Desert Sled suspension settings.

bill77 said:

You're right.
So if I want to soften the rear a bit more, how far do you think i could go with the rebound ?
I initially tried to decompress the spring, but it did not improve softness, it just made the bike lower in the rear, the side stand holding the bike very vertical in some situations.
So I put it back to normal.

Click to expand...

If you've reached the point of "too little" preload on the spring and gone back the next thing that needs adjusting is what isn't available, compression dampening. The rebound should be set to control the "spring back" after compression and is needs to be adjusted in concert with preload, which is why they at least gave us that.

Less rebound dampening will allow the rear suspension to return to it's decompressed state faster and more will slow the return. If the rebound dampening is too much it will return very slow and the suspension will "pack up" under rapidly succeeding bumps and not give you full travel. It will also feel sort of sluggish and unresponsive. If there is too little rebound it will feel more "springy" and tend to "pogo stick" when you go over bumps instead of dampening out the cycle. For rebound you want the return rate to be such that the wheel can follow bumpy surfaces well keeping it in contact but not return so fast as to create another compression cycle (think pogo stick).

I'd suggest keeping within the 1 1/8 turn out (pretty light rebound) and 3/4 turn out (heavier rebound). That seems to be the working range in general. I tried as far out as 1 1/2 turns and it will pogo on the faster stuff and below 3/4 turns it starts to feel sluggish and the wheel won't return fast enough. I do use around 3/4 turns out for 2 up riding with more preload on pavement. There are no clicks so you have visually approximate the turns out.

What I would suggest is starting with less rebound (say 1 1/2 turns out) and see how much it pogo sticks over bumps, then progressively increase the rebound damping turning in about 1/8 of a turn until you stop the pogo action and it feels neutral, not springy or sluggish. You can get a very rough estimate when you bounce on the seat and see how it returns in comparison to the forks. But I've found the forks need a little less dampening than the rear to balance out in actual riding.

What myself and others wish for is adjustable compression dampening which controls the rate of compression when you hit bumps. I'd like to be able to back off the compression dampening (allowing the suspension to soak up the bump faster) for off-road some depending on terrain and even be able to increase it a bit for 2 up riding on pavement which helps from bottoming out.

I am working with a local suspension tuner to see about adding adjustable dampening to the stock shock. All that is needed is an adjustable orifice at the end of the hose where the oil enters the remote reservoir. My challenge is I haven't found another KYB remote reservoir shock I can source an adjustable compression dampening reservoir from. Virtually every other KYB shock I've looked at has a built-in reservoir but I have not exhaust the search at all.

Most of the aftermarket shocks that have hose connected remote reservoirs have the compression adjustment built into the reservoir. I am also considering placing a valving block in between the hose and reservoir or possibly machining in the required needle valve but that's sort of the last resort in my book. Another option might be to source a reservoir from a different brand shock. I'd really prefer to keep the OEM KYB shock body as I really like how it's mounted vs all of the aftermarket shocks that reverse the position putting the shock body on the bottom.

al399 said:

Just a little help with the terms since my manual is not well translated. When rebound or compression (either front or rear) are at position 0 which means fully clockwise the rebound and dampening is @ maximum. when you start rotating the screw anti-clockwise we reduce the compression or the dampening. when you say 1 turn out does it mean 1 turn anti-clockwise from fully closed position? this way you reduce the compression or rebound by 1 turn from the maximum setting.
for the spring preload when the spring is fully extended you have to screw to add preload or unscrew to reduce the preload.

Click to expand...

Yes, your understanding of dampening adjustment is correct. Fully closed (clockwise) will result in maximum dampening as you are restricting the oil flow. As you turn the adjuster counter (anti) clockwise you will open up the restriction to allow the oil to flow more freely resulting in less dampening.

For the forks both the compression and rebound have "clickers" on the adjusters so you will feel a click approximately every 20 degrees or so as you open. Open it slowly and count the clicks you feel as you turn the adjuster.

For the rear shock rebound there are no clicks (I wish there were) so you have estimate the amount of turns, or fractions of a turn in this case, by the position of the slot.

Correct also on the spring preload. Rotating the rings counter clockwise (as viewed from the top of the shock) will release pressure on the spring reducing preload. Turning the rings clockwise will compress the spring increasing preload. I found it easiest to measure from the machine flat to the top of the highest ring, but it's a rather small distance so you need a precision rule to record it. I use a machinist rule but I realize most people don't have one. Any means of measuring the change in distance will help you to record changes. In the end I adjust preload by feel/ride/handing then attempt to record the setting so I can get back to it.

I hope that helps, it not just ask more questions.

Thanks I was really worried. I'm making an adventure bike for long long distance. Any thing you would add?

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