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[Verichai]

I weight 150 pounds, can someone suggest suspension settings for a rider of my weight? I like a slightly softer setup as much of my riding occurs in the city. I also ride frequently short distances with a passenger who weighs ~ 125 pounds.

I followed the suggestions in the manual, but I think the damping is off, because now the bike feels quite unpleasant over poor road surfaces where there are many small imperfections.

Thanks in advance!

[Richard230]

I can't comment on the FXS suspension, but on my 2018 (which weighs 452 pounds with its heavy Power Tank), with me as a 160 pound (with riding gear) rider and no passenger, I found the stock suspension settings much too harsh. So I backed off both the spring preload and the damping down to their minimum settings and the suspension still has little movement and remained too harsh when riding over rough paved roads. The bike handles fine on smooth roads and around corners, though.

My belief is that the Zero engineers set up the suspension for loads around 400 pounds and to get the ride performance you are looking for you might need softer springs and also have your suspension set up by a specialist for your weight and riding conditions to achieve the results you are looking for.

[Say10 15FX 16FXS]

I would back off the compression a couple clicks at a time. This should reduce the harshness when you hit bumps. There are plenty of articles that describe setup including static sag, etc. Not as much of a dark art as people think, especially for street riding.

[Demoni]

Static Sag
You will want to set the preload (static sag) to your weight. This calculator allows you to punch in the numbers and also does a good job of explaining how to take those numbers.
https://tro.bike/digitools/motorcycle-suspension-sag/

To get L1 you will need a way to lift the weight of the bike off the wheels. To get accurate measurements for L2 and L3 a front tire chock and a friend (to measure).
Make sure you sit on the bike in the position you would if you were riding. Adjust the preload knobs on your forks and shock till your measurements result in a sag that is around 1/4 - 1/3 of the total suspension travel.
If you ride with a passenger repeat the process with both of you on the bike. Count the turns of the preload knobs needed to adjust the sag measurement back to that 1/4-1/3 range. Now you know how much you need to adjust the preload by depending on if you are solo or two up.

Rebound
With your bike in a wheel chock you want to quickly compress your forks and then remove your hands from the bars so they can rebound freely. You should see them come up and stop.
Open up your rebound adjuster (counter clockwise) a 1/2 turn and then repeat the test. At some point you should see a change, they will fully extend, go back down a little, and then extend again. This means your rebound is too fast, causing a "bounce". Close the adjuster a 1/4 turn at a time till this behavior goes away.

Compression
From your current setting turn the adjuster (count the number of turns) clockwise till it bottoms out (don't force it). From that fully closed position turn counterclockwise (count the number of turns) till you reach top out (again don't force it). Once you know how many turns of adjustment you have set the adjuster to the middle of the range.
Take the bike out for quick ride and pay attention to how it feels. Now open (CCW) the adjusters 1 turn and ride the same route. Since the damper is allowing more oil to flow through the circuit the bike should feel more plush when hitting bumps. Next close (CW) the adjuster 2 turns and repeat the route. Ride should feel a bit stiffer. Make small 1/4 turn adjustments till you find a good balance.

[Verichai]

Excellent, thanks!