Suspension Setup

[michael]

What you should be setting first is rider sag. This is how much the Suspension travels when you and your gear clime aboard the bike. On the VFR800 the rear sag should be about 32 mm and the same for the front as well. This is about 1 1/4 inches. You will need two people to do this.

Doing the front end is easy. Just install a zip tie on the fork tube. Push it down to the fork seal and then very carefully get on the bike with all of your gear that you normally ride with. Have the other person balance the bike holding the handle bars while you get in to your normal riding position. It's very important that you get on the bike gently so as not to overly compress forks. You only want them to sag from your body weight. Then put the bike on the side stand and pull the front tire off of the ground using the side stand and rear tire as leverage. Now have some one now measure the zip tie down to the fork seal while you have the front tire off of the ground. This is your rider sag. Like I said it should be around about 32 mm. You are now done with the front forks. There are no more adjustment other than rider sag.

Doing the rear is easy too. Just take a piece of tape and stick it on the side of the rear cowling above the rear centered axle nut. Now hold the bike up vertically not sitting on it yet and have a friend measure the distance between the axle nut and the piece of tape. To make it easier. Have the friend mark the tape with a pen on a even number while he take the first measurement. Now gently get on the bike. This is nice if you have three people to help, one to hold the bike up while you are sitting on it and the other to take the measurement. But all of the time that I have done it I have only had one person to help. In this case you can lightly balance the bike with you toes while you friend takes the second measurement. Now the difference between the two is your rider sag.

You can now set Rebound dampening. This is the tire going away from you. What you are looking for here is that when you push down on the seat that the seat return not two fast but not two slow ether. When it is two fast it will over shoot and not settle right away. If its two slow it may not return two its normal sag position. Once you get it close. What I like to do is take the bike out for a ride and take it up to say 35 or even 45 mph and stand on the pegs and balance it a little to see how it feels. You can get a good feel for how well the dampening is working. If you don't have a enough you may feel it balance back and forth a little bit. And if you have to much you will feel it come back two slow. And that's it for the stock rear shock. Any other fine tuning will have to be done on the track or your favorite twisty.

Hope this help you. Good luck.

Robert Kehl VFR800