Desert Sled suspension settings.

44535 Views 72 Replies 13 Participants Last post by Javerhammar, 18 d ago

mAttitude

Discussion Starter · Jul 1, 2017 (Edited)

Hi all.

Has anyone else tweaked their suspension settings?

OK I have not had the DS long and not that many miles but straight off I have found the front forks really hard and not compliant or confidence inspiring at all.

So after two days riding I thought that it was time to read the manual and start to play with the adjustable suspension...

Firstly, I am no expert.
The rear is pretty soft, not too much sag but nicely sprung and damped so I have left it alone for now. No "chicken strips" on the rear tyre so it must be doing its job ok. I was surprised to see this when I looked at the rear with so few miles on the clock and me taking it easy.

The front.... Every bump, pot hole, drain cover was a torture. The roads around Surrey are sh1te so I can't avoid every little imperfection. It was actually a big reason for choosing this bike.
There was negligible sag on the front so I started by turning the front preload off a half turn which equals half a mm of preload, I will probably try another half turn in time. I think that it has helped but not a huge difference. Little steps work best...
I softened the compression two clicks and the rebound by one click during today's ride. Overall these changes have made a huge difference, it doesn't feel like riding a piece of 2 by 4 with no front springs anymore.
Anyway, it's great to be able to adjust it. For the record I weigh about 90kg (198 lb).

Oh, nearly forgot, I love this bike, great fun and a little bit of character. I must take some photos too but I just keep riding it.....

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Max Kool

· #2 · Jul 1, 2017

Start by checking the default settings on the damping. Front should be both 8 clicks out from full clockwise.

Rear like 1 and a quarter turn out afaik.

mAttitude

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 2, 2017

Thanks Max.
Yeah, I started by checking that all the settings were correct to start with, for road riding anyway.
The manual does give some very different settings for off road so I felt confident to start adjusting.

Max Kool

· #4 · Jul 2, 2017 (Edited)

The front softens up over time. Still the high speed damping seems to harsh for me sometimes.

Btw, I think it's amazing how the DS reacts to changes in the suspension settings. I upped the rear preload half an inch which noticebly improved the bike's flickabiity.

Little General

· #5 · Feb 1, 2018

I rode my new DS home from the dealer on a windy cold day last week and haven't ridden again until today. For the last week I have been wondering if buying the DS was a mistake. I'm on my tiptoes with the low seat and I went for a 30 mile ride today and was no happier. Every bump in the road just went up my arms to my core so I read this post you started and then got out my owners manual to read up on suspension settings. My front preloads were 2 turns in and both compression and rebound were 2 clicks out. My rear shock was no preload and I have no idea of the rebound screw. Anyway, I set the front by the book and put about 10mm in the rear spring and went for another 30 mile ride. Now I'm in the "I really like you" stage and I'm sure a few more miles I will be in love with my new DS. The bike didn't bounce around and pop up over every crack. What a difference it made. i just don't understand why the dealer didn't check this during that "dealer setup" I paid for. Anyone got some insite on the hard/soft setting for the rear shock?

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Max Kool

· #6 · Feb 1, 2018

Manual tells us (but you figured this out already):

Front forks, normal weight rider:
compression damping: 8 clicks out from closed
rebound damping: 8 clicks out from closed
preload: 7 complete turns in from fully unloaded

Rear shock
rebound damping: 3/4 turn open from fully closed (clockwise)
preload: 14mm

Mine was wrongly setup too btw, way too harsh on the front comp and rebound.

Little General

· #7 · Feb 1, 2018 (Edited)

Thanks, I will do the 3/4 open thing later, it was 62 degrees this afternoon and now we have winter storm warning coming. Oh well.

Reactions: 1

vincelp

· #8 · Feb 4, 2018

Little General : by a cold day, the fork oil is less fluid, which makes the fork harder.

On my DS, I've just opened a little bit the compression damping on the fork, to get it softer.
I noticed recently that by a cold morning, I find the fork a little bit harder than usual.

Reactions: 1

al399

· #9 · Mar 21, 2018

Full clockwise on the rear preload makes the rear go lower?

Max Kool

· #10 · Mar 21, 2018

Depends on how you look at it. But yes, the shock regular threaded.

danketchpel

· #11 · Apr 10, 2018

The settings on my bike were waaaay off from the dealer. No wonder I hated it. I went back and set things to the manual kinda in the middle between their street/dirt settings to start. Some of their dirt settings were kinda weird.

Here's the settings I'm currently at. This is for a mix of road and off-road riding, umm.... like real world dual sport. Obviously they require different settings to be optimal for either, but I prefer getting it fairly close for both and then just minor adjustments. I also prefer a more "working" suspension vs on the stiffer side. Some people like things "tightened up", it's a preference thing.

For reference I'm about 205 - 210 geared up depending on what I'm wearing or if I'm using a backpack.

Forks;
Preload about 5.5 lines showing.
Compression 9 clicks
Rebound 12 clicks (I might tighten this up just a bit, maybe 1 click, for the street)

Rear shock;
I need to see about measuring the preload. Right now it's about 2" of sag I think
Rebound between 1 1/8 to 1 1/4 turns out depending on the ride. I increase the rebound a little for street vs dirt.

What I've found to be an issue in the dirt is the wheels are on the heavy side for sure. I'm not sure how much weight can be taken out of the wheels, probably the tubes and that's about it. I also think the low profile tires really increase the impact transmission as the sidewalls can't flex as much as taller tires. I really believe the bike would ride and handle better with narrower/taller profile tires. I'm thinking to try the following next;

Front 110/80
Rear 150/70

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Reactions: 1

Little General

· #12 · Apr 13, 2018

I have been playing with the front forks lately by dropping the triple tree down to maybe get my feet a little firmer on the ground. I started with a 1/2” and noticed no difference so today I went to a 1” showing above the trees. I took a long ride and the only thing I could tell was if I were to wiggle the bars left to right just a little , the bike seemed a little “upset” kind of jerkey. Hard to explain. I may go back to a 1/2” tomorrow to see if what I felt changes. The dealer service Dept was no help on how much I could go. What are the signs of going too far?

Max Kool

· #13 · Apr 13, 2018

I don't understand what you mean with "jerky", unless you mean it want to fall into turns....

Little General

· #14 · Apr 14, 2018

I guess it’s like it could go into tank slapping mode for a better phrase. I was making sure my phone was in my back pocket and riding with one hand felt like if you let it, the bars could start going back and forth left to right . It could be my imagination , idk.

danketchpel

· #15 · Apr 14, 2018

Little General said:
I guess it’s like it could go into tank slapping mode for a better phrase. I was making sure my phone was in my back pocket and riding with one hand felt like if you let it, the bars could start going back and forth left to right . It could be my imagination , idk.

That is what I would expect by moving the forks up in the clamps. It will steepen the rake angle and reduce trail which reduces stability but quickens steering reaction.

danketchpel

· #16 · Apr 14, 2018

danketchpel said:
The settings on my bike were waaaay off from the dealer. No wonder I hated it. I went back and set things to the manual kinda in the middle between their street/dirt settings to start. Some of their dirt settings were kinda weird.

Here's the settings I'm currently at.

For reference I'm about 205 - 210 geared up depending on what I'm wearing or if I'm using a backpack.

Forks;
Preload about 5.5 lines showing.
Compression 9 clicks
Rebound 12 clicks (I might tighten this up just a bit, maybe 1 click, for the street)

Rear shock;
I need to see about measuring the preload. Right now it's about 2" of sag I think
Rebound between 1 1/8 to 1 1/4 turns out depending on the ride. I increase the rebound a little for street vs dirt.

I'm finding these settings are pretty good though I've made a couple changes;

Fork compression loosened up from 9 clicks to 11
Also for street increase rebound from 12 to 11 clicks

Rear shock for street riding tighten up the rebound a bit closer to 1 - 1 1/8
I backed off preload just a smidge (technical term, LOL).

Reactions: 1

Little General

· #17 · Apr 14, 2018

OK , after a 75 mile ride today, I'm satisfied with the 1" drop of the triple trees on the front forks and can tell no difference in the steering . I have maybe 1/4" of thread showing on the rear shock and 2 turns off the compression and I'm at 12 clicks compression and 13 on the rebound on the front forks with 5 rings showing. Right now I'm happy with the ride quality bot have only 530 miles on the bike ,so I know it will loosen up a little more over time. I also noticed today that the exhaust sound got a little more "Ducati" sounding today.

Reactions: 2

al399

· #18 · Jun 5, 2018

Is there any kind of video -how to- or tutorial how to lower the rear of the DS via rear preload adjustment?

Pmedina

· #19 · Jun 5, 2018

al399 said:
Is there any kind of video -how to- or tutorial how to lower the rear of the DS via rear preload adjustment?

No, because the preload adjustement and the height of the motorbike are different affairs.
The shock of the DS hasn´t height adjustment.

Reactions: 1

al399

· #20 · Jun 5, 2018

Via the preload adjustment the rear of the bike goes lower or higher before you mount on the bike.

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