suspension help needed

I need some help dialing in suspension set-up on my new-to-me, 2009 fjr1300, 1,500 miles on it. (I did look in the archives and found myself getting too confused - I have some temporary cognitive disorders following a recent fire rescue.) Please respond with best suggestions for setting all the various suspension alternatives on a stock bike. I am 5'9" and weigh about 200 lbs when fully geared up.

Thank you.

ajay said:

I need some help dialing in suspension set-up on my new-to-me, 2009 fjr1300, 1,500 miles on it. (I did look in the archives and found myself getting too confused - I have some temporary cognitive disorders following a recent fire rescue.) Please respond with best suggestions for setting all the various suspension alternatives on a stock bike. I am 5'9" and weigh about 200 lbs when fully geared up.

Thank you.

Click to expand...

Jeff Ashe had some good tips.. Google search FJR FORUM suspension set up.

Bustanut joker said:

ajay said:

I need some help dialing in suspension set-up on my new-to-me, 2009 fjr1300, 1,500 miles on it. (I did look in the archives and found myself getting too confused - I have some temporary cognitive disorders following a recent fire rescue.) Please respond with best suggestions for setting all the various suspension alternatives on a stock bike. I am 5'9" and weigh about 200 lbs when fully geared up.

Thank you.

Click to expand...

Jeff Ashe had some good tips.. Google search FJR FORUM suspension set up.

Click to expand...

I've saved it. Click HERE

This is also a good resource CLICKY

These aren't the "will work for you". Instead, consider them a starting point. It also helps if you understand the suspension (preload, rebound and compression). You haven't mentioned how much experience you have with this and I'm guesing you're just looking for what others have used instead of going out on your own and taking the time to set it up for your riding preferences. That's fine, I'm not picking on you. I did that once too. Set it, ride, adjust. Repeat often.

Ride safe

Thanks for the help. my previous experience was with BMWs, lastly a R1150GS with Wilbers shocks set up for me. That bike (and others) were destroyed in the fire, and I never had a FJR before. Boy, I do like the FJR after riding about 300 miles last weekend. The roads in SE PA can be rough at times, however we had a very mild winter so they seem smoother than usual now.

If I understand the recommendations, they are:

Front preload - line 2

Front rebound - 6 clicks out (although some recommend 8 clicks on a low mileage '09)

Front compression - 8 clicks out

Rear preload - hard (a little confused here, some say soft)

Rear rebound - 6 clicks out (right hand thread).

Please comment if I have this wrong.

Thanks

That sounds like a good place to start for your body weight. The nice thing about adjustable suspension is just that; adjust-ability. I fiddle with my settings depending on what type of riding I'm doing. Now my forks have RaceTech Gold valves and .95 springs and I weigh 175lbs., so your results may vary as they say. For example, my setup for commuting to work (highway and some city streets) is 4 lines showing on preload, 8 clicks out on rebound and 9-10 clicks out on compression for the fork, lever set to soft and rebound 7-8 clicks out for the shock. It's a pretty good combination of compliance and control. If I'm going to hustle it on back, twisty roads, I'll crank down the fork preload 1-2 lines and firm up the damping 3-4 clicks, set the rear lever to firm and the rebound to 4-5 clicks out. It literally takes 1 min. to make the changes. IMO the stock fork is sprung too soft. If you crank in too much compression damping and preload to firm it up, it can get too harsh. I prefer a firmer spring using less preload and comp. damping. I've learned a lot about suspension tuning over many years of racing and I'm still amused by the fact that changing my suspension settings only a couple clicks can result in a tenth or two of a second in my lap time. But of course, I don't race on the street so I'm not THAT picky with the Feejer settings! Hope this helps.

ajay said:

Thanks for the help. my previous experience was with BMWs, lastly a R1150GS with Wilbers shocks set up for me. That bike (and others) were destroyed in the fire, and I never had a FJR before. Boy, I do like the FJR after riding about 300 miles last weekend. The roads in SE PA can be rough at times, however we had a very mild winter so they seem smoother than usual now.

If I understand the recommendations, they are:

Front preload - line 2

Front rebound - 6 clicks out (although some recommend 8 clicks on a low mileage '09)

Front compression - 8 clicks out

Rear preload - hard (a little confused here, some say soft)

Rear rebound - 6 clicks out (right hand thread).

Please comment if I have this wrong.

Thanks

Click to expand...

Don't think of these as the "recommendations". Instead, think of them as a baseline or starting point. Set them and go ride. Adjust. Go ride again.

Take a pen/pencil/sharpie and a notepad and write down the settings as you ride. I can't stress this enough. If your suspension is worked on (by your or a shop) sometimes the settings get jumbled and you might forget otherwise.

900gc's settings might work for you, Ashe's settings might work for you. However, you might not like them at all. Take a wrench and a flat screwdriver out with you on a nice Saturday afternoon and dial it in. You'll know when you get it right.