxxxxxxxx]
How was the Doc Wong clinic ? Any insights / suggestions that you can pass
along ?

- - Eric

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<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>The Doc Wong suspension clinic was pretty insightful. =
It is presented by Gary Jaehne, a sportsbike enthusiast, racer, etc.. I =
really hope I haven't stepped on any copyright toes or anything, but =
the handout wasn't so marked, and Gary seems genuinely interested in =
educating the motorcycling public, so here goes.</FONT></P>

<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>They have found, in the year or so that this clinic =
has been presented, that there is too much info for a single evening, =
so it is broken down into two parts. Part one is on basic suspension =
setup. If you ever have the opportunity to attend (Woodside, CA, just =
below San Francisco by ~25 miles), try to.</FONT></P>

<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Gary has this stuff down pat, and many of the points =
are made in a question /answer format, where he poses a questions and =
elicits responses from the audience. It works quite well, and ensures =
good participation. </FONT></P>

<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Prior to making ANY suspension changes, first =
pre-check and adjust/repair as necessary ALL of the following;</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>correct chain tension, tire pressure, tire wear not =
excessive, rear wheel alignment, leaky fork seal(s)/fork oil level, =
steering head bearing adjustment/lubrication, and read suspension =
linkage freedom of movement/lubrication. If you don't, you may be =
trying to solve a problem you cannot fix by suspension adjustment or =
replacement. Also, it can be very expensive to replace suspension =
parts, more so when that is not the problem.</FONT></P>

<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>We then went through a couple of sheets of suspension =
terminology, to set the stage for the discussion. We primarily focused =
on pre-load adjustment. The second clinic goes into rebound damping and =
compression damping. The actual preload adjustment is very =
straightforward, and something that is not well understood by the =
general motorcycling populace. The whole idea is to setup your bike so =
that sitting on it in riding position, you utilize the first 30-33 =
percent of the total available suspension. If you have too much =
preload, you effectively reduce the available amount of suspension, and =
with too little, your wheels won't be able to hug the tarmac as they go =
over depressions in the roadsurface. Makes pretty good sense to =
me.</FONT></P>

<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>For the ST, with 5&quot; of fork travel, 30% is 1.5 =
inches. The rear shock, with 4.7&quot; of travel, 30% is 1.4&quot;. It =
is important to check with the rider fully equipped, ie helmet, boots, =
leathers, and gloves, as this can add as much as 20 pounds to the =
equation, and equally important that they assume their normal riding =
position, which effects how much weight is over each suspension =
component. To measure, with the aid of a couple of friends, place a bit =
of tape directly above the rear axle on the body work. All measurements =
will be taken from the top of the axle to the bottom of the tape. Have =
one friend straddle the front wheel and hold the bike vertically while =
the rider clambers aboard and assumes the normal riding position. Take =
the measurement. Put the bike on the center stand, and re-measure. This =
is the maximum travel and if the magazine article is correct, should be =
4.7 inches.. Subtract the first measurement from the second, this is =
the rider sag distance, it should be 1.4 inches. Adjust the monoshock =
accordingly, and retake the first measurement until it is 3.3 inches. =
Make sure you have the bike off the stand. Do the rear adjust first, as =
it will effect the front adjustment.</FONT></P>

<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>To do the front, place a tie-wrap on one fork, push =
the tie down until it rests on the fork seal boot. Have one person hold =
the bike by straddling the front wheel facing the rider, and have the =
rider assume the normal riding position. As the weight is borne by the =
fork, the tiewrap will be pushed up by the fork seal boot. It is =
important that the rider not bounce up and down, but achieve a static =
position, then carefully dismount, not putting any additional weight on =
the fork in the process. Measure from the top of the fork seal&nbsp; =
boot to the closest edge of the tie-wrap. This dimension should be =
1.5&quot;, again assuming the magazine had the dimension of 5&quot; =
correct. (Sorry, I don't have an owners manual, yet). Adjust the =
preload adjusters on the top of the forks to achieve that measurement. =
</FONT></P>

<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>That's all there is to it. Gary posed an interesting =
question. This is a relatively straightforward measurement and =
adjustment, and should be included as standard practice at any bike =
shop selling you a vehicle. How many of you have had the dealer make =
this measurement and adjustment before they sent you merrily on you way =
on your new bike? Not a single hand was raised. Also of equal =
importance, especially for ST owners, is recording the adjustments =
(clicks, lines showing etc.) for the solitary rider (no pillion or =
luggage), the touring rider (single rider with bags laden), and the =
touring rider and pillion, again, with and without luggage. Then it =
should be an easy enough task, (although I am quite willing to concede =
I don't have any experience adjusting the ST monoshock) to dial in the =
correct settings without having to remeasure. This will ensure you of =
maximizing the usable suspension travel for any riding =
event.</FONT></P>

<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Gary told us a quick story about giving a friend's =
girlfriend a ride around Laguna Seca. She was new to biking, and he =
didn't want to scare her, so he told her to just thump him if she felt =
uncomfortable with the speed. He took her out on progressively faster =
laps, awaiting the thump, which never came. So he went faster and =
faster until coming out of the corkscrew, he bottomed the rear =
suspension rather heavily. He had not adjusted the pre-load to support =
the additional weight of a passenger. And while it was not a life =
threatening issue, he really didn't enjoy that lap too much. I would =
assume that there is quite enough to deal with on the downhill =
left-hander without getting the chassis and suspension wildly upset =
going into it.</FONT></P>

<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Well, wordy me again. Sorry if I get a little carried =
away. Hope this is useful to some, at any rate.</FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>From: Eric Sheley [<A =
HREF=3D"mailto:eric@xxxxxxxxxx";>mailto:eric@xxxxxxxxxx</A>]</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>How was the Doc Wong clinic ? Any insights / =
suggestions that you can pass</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>along ?</FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>- Eric</FONT>
</P>

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