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Custom Motorcycle Never Fails to Amuse Me
Every time I see a customized motorcycle, I can't help but stare in amusement. There is something in that kind of bike that makes me glance on it a second time if not follow it with my astonished eyes. They are flashy, one-of-a-kind and it makes me...

If you Drive a Motorcycle, You Need Motorcycle Insurance
Automobile insurance is very important. Most people know this and understand this. Insurance is meant to protect you, your property as well as other people and other property that you may damage in an accident. There are different kinds of...

Motorcycles On the Road
Everyday we are feasting our eyes on different types of motorcycles - big, small, vintage, modern, classic and flashy. Actually, there are three basic categories of street motorcycles - touring, cruisers and sports bikes. However, modern...

Ten Things Automobile Drivers should know about Motorcycles
1. There are a lot more cars and trucks than motorcycles on the road, and some drivers don't "recognize" a motorcycle; they ignore it (usually unintentionally). Look for motorcycles, especially when checking traffic at an intersection. 2....

The basic Motorcycle Gears for beginners
For most beginners, they don’t have enough clues on optimizing with the basic gears required to become a motorcyclist. Some beginners think they need to purchase their bikes only and they’re off to their riding spree. In riding motorcycles, either...

 
Trouble Shooting Suspension Problems.


Adjustment locations: Forks
Rebound adjustment (if applicable) is located near the top of the fork. Compression adjustment (if applicable) is located near the bottom of the fork. Spring preload adjustment (if applicable) is generally hex style and located at the top of the fork.
Lack of Rebound
Symptoms:
• Forks are plush, but increasing speed causes loss of control and traction
• The motorcycle wallows and tends to run wide exiting the turn causing fading traction and loss of control.
• When taking a corner a speed, you experience front-end chatter, loss of traction and control.
• Aggressive input at speed lessons control and chassis attitude suffers.
• Front end fails to recover after aggressive input over bumpy surfaces.
Solution: Insufficient rebound. Increase rebound "gradually" until control and traction are optimized and chatter is gone.
Too Much Rebound
Symptoms:
• Front end feels locked up resulting in harsh ride.
• Suspension tucks in and fails to return, giving a harsh ride. Typically after the first bump, the bike will skip over subsequent bumps and want to tuck the front.
• With acceleration, the front end will tank slap or shake violently due to lack of front wheel tire contact.
Solution: Too much rebound. Decrease rebound "gradually" until control and traction are optimized.
Lack of Compression
Symptoms:
• Front-end dives severely, sometimes bottoming out over heavy bumps or during aggressive breaking.
• Front feels soft or vague similar to lack of rebound.
• When bottoming, a clunk is heard. This is due to reaching the bottom of fork travel.
Solution: Insufficient compression. Increase "gradually" until control and traction are optimized.
Too Much Compression
Symptom:
• Front end rides high through the corners, causing the bike to steer wide. It should maintain the pre-determined sag, which will allow the steering geometry to remain constant.
Solution: Decrease compression "gradually" until bike neither bottoms nor rides high.
Symptom:
• Front end chatters or shakes entering turns. This is due to incorrect oil height and/or too much low speed compression damping.
Solution: First, verify that oil height is correct. If correct, then decrease compression "gradually" until chattering and shaking ceases.
Symptom:
• Bumps and ripples are felt directly in the triple clamps and through the chassis. This causes the front wheel to bounce over


bumps.
Solution: Decrease compression "gradually" until control is regained.
Symptom:
• Ride is generally hard, and gets even harder when braking or entering turns.
Solution: Decrease compression "gradually" until control is regained.
Adjustment Locations: Rear Shock
Rebound adjustment (if applicable) is located at the bottom of the shock. Compression adjustment (if applicable) is located on the reservoir. Spring prelude is located at the top of the shock.
Shock: Lack of Rebound
Symptoms:
• The ride will feel soft or vague and as speed increases, the rear end will want to wallow and/or weave over bumpy surfaces and traction suffers.
• Loss of traction will cause rear end to pogo or chatter due to shock returning too fast on exiting a corner.
Solution: Insufficient rebound - Increase rebound until wallowing and weaving disappears and control and traction are optimized.
Shock: Too Much Rebound
Symptoms:
• Ride is harsh, suspension control is limited and traction is lost.
• Rear end will pack in, forcing the bike wide in corners, due to rear squat. It will slow steering because front end is riding high.
• When rear end packs in, tires generally will overheat and will skip over bumps.
• When chopping throttle, rear end will tend to skip or hop on entries.
Solution: Too much rebound. Decrease rebound "gradually" until harsh ride is gone and traction is regained. Decrease rebound to keep rear end from packing.
Shock: Lack of Compression
Symptoms:
• The bike will not turn in entering a turn.
• With bottoming, control and traction are lost.
• With excessive rear end squat, when accelerating out of corners, the bike will tend to steer wide.
Solution: Insufficient compression. Increase compression "gradually until traction and control is optimized and/or excessive rear end squat is gone.
Shock: Too Much Compression
Symptoms:
• Ride is harsh, but not as bad as too much rebound. As speed increases, so does harshness.
• There is very little rear end squat. This will cause loss of traction/sliding. Tire will overheat.
• Rear end will want to kick when going over medium to large bumps.
Solution: Decrease compression until harshness is gone. Decrease compression until sliding stops and traction is regained.


About the Author

Mark Thompson raced motorcycles and managed race teams for over 20 years He now runs a number of websites including www.worldoftheweird.com and www.trackbikes.co.uk

 

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