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[Martin]

I need advice on adjusting my suspension. I'm 185 and ride the 405 between the 105 and the 101 everyday. Those who know that freeway know its unforgiving. Any help is appreciated.

[trekguy]

I hate to give misinformation, but on the top of each shock tower there is a screw adjustment that may help  soften up the ride.

[Richard230]

Your owner's manual, starting on page 4.15, has a pretty comprehensive section regarding how to adjust your front and rear suspension.  I think it provides as good advice as any that you are likely to read here.  If you do not feel comfortable with spinning suspension dials, there are likely several specialty shops in your area that will adjust your suspension for you for not much expense (I paid $40 at a nearby suspension shop and took them 30 minutes to perform), although most of these experts do tend to adjust suspension for riding on racetracks and not the 405.   

[GNU]

Let us know how it worked out.
I've been spoiled with good suspension on other bikes and have not yet been able to adjust my SR to ride comfortably on regular paved streets.
The front suspension seem to be the worst. Normal travel seem to be about 1-2cm and I have to get out of the seat when I cross railways and uneven pavement.

I've tried to soften the suspension and I've tried to harden it... No success yet.

Is it possible to replace the front forks with another brand? Is there such a thing as standard dimensions on forks?

[BSDThw]

If you only want to change the fork rod you should be able to use one with the same diameter the 43mm are not the diameter at the clamp its the diameter at the rod!!!.
It has to be correct with the clamps distance mine get thinner between the triple clamp!

But you have to take care because your brake needs the correct bracket. You maybe need a different brake caliper!

You also could look for a DS or FX fork rod with longer travel but I fear it wouldn't change much for the adjusting.

As much as I see hard or soft would need to change the springs inside the fork. The other adjustment is only the speed the oil travels inside the "valves"

[Doug S]

If you want to replace your forks, search for "Palomar" on this forum. There's a thread of a guy near me who has an SR which he's racing up and down Mount Palomar Road, a local bike hotspot. He's pretty radically modifying his front end, including a new wheel, new forks and dual disk brakes. It's beautiful and induces me to drool, but just over-the-top expensive for my purposes. But I'm sure he's worked through what fits and doesn't fit, though IIRC he may have had to put on a new triple clamp too.

[Richard230]

I set the compression damping adjustment screw on my forks to the minimum (all the way out and one click back), which is located at the bottom of the forks and it seems to give a smoother ride (keeping in mind that I never brake hard and therefore have never experienced excessive brake dive).  You might also try adjusting the rebound screw at the top of the forks to its minimum and see how that works.  No doubt it will make the front forks too "bouncy", but then you can tighten the adjustment screw a couple of clicks at a time until the ride and handling around corners feels better to you.

[ut-zero]

I weigh 160 lbs and ride some rough roads.  Dialing everything a few clicks towards F definitely made the ride much smoother.  I still keep a stiff preload in the back since I sometimes have a passenger.

[trekguy]

Richard230:

For the smoothest possible ride, do you mean to turn the bottom front fork screw fully clockwise, then back off 1 click? Or counterclockwise?
Thanks

[Richard230]

Richard230:

For the smoothest possible ride, do you mean to turn the bottom front fork screw fully clockwise, then back off 1 click? Or counterclockwise?
Thanks

Turn the screw at the bottom of each fork fully counter-clockwise and then clockwise one click.

[trekguy]

OK thanks.  I will give it a try.

Is the range of adjustment THAT great?  I mean is it like going from a Lexus LS460 ride (when set to its softest) to a Corvette Z06 (at its firmest)? Or is it just a subtle difference in bump absorption?

I appreciate all the help this forum provides.

[Richard230]

OK thanks.  I will give it a try.

Is the range of adjustment THAT great?  I mean is it like going from a Lexus LS460 ride (when set to its softest) to a Corvette Z06 (at its firmest)? Or is it just a subtle difference in bump absorption?

I appreciate all the help this forum provides.

To be honest, I haven't tried the Zero's full range of suspension adjustments, so I can't offer an opinion for the Fast Ace parts.  However, most other adjustable (cheap) suspensions that I have tried provide only a limited range of dampening and that tends to be only in the slow range of movement.  You still get bumped around when hitting a sharp bump as the adjustments do not affect fast suspension movements.  BMW's stock suspensions are a good example of this.  They provide a nice ride on easy bumps, like a driveway swale, but feel like they lock up when hitting a sharp bump like the edge of a pothole.

My suggestion is to set the damping screws for full soft, go for a ride and if the bike feels funny, or weaves while going around a corner quickly, then keep tightening up the suspension screws (start with the rebound screw first) until things settle down and you feel comfortable with the suspension action.  Before you fiddle with the rear shock damping adjustments, first make sure that you have enough preload and that you are not getting more than about 40mm of sag compared with a fully extended rear shock when you sit on the bike.

The compression damping controls how fast the fork or shock compresses when hitting a bump or (also in the case of the front suspension) when you brake hard.  Rebound tends to be the most effective when controlling suspension movement, which is why most standard stock shocks only have rebound adjustments (BMW again).

[Martin]

Richard230:

For the smoothest possible ride, do you mean to turn the bottom front fork screw fully clockwise, then back off 1 click? Or counterclockwise?
Thanks

Thanks, this is what I did. Next step would be to get a little me comfortable seat.

[Richard230]

Richard230:

For the smoothest possible ride, do you mean to turn the bottom front fork screw fully clockwise, then back off 1 click? Or counterclockwise?
Thanks

Thanks, this is what I did. Next step would be to get a little me comfortable seat.

I recommend buying an Air Hawk seat cushion.  Sort of expensive for what you get, but they really work well, plus they can be moved to the next motorcycle that you purchase.  Just be sure to get one that fits the size and shape of your seat, as they have a number of different models and follow the inflation instructions. They attach via straps placed under the stock seat.  The straps are secured to each other with Velco.  The pad has a rubber base that provides a bit of anti-slip security, too.  Most people believe it is a great product and it really helped making the very hard seat of my 2012 Zero bearable.