bump, need some help here guys please

Matt1414,

If your going to do it yourself the best thing to do is watch the 3 videos that DogoZX posted there is great info on there otherwise check to see if there is a high proformance shop around you to help set it up for you also make shore that you have all your gear on when you weigh yourself.

Yeah, cool mate, thanks for the reply. I've watched the vids, seems pretty straight forward - just some mucking around to get it right. I was just after a bit more understanding of that stock front shock setting to use as a base line.

Matt, you are 220 lbs suited/190 unsuited which is the same as me.

I NEVER felt the stock settings were too hard on the front. I stiffened up the front twice and I was till being careful on the quick inclines pulling into a parking lot. A couple times, the front bottomed on me I believe.

I, like you, feel the back was way stiff and I had it jumping off the ground at high speed if there was a large bump. kinda fun but to get the wheels crossed up but not real safe, especially unexpectedly.

I used this excellent thread to start me on my adjustments. The front is easy.

Rebound damping is how fast the shock expands back after absorbing a bump. Compression damping is the opposite---how fast the shock collapses under the force of a bump. Preload is how far open the shock is under the weight of you and the bike---in other words, the normal (ideal) riding height. If you feel your front is too hard, you will want to reduce Preload or make it lower(softer). Compression damping may also need to be reduced. Ihave to tell you though, you are the first person i have ever heard say the front was too stiff.

The back shock has the same settings: Preload, compression & rebound. I was not able to get much change out of the back until I invested in a special tool called a spanner. It is made for the 14 by Kawi and you can order from a dealership ~$40 which is a ripoff but simpler than trying to make one IMO. I actually reduced the preload a lot (like 20 mm) on the back and the only way is with the spanner wrench or you can use a punch and hammer to knock the larger fluted "nut" and locknut loose. Have a look back there and you will see them.

If you are still following this thread, I can tell you exactly where my settings are and you can copy since you are same size as me. Prolly work out well. I did the whole 9 yards adjusting sag and everything. I think I nailed it pretty well.

220 lbs suited/190 unsuited

Glad y'all are bein' safe... but...

LOL--yes, you're right Dogo, I am closer to 200-210 suited depending on how many cheese burgers I have been eating.

Matt-

Front preload, 8mm high, measure grey cylinder part
Measure the height of the cylindrical piece that looks like it is dark grey anodized. I did not include the height of the hex piece on top because that makes measuring more difficult. I used a piece of tag board to mark the height of the cylinder with a mechanical pencil. Then measure the height off of the tag board. There are lines etched into the cylindrical piece and this can be used to eyeball the preload on both forks so that they are roughly the same. You must measure to get them more precise though. Mine is 8 mm.

You may wish to line the inside of the socket with electrical tape or wrap the hex so that the grey surface is not scratched.

You can just take my word on that 8 mm or you can check my suspension sag measurements. Sag is full open suspension (wheels off ground, weight off suspension, 0 load) minus stable compression of suspension under weight of rider, gear, bike.

At my weight leather jacket and pant and helmet gloves and the ZX-14 weight (1/2 tank gas), the front suspension sags (compresses from full open) 40.48mm. Street riding front sag is 35mm-40mm. My preload could be a bit tighter and still be in 35-40mm range. I can't tell you how much tighter but I would guess going to 6 or 7 mm of preload instead of 8mm might do it. At least you know if you have way more than 8 mm, you have way too loose suspension up front for your weight.

Rear Preload, 6 15/16", measure coil spring outside of rear shock

Use a tape measure to measure the height of the coil spring from the bottom to the top edge where the preload adjuster nut touches. My spring is 6 15/16 inches(don't know off hand what that is metric). If your spring is less than that, the preload is probably too stiff and set up for a heavier rider/load. I loosened the spring tension adjuster nut 4 complete turns (counter clockwise), reducing (opening the spring, softer ride less weight)approximately 3.5 mm of preload each turn. I believe the dealership set the rear up for a 200 lb rider and a 120 passenger. It road much better with a small passenger at the setting it was delivered to me at but this was too hard of a ride for just me.

With my weight and the weight of the bike, at the preload setting of 6 15/16" I mentioned above, the sag is 29.46 mm. Ideal street sag is 30-35mm. I could have opened the spring tension adjuster nut another 360 degree turn for a softer ride and probably still been in range. I recommend you mark the adjuster nut with a Sharpie or something so that you can see how much of a turn you made. Don't lose count. Mark it on paper. mark everything carefully on paper so you can return to the settings you have should you not like the way the bike handles or rides.

Here is what I used to adjust the rear preload. It is called a spanner and is available from your Kawi dealer for ~$40. Alternately, you can try to place a punch in a notch on the spring tension adjuster lock nut and tap with hammer. Do the same to loosen the spring tension adjuster nut.

One last thing----I guess I was probably closer to 200 when I set up my suspension. That should make it closer to perfect for a slightly lighter rider as you are (and I hope to become once again). lol Let us know how your measurements compare to mine.

* Last updated by: Rook on 1/30/2011 @ 4:07 PM *

If you want the abridged version, 8mm front, 6 15/16 inch rear.

is that four lines at about 9mm? I don't think I have that right because bgordon says can;t remember number of lines for the setting

IMHO, the lines are not the best way to determine final adjustment. Use a ruler and measure. more mm is softer; less mm is harder.

* Last updated by: Rook on 1/30/2011 @ 4:05 PM *

Thanks for the help Rook, I will do abit of measuring and setting up based on your description and see how it feels. Will post up the result.
Thanks again.

Correction!!!!!!!!

******the rear spring measures 6 15/16" on my bike now. Sorry about the mistake.*********

I have corrected in my posts above.

The rear shock is a bit inaccessible. If your measurement is less than 6 15/16, I'd open the spring up for a 190-200 lb rider.
As far as gear goes, I did my sag measurements with my gear on and helmet. Still seems to ride nice with no gear.....so I would think these settings would be fine for a somewhat lighter rider than me.

* Last updated by: Rook on 1/30/2011 @ 4:18 PM *

Thanks again Rook mate, especially the double measuring of that shock :)

Okay thanks to this thread and Rooks measurements I made some suspension setting changes and it definitely rides alot better.

The previous owner had front preload at 16mm, thats now at 8mm
Rebound damping was all the way in - I wound it out 3 clicks
Compression damping this was 1 click out - I wound it 7 clicks out
Rear preload length of spring was 6 15/16" as per Rooks so no change.
Rear rebound damping was all the way in - I took it 1.5 turms out.
Rear compression damping was all the way in - I took it out 2.5 turns.

Can't wait to get on some real twisty stuff then I will just tweak on component at a time until it is right for me.
Thanks again for the help guys as this is all very new to me.

Rear rebound damping was all the way in - I took it 1.5 turms out.
Rear compression damping was all the way in - I took it out 2.5 turns.

Both the damping and the rebound were set to maximize resistance. I bet the guy who owned it before wanted to increase preload but decided to just restrict the shocks movement. It seems like he would have been better off opening the rebound.

Glad you have it set up closer to how you like it.

So... I just tweeked the bike to your settings, except I went 1 full turn out on compression dampening.

Going to take it out after the wife gets home and see how it feels!

* Last updated by: mymonster on 2/27/2011 @ 6:33 PM *

COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!!!

Gonna take some getn use to.

Lol.

Completely different for the better?? If not just make minor adjustments one at a time until it feels right for you. I have since changed my set up abit more and it is perfect now for me.

Can't believe that was already 4 years ago.......

This old thing still around......been over 2yrs since I said it was 4 yrs already. Still works.........

still here. Still good.

I actually came up with a way to set the exact sag for front and rear. It was based on this write up. Some day I will have to post it.

So, you ARE the Blue06 of old, hey? Good to have you back. As mentioned before love those white wheels. Also thanks for all the great write ups you had done on the old forum. Sorta inspired me.

* Last updated by: Rook on 11/16/2013 @ 6:59 AM *

I recently had my rear shock redone by Traxxion Dynamics. They set it up for my weight and riding style. The spring is a little heavier-rated and they change the valving to match the damping to the spring rate. I have not changed it since I put it back on and the settings it came back with are pretty close to stock, albeit different due to different spring rate and damping valving.

I'm waiting on a fork spring compressor to change the fork oil and renew the seals, even though they weren't leaking. I figure at nearly 40K they must be a little worn. I was running very little preload and had the tubes set at 1 1/8" above the fork crown. Never had a problem with bottoming or running out of clearance, so even though I like it set up a little soft and overdamped, it seemed like there was plenty of spring up front. Possibly a previous owner had upgraded the front springs, but I'm just guessing. Had a chance for one short ride with the new shock and it seemed as if the rear ride height was up a bit from stock, so I'm going with 7 wt. fork oil (5 wt. is stock) to try top better match the increased spring and damping at the rear. I'll probably dial in a bit more preload than I had previously, too.

After a bit of experimentation this spring, I'll report back on the settings I settle on.

When I first got the 06 14 it was either dealer or factory set to CRAP.........I knew there had to be a better ride in there. When I picked up my used 07 I set it up right there in the parking lot before riding off.

It was fun doing this for the old forum......Glad it has been useful.

Look frwd to you inputs

I've already backed off the rear preload TD set when they re-did the shock. I dialed up the front preload to make it a bit stiffer like the rear, but don't want to stiffen it up to the point of harshness. I like it a little soft anyway, which works fine as long as your inputs (throttle, brakes and turn-in) are smooth and the road itself isn't too crappy. Riding fast on a crappy, twisty road is an exercise in gambling in any case.

Even on a smooth road if there is a rapid elevation change you can bottom out. Here in SoCal we have all kinds so I use a lil more stiff setting in case I hit a hill or dip. I'd rather have a hard ride than bottom out. Susp setting are something that we are better off understanding and paying attention to - makes for much better riding :-)

According to the p.o. the BW II came from a dealer in OKC and was his personal bike. Although I have experienced the extreme softness of a stock ZX-14 front suspension, I suspect mine had the fork springs replaced with stiffer units. It has never bottomed on potholes, railroad tracks or dips. I have friends who have scraped the bulges on their lower fairings with the fork tubes at the stock height and I have never done so with mine set 3/4" lower keeping up with them and the preload backed off completely. I just need to play with the adjustments to get both ends working in unison.

* Last updated by: Danno on 1/17/2014 @ 3:49 PM *