Hi all,

I've had a look over the forum and didn't find anything cover this already, but if it has, I apologise for the repost.

I had a 2000 model 750 before and that felt so solid and I had absolute confidence in it, both on the road and on the track. I bought it second-hand and didn't change the settings. I don't know if they were changed from stock.

I bought a 2004 750 a few months ago and I've never really felt as confident on it as I did with the previous bike. This bike feels, what I can only term as, flighty. It's a slightly lighter bike for sure, but it doesn't feel so planted as I had before. I don't think it's me, but am open to the possibility. I've been getting more and more into trackdays over the last year and have already had the 04 on track where it felt like it wanted to run away from me at times.

I weigh 147lb's without gear and wonder if anyone can give advice for any tweaks to the suspension I could try. I understand the basic concepts of preload, rebound, compression and sag, but don't know how to put these to use, or what to adjust (though I could work it out with the manual). Can anyone offer any advice?

I just bought an 04 about a week ago. I haven't set the sag yet because the bushings in the forks are still tight but currently on the front fork settings we have .75 turns out from full stiff on the rebound damping and 1 turn out from full stiff on the compression.

The rear rebound is really stiff even backed all the way out so currently I'm at the minimum setting and we didn't change the compression.

After I get some miles on it I'll give you some feedback and let you know what I change.

I'm also gonna add some shim to the rear, 4-6mm and drop the front roughly 5mm from stock. You're flighty problem may get better if you put more weight on the front by doing some ride height adjustment. Just a suggestion.

Good luck

Thanks Philbie, I await your feedback http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

i weight 240 lbs and have no problem lol . its pretty much set up for me it handle and rides just like i want with basically no adjustments but i guess its all on the rider and what your used to and like

stop following me will ya http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

after five days testing at the ultra bumpy catalunya track these were the settings many of the factory test riders found ideal. they will work for the road aswell

04 GSXR 750

rear
> pre load 12mm thread
> rebound -3/4 turn
> comp -3/4 turn

front
> pre load 3 lines showing
> rebound -1/2 turn
> comp - 1/2 turn

GIXXERUK said:
after five days testing at the ultra bumpy catalunya track these were the settings many of the factory test riders found ideal. they will work for the road aswell

04 GSXR 750

rear
> pre load 12mm thread
> rebound -3/4 turn
> comp -3/4 turn

front
> pre load 3 lines showing
> rebound -1/2 turn
> comp - 1/2 turn



not to come off as argumentative, but I don't really think that the settings used by a factory test rider hauling ass around a racetrack, bumpy or not, are going to work well for Joe Smoe on his favorite canyon road. Also - you can't just come up with settings that completely disregard rider weight (especially giving preload recommendations), style, etc. I'd consider these numbers about as useful as those regularly published in sportbike rags... not at all.

Without wanting to seem ungrateful, I have to agree with LeanAngle here. What was the rider weight and what's their style of riding? Thanks for the post thought.

eh they are only supposed to be a starting point and then tweeked to your own weight


"you can't just come up with settings that completely disregard rider weight (especially giving preload recommendations), style,"

if this is the case then why ask for someone elses settings, its unlikely someone of the same weight and riding style and road conditions is going to reply

i see your point but it is a starting point but i s'pose so are the factory settings, get yerself off to maxton or somewhere similar jay

"I weigh 147lb's without gear and wonder if anyone can give advice for any tweaks to the suspension I could try"

try away

http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

I'm not doggin ya, UK. I know you were helping http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

I'd say the best starting point is to get on the bike and sag it properly with a couple friends. You'll want to measure both free sag and rider sag, front & rear. If you're able to get an adequate amount of free sag while also getting the rider sag figures you're shooting for, more than likely, your spring rate will work out fine (assuming street riding here - you may want to get a little more finicky for the track). If you can't get the free sag you're looking for once you dial in the rider sag, or if the free sag is excessive, a spring change is in order.

at your weight, I'm guessing the front springs will work out pretty darned well for you right out of the box, but the rear spring may even be a little on the heavy side. try it - see if you can get good sag in the rear (5mm free, at least, 20-30 rider, if not a little more). I don't think that going up in spring rate will be necessary on either end, but don't know for sure.

If you find your springs do require a rate change, it is the single most important improvement you can possibly make to your suspension.

the second most important improvement you can make is to adjust the fork oil level to a point where it provides adequate bottoming protection, but still allows you to use most of your fork travel. ln most cases, this requires less fluid than stock, but I'm not familiar with the '04 forks. once you get your springs set and preload dialed (gotta do that first), or find out the ones you have work, put a zip tie on the lower fork tube, go out and ride fairly hard (but not too hard), including some hard braking, fast turn entries, etc (this is all relative to the riding you're doing - don't go faster than you normally do), and then check out the ziptie. subtract equal amounts of fluid from each leg, in very small increments, until you're using up all but the bottom 10mm or so of travel. actually - you'll want to get even lower on the fork tube eventually, but this gives you a good measure of protection while still allowing you to use more of your suspension travel. Maybe the '04 forks are set up better, but I know on previous models, with the right springs, if you went with the stock oil level, you'd hit the 'hydraulic bottom' at about an inch from the physical bottom. and an inch is alot of travel to throw away when you only have a little over 5 inches total.

THEN work with damping adjustments. and don't just take them out of a book. experiement with them yourself, one change at a time. this way you'll eventually find out what works for you, and at the same time educate yourself on how the adjustments affect your ride.


you can also experiment with the chassis (raising the rear, going down in the front), but if you do, do so in very small increments, one change at a time, and go out and ride enough in between changes so you can feel the dif.

Jody, I did a little experiment with my rebound damping. At the stock settings it would pogo. Not real bad but enough to make a quick transition a handful. Then, for shits and giggles I maxed the rebound out (full damping). The damn fork hardly came back up. http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/wtf.gif Never seen that before on stock forks.

I don't know if that's good or bad... I'm pretty sure the rebound adjustment on both forks would completely shut off oil flow through anything other than the rebound orifices/valve stack. so if the old showas sprang back up with the low-speed adjustment maxed out, where the new ones don't... is it because the valve stack is one heck of alot stiffer, and/or because the piston orifices are smaller?

I know the '00-'03 forks had nice large rebound orifices. I wonder if the new ones don't?

I'd like to think that they tightened up the valve stack a little and kept the big ports, giving a descent range of adjustment and better high speed damping out of the box. you'd think this would be the case.

those forks are too short to retrofit on older bikes, right?

I've heard the valving is really good for the 04. I didn't bother to see what they did with no rebound damping, probably look like a kangaroo.

From what I can tell, the who set-up is pretty good unless you're racing. Springs are too soft but not by much (.85's this year). The rear shock needs revalved IMO on the rebound side.

I have not even set my sag yet. I need to get the bushings worn in a bit first or I think I'll be fighting stiction problems.

well, for the guy posting here, it sounds like the forks will probably be great just the way they are, with the possible exception of modifying the fork oil level, and of course adjusting the sag & finding what damping works.

Philbie - what spring rate are you going with when you change the springs out?

Don't know. I'll have to get the bushings seated and set sag first and find out how far off they are. More likely than not a .90/.95 mix. We'll extend the forks 10mm when we do springs. Probably run 5w oil to help speed things up a touch. I assume the stock oil is heavier.

doesn't traxxion make a .925 spring now? might be an option.

I'll probably just go with the Race Tech springs. I know someone here in town with a .90 and a .95. I'll see if we can get the stock valving to work, if not I'll probably go with the K-Tech valves. My last encounter with a Traxxion dealer left me very unhappy. Not saying their product is bad, I just really didn't like how the forks worked afterwords and the BS I got from them.

Thanks for the posts guys, I've done a little experimenting with rebound on the front and it seems to track a lot better and feel more solid with a half turn in. I'll have a look at the rear now. Of course these are light mods I can do on my own, but I'm not confident enough to touch the other aspects without pro help.