2009 Gen II Upgraded Suspension Question

I just recharged the nitrogen in my Penske 8983 rear shock I bought in a group buy a couple years ago. I had K&G replace the innards of the front at the same time. So I have basically new suspension bits.

My question is whether any of you have experience with suspension that at slow speeds (30 mph or less) feels a little bouncy on relatively smooth pavement, but is not too bad for holding a line around a curve at speed. In brief, the current setup is OK for higher speeds, but at slow speeds seems sensitive to roadway harmonics set up by undulations in pavement.

Not looking for feedback on precise click settings, but would like to know where I might start to improve my setup to eliminate the bouncy feel at low speed while retaining the fairly decent feel at higher speed. Not sure if I'm looking at changes to compression or rebound front or rear. Sag is set up to be in the sweet spot for front and rear, so I think preload settings are OK.

Any help from the suspension gurus would be very appreciated. Taking a longish trip this weekend with my wife, and would like to have some ideas to consider.

Sounds to me like you need to up the rebound damping.

1 click increments has never worked for me. Go 2-4 click increments to check for direction and when you have found direction come back for a good feel. Keep in mind that suspension is often counterintuitive. For instance: I have found that for rough road absorbance I have had to dial in more spring preload then I would have thought. I have GPS Penske. Good suspension is always a compromise. You can't have it all.

I agree. Bouncy is not enough rebound damping

gumba said:

1 click increments has never worked for me. Go 2-4 click increments to check for direction and when you have found direction come back for a good feel. Keep in mind that suspension is often counterintuitive. For instance: I have found that for rough road absorbance I have had to dial in more spring preload then I would have thought. I have GPS Penske. Good suspension is always a compromise. You can't have it all.

Click to expand...

Preload is for changing ride height/length of shock. Compression and rebound damping slow the action of the spring.

More rebound, IIRC my GP forks are set up with 6 - 8 clicks out from full hard. Any less and the forks have the same sensation.

Record your current settings and twist away. You can't screw it up!

--G

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like the consensus is more rebound on both rear and front. I'll try it and report back next week, after the ride.

Circling back to report on the experience I had with the adjustments to rebound both front and rear. I upped the rebound three clicks on both front and rear, and it definitely made a difference at higher speeds. the planted feel in the corners is very encouraging. The funny thing is that I still get little bit of the bouncy feel at slower speeds on certain roads. I'm guessing its one of those freaky harmonic things that happen with minor undulations in an otherwise smooth road.

I'm inclined to agree with the commenter above that stated everything is a compromise. Maybe I'll just have to "settle" for high speed stability, and not worry so much about the bounciness at slow speeds.

Try reducing comp. damping in the fork 3-5 clicks as well.

To quote escapefjrtist: "Record your current settings and twist away. You can't screw it up!"

Mess around, go to the extremes of adjustments, go try it out and take notes of your observations. I have a 'commuting' setting for more comfort and an 'aggressive" setting for spirited twisties riding.