Preload question

[tribal_06]

I have a 06 600RR, cant seem to figure out how to set the preload. its freakin soft right now. i dont have the lines on the adjuster thing on the top of the forks. i tried turning them but the whole damn thing turns. cant seem to find anything about it anywhere

edit: i was told it wasnt adjustable but thats hard for me to believe. there has to be another way to adjust it besides swapping out fork springs

[Vtec44]

I'm pretty clueless when it comes to suspension settings, but check these docs out http://www.feelthetrack.com/tuning_guide.htm

[Davey Cracker]

You mentioned it being "freakin soft" lol. Preload is not really going to make it any HARDER. That's what the 'Compression' is for, turning it clockwise is STIFFER and HARDER. "Preload" is really nothing more than ride hight adjustment.... which your bike DOES have. :)

Hope you can handle it. :wiggle

[Asian Dave]

*Sigh* Cracker's so Dreamy....

[Davey Cracker]

*Sigh* Cracker's so Dreamy....



Do you need help getting your's STIFFER too? I'm here to help.

[tribal_06]

haha, i meant i had a lot of sag, jerks haha, im at around 48mm or somewhere around there. i was tired and forgot what i was typing, damn work

[Davey Cracker]

wow 48 huh, thats way too much!... wait did you call me a jerk? lol

[tribal_06]

yeah, thats what i said when i was measuring it. i was like wtf, the back wasnt even that far off from stock settings. got a decent amount of headshake at the track last week, i want it fixed without throwing a ton of money into the forks, thats for later


i guess you're cool, lol, im just a retard, thats all

[Davey Cracker]

Ok glad we got that cleared up. :spit

If you haven't got it figured it out yet, it's the nut on top of the forks that has the small screw in the center...should be about 17mm'ish in size? Not sure what the rr fork caps look like, so that about all i can tell you. Clockwise to decrease sag, adjust both sides evenly. :thumb

But you were right about me being a jerk.

[tribal_06]

Ok glad we got that cleared up. :spit

If you haven't got it figured it out yet, it's the nut on top of the forks that has the small screw in the center...should be about 17mm'ish in size? Not sure what the rr fork caps look like, so that about all i can tell you. Clockwise to decrease sag, adjust both sides evenly. :thumb

But you were right about me being a jerk.

either mine are jacked up or something, i have no lines to tell anything. i turned them about 15 turns or so and they didnt max out. the whole top of the forks was moving too. i know the 03-04 and the 07-08 have the lines to tell you how far out. i was thinking maybe one side was stuck or something but both did it. dammit im confused. i have helped set up a few different bikes and mine is the only one that causes me problems, wtf?

[Vtec44]

pix of the top of your forks?

[Davey Cracker]

Shouldn't be a problem, my r1 fork caps stay flush all the way in or out. They don't have to move up and down to change the preload. I bet if you screw them in all the way and measure you'll have less sag. I'd do that anyway so you have an even starting point.

If there were actual members on this forum beside post whores, someone might have some info on a 600rr. LOL

[tribal_06]

pix of the top of your forks?

i'm at work right now but i'll get some in the morning, actually i might be able to get some with my phone

Shouldn't be a problem, my r1 fork caps stay flush all the way in or out. They don't have to move up and down to change the preload. I bet if you screw them in all the way and measure you'll have less sag. I'd do that anyway so you have an even starting point.

If there were actual members on this forum beside post whores, someone might have some info on a 600rr. LOL

haha yeah, damn post whores

you would think they would stop all the way out or something. i cant see it being more than 10-12 turns all the way out

[Davey Cracker]

Try turning them all the way IN and and let me know what happens. It may take a lot more than 12 FULL revolutions.

Wait, was there any resistance when you were turning them?... maybe they've been turned out too far and became detached from the internal rods?

[Davey Cracker]

Maybe it's really just not adjustable like you were told. :spit

[tribal_06]

i couldnt feel any resistance but they have never been touched, i bought it brand new and never messed with them till now, i might have some pics in a couple mins, i would hate to have to rebuild the forks just to get the preload sag right

[tribal_06]

here are a couple pics, sorry they arent that great, taken at night with my phone

[Chas4RR]

Do you feel/hear a "click" when you turn them on each revolution? Oh wait, that's just a dumb question - i think the preload doesn't click...i dunno about these things too much.

[Davey Cracker]

Yep you have black nuts, that's the one's you should be playing with. Did you turn them in all the way? If so, what happened

[tribal_06]

yeah, i turned the black nuts, i kept turning, probably about 12-15 turns and it never went all the way out, i guess i could just try it again and take some measurements. just threw me off without lines

[Davey Cracker]

Once again, you need to turn them IN. And of course you need to measure, that's what you do when you're adjusting the preload... how else are you going...never mind. lol :)

I'm beginning to think you just like chatting about fixing it on the web. :owneddance

[Dr. GoFast]

http://www.sportrider.com/bikes/146_street_bike_suspension_settings/index.html#honda

start here ^ and reference their '05 600rr settings. there you can see that they suggest 7 turns out from full stiff which means THEY ARE ADJUSTABLE. simply go to all the way stiff and back them out 7 FULL turns from there. these settings are pretty awesome as a starting point for someone of average weight. :thumb i went to cali speedway with their suggested settings for my '04 and although the suspension guy changed my rebound damping a bit, other than that he said my settings were pretty spot on (i'm 5'8 - 160).

re: preload - go here for more info. in layman's terms: http://www.bikesetup.com/ click on "preload" in the left menu.

also, they say that preload doesn't make a bike stiffer, but especially in the rear- i think it does. Think of it this way. the tighter you make the rear preload, the more weight it takes to compress it. This means a bump needs to be shaped in the right way or abrupt enough to put a certain amount of poundage on the spring. thus, smaller bumps that apply little force are not soaked up, and even bigger ones that do carry enough force to push the spring- don't push it as much, the tighter/stiffer you have the preload set. thus, i DO think preload can be equated with stiffness. i know that on my '04, going from setting 5 (track) on the rear to setting 4 (street) makes freeway riding much more bearable. this tells me that preload IS STIFFNESS FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES IF EVEN NOT "TECHNICALLY"

[tribal_06]

i still need to do this shit, i have been pretty lazy. i know about bumps, well rear anyway. i thought the road got worse the first time i was on it after i set up the rest of my suspension.

thanks for the links thought dr