Suspension adjustment for the 03 ZR636

1765 Views 8 Replies 7 Participants Last post by c0_re, Sep 27, 2004

c0_re

Discussion Starter · Sep 13, 2004

OK First off I wanted to thank ZX-2R, 1Adam12 and Edawg636 for helping and giving me some great tips with for first oil change on this bike, Great replies guys many many thanks!

OK the reason I'm asking all these questions is cause I don't have a manual for my bike(03 636) (bought the bike with 900 Miles on it) nor do I have any friends\family that ride or no jack about MC's. So I apologize ahead of time for asking questions I should already know the answer too. None of my previous bikes had anything but rear preload\spring adjustment.

As we all know the 03 has some rock hard suspension, right now mine is set to about the middle of the range and the back end still seems to leave the road a little too easily taking bumpy corners, I did about 3 foot slide the other day and almost filled my shorts after I got back control.

So yea here it comes how do I adjust the compression and rebound damping on this bike and what should I adjust it too? Before I picked the bike up I asked the mechanic to soft up the rear and front all the way, but when I picket up the bike he said he just went in the middle so I didn't bottom it out. I'm just assuming he wasn't aware of the issues with he 03 636 being WAY over damped and was just trying to keep me safe or something alone those lines. Thanks allot everyone and I promise once I get this thing figure out I'll quit asking newbie questions. THANKS!

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1Adam12

· #4 · Sep 14, 2004

spdrkt ZX7R said:
Sportrider recomends these settings for your bike. You might also want to check our their suspension tuning guide. Its pretty good. It will explain the basics of suspension setup, but I have found that the easiest way to learn is to do it yourself. Exact setup depends on your wieght (in full gear), the type of riding you do, how aggressive you ride, ect...

I would suggest that you go by Sportriders settings (baseline) for a short while, and as soon as you get accustomed to them go to a road that you ride often, and adjust everything to full soft. Be careful when your suspension is set like this. The tires will not grip well and your suspension will have very little rebound and dampening so mistakes in your riding will be very noticable. Just do this to get an idea of what full soft suspension feels like. After you see what this is like adjust your suspension halfway between full soft and your baseline and ride the road again. This will give you an idea what the difference is when your suspension comes closer to being correctly tuned. I take tools to adjust my suspension all the time when I ride, and I would reccomended that you keep a small notebook to record all that happens i.e. settings, what each change did to feel ect... It's just a matter of tweaking and adjusting until you get a setting that feels comfortable and offers good performance characteristics.

Keep in mind I am not an expert on suspension tuning, but I have read plenty of articles on the subject. I'm just an above average amateur wrench that strives to know every aspect of my bike.

Get a log book for your bike...It can be just your typical spiral notebook you use in school and write things down as you do them. I would keep a maintenance section with miles and things done and write down reminders.

Since you are working on your suspension and already know that your current settings are too stiff(too much damping) Record your current settings and notate how it felt to you. I would use the above suggestion to work on your suspension and get a feel for it.

If you have an extra $50.00 I would highly recommend getting this video or DVD from Traxxion.
Suspension for Mortals!

http://www.traxxion.com/store/detail.asp?product_id=SUS4V

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