Adjusting ES suspension ???

Cycledude

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Rib lake wi
Member Sierra1 posted this in a different thread today “On the ES, preload and compression/rebound are separate. Preload has to be set while stationary, and out of gear. Compression/rebound has a s**t ton of variations/combinations, and can be set/changed while on the move. ”

I was totally unaware the ES suspension adjustment actually worked that way so got out my 2018 ES owners manual and sure enough there it is on page 4-35 through 4-40 !

Does anyone happen to know how much the ride height actually changes between the 1,2,3 settings ?
don’t know what mine is currently set at but it stands up to straight while parked on the side stand so I need to be very careful where I park so it doesn’t fall over on the right side, hopefully pressing a couple simple buttons on the handlebars could pretty much eliminate this very annoying issue my bike has had for its first 14,000 miles ?
 
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ballisticexchris

Guest
Oh yes there are a bunch (84 different settings) of suspension configurations for our ES bikes. When I stop to park, I try to remember to put it on 2 helmets + luggage hard 3. That way the bike does not stand up so much. When you are seated you can feel the bike lower and raise with the preload settings. Keep in mind there are only three "preset" damping settings you can adjust while on the move. Whatever you have your preload set at, you have soft, standard, and hard presets you configure before you take off.

Here are the ride height measurements I took when bike was new, and when it had my normal load before and after raising links. To make it simple I kept all the damper settings at standard 0. I found that the stiffer you go with damping the ride height raises. I'm 200-210 in street clothes and 220-230 in gear.

When bike was brand new as you see it here:
402B8111-6255-44C8-989C-7565CECAB731.jpeg



1 helmet/standard 0: 48mm free sag/87mm rider sag

1 helmet and luggage/standard 0: 46mm free/82mm rider

2 helmets/standard 0: 32mm free/72mm rider

2 helmets and luggage/standard 0: 29mm free/68 rider


Before and after dog bones install after riding the bike a season or so. By raising the bike (via dogbones) the suspension is noticeably stiffer and ride height changes considerably.

Fully geared up with all my tools, 3 liters of water, full tank of fuel, and empty panniers mounted:

45E32A05-CC20-440B-A774-62896095F830.jpeg



Stock suspension, stock dogbones
1 Helmet/standard 0
Static 66mm
Rider 105mm
With raised dogbones
Static 64mm
Rider 98mm



1 Helmet + luggage/standard 0
Static 62mm
Rider 96mm
With raised dogbones

Static 60mm
Rider 95mm



2 Hemets/standard 0
Static 52mm
Rider 88mm
With raised dogbones

Static 50mm
Rider 85mm



2 Helmets + luggage/standard 0
Static 46mm
Rider 84mm
With raised dogbones

Static 44mm
Rider 82mm
 

ocgeek

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Aug 20, 2019
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Italy
I have an ES like yours. The (rear) preload setting (and those are 4 not 3 setings ) indeed change the back of the bike height by some cm (havn't measured that but you feel the bike raising) i would say 6 cm delta rough min to max
That said and having set and used it in all of those 4 possibilities no way the bike has issue like the one you describe above. I can side stand it without any problem
Could you take a picture of what you describe ?
 

Squibb

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Bedford, UK
Couldn't tell you what the difference is, but I do wonder why your bike is sitting low. There is a considerable ride height difference between one helmet & 2 helmets + luggage. Seems you haven't got any warning light/code, but you could try a suspension reset ........... https://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?threads/how-to-reset-the-es-suspension.24849/ .
This works in a similar way to resetting a car's electric windows.

Have you ever loaded the bike perhaps a little too heavily or noticed the spring is sagging or bottoming out when riding? IIRC the preload should be adjusted without the weight of the rider/pillion in situ, to avoid upsetting the servo.
 
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ballisticexchris

Guest
Mine does the same thing as Cycledude's when the suspension preload is in the soft setting. Especially if you have any kind of weight on board like tools, panniers, top box, etc. I believe what he is describing is the bike standing up straight on the verge of tipping over. to the right. I also have a side stand foot mounted which raises it up even more.
 
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ballisticexchris

Guest
Could you take a picture of what you describe ?
Here is mine in 1 helmet + luggage preload. almost tipped it over when mounting it. Hard to see but it's almost straight up and down. Very annoying!! As soon as I get about 10,000 miles on it I'll be looking to do a full suspension re-valve and proper spring rates. 8A8A3CC3-5FF9-4CF7-A5C1-960573EDCD72.jpeg
 

WJBertrand

Ventura Highway
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Jun 20, 2015
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Ventura, CA
Member Sierra1 posted this in a different thread today “On the ES, preload and compression/rebound are separate. Preload has to be set while stationary, and out of gear. Compression/rebound has a s**t ton of variations/combinations, and can be set/changed while on the move. ”

I was totally unaware the ES suspension adjustment actually worked that way so got out my 2018 ES owners manual and sure enough there it is on page 4-35 through 4-40 !

Does anyone happen to know how much the ride height actually changes between the 1,2,3 settings ?
don’t know what mine is currently set at but it stands up to straight while parked on the side stand so I need to be very careful where I park so it doesn’t fall over on the right side, hopefully pressing a couple simple buttons on the handlebars could pretty much eliminate this very annoying issue my bike has had for its first 14,000 miles ?
If by 1, 2, 3 (and -1,-2, -3) you mean the fine adjustments within each damping setting, these don’t affect ride height at all. Only the four spring preload settings affect that.

Also, you can’t access those fine damping settings unless stopped, but you can change between soft, standard and hard whilst underway. It takes a bit more fiddling, deeper dive into the menus to set those fine adjustment and I think Yamaha didn’t want you to have your eyes off the road long enough to adjust them.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
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MIKE R

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Feb 5, 2012
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722
Location
Lancashire, UK
I have the same problem as Cycledude as well

This is a picture of my bike on the side stand taken a couple of yeas ago. It's a;most vertical on the sidestand, The suspension is set at COMFORT with rider (one helmet) only

Mike
 

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Cycledude

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Rib lake wi
Thanks for all your replies !
After reading through this thread it seems pretty obvious I’m not the only one that didn’t understand how the adjustments work, some folks that think they understand it actually don’t .
Thanks to Sierra1 for alerting me to how it actually works and causing me to look it up in the ES owners manual again !
As in most cases the instructions tend to cause confusion but if you read them close enough you might eventually understand them.
Because of the warnings in the owners manual to not attempt adjusting the suspension when the temperature is near freezing I haven’t attempted to make any changes to mine yet but when it finally warms up here I’m pretty sure changing the preload adjustment is going to finally pretty Much end my parking on the side-stand issues.
 
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ballisticexchris

Guest
Cycledude, you are going to enjoy the handling and ride characteristics a lot more. In just over 5,000 miles of ownership I'm still playing with all the different adjustments. Yamaha did it right with the valving on this bike. Even though it's sprung too softly, it still rides and handles amazing.
 

Cycledude

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Cycledude, you are going to enjoy the handling and ride characteristics a lot more. In just over 5,000 miles of ownership I'm still playing with all the different adjustments. Yamaha did it right with the valving on this bike. Even though it's sprung too softly, it still rides and handles amazing.
Yes I hear complaints about Springs not being strong enough on nearly every model of motorcycle I have ever owned but that’s simply not the case for me the stock springs are fine, I actually let someone talk me into heavier springs for one of my bikes many years ago, after a year of riding like no suspension I finally removed the heavier springs and put the stock springs back in and could not believe how much better it rode !
 
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ballisticexchris

Guest
Yes I hear complaints about Springs not being strong enough on nearly every model of motorcycle I have ever owned but that’s simply not the case for me the stock springs are fine, I actually let someone talk me into heavier springs for one of my bikes many years ago, after a year of riding like no suspension I finally removed the heavier springs and put the stock springs back in and could not believe how much better it rode !
How so very true on this bike. The sag numbers don't lie. This bike is way too soft. OTOH, the numbers are not riding the bike. For the type of riding I do I'm very pleased with the OEM setup.

I actually tried to get a stiffer rear spring. It was suggested by the Race Tech service manager to wait until I need an oil refresh/bushing and seal replacement at around 10,000 miles. I will then drop off the bike and let them work their magic. At that time they will carefully measure and select the spring rates, machine the spacers, and valve it to match my riding style. The ES suspension is fully rebuildable which is a plus.

This is the first bike I have ever owned where the OEM suspension feels great right out of the box. Yamaha engineers really did a good job on the ES Super Tenere.

Something to consider is whenever you go up (or down) more than a few rates on the spring, a re-valve is a must. The stiffer spring ends up overcoming the valving making for a very harsh ride. On my dirt bikes I always go as stiff as I can on the springs and soft on the valving. It makes for a bike that rides high in the stroke but is plush through the travel.
 

Sierra1

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Joshua TX
….Thanks to Sierra1 for alerting me to how it actually works....
Thank you, but that's how I think it works. Real world application seems to back it up, but take what ever I say with a grain of salt. :D MY guestimate is that each helmet equals 200lb-ish; luggage equals 50lbs-ish. I'm 300lbs, so I use two helmets, and then run the rebound/compression softer. Works great for ME, but everybody has different preferences. When my wife rides with me, I add the luggage symbol, and run the compression/rebound on the stiffer side. With two helmets, the bike leans over pretty good; which I prefer. I too, am totally satisfied with the OE suspension....and I'm a fat ass. :oops:
 
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Cycledude

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Solar heat has my garage temperature up to 70 degrees today so I monkeyed with the Tenere suspension a little, the preload was set as low as it goes probably since new so I raised it up , didn’t measure anything but it definitely raises it a considerable amount and I’m very confident that’s going to put an end to my side-stand parking issues. Right now it’s set on two helmets and dampening is set as soft as it goes. I think that will be plenty but there is still room to raise it higher, next time I go riding I will be doing some experimenting, my yard is mostly covered in very slick ice right now or I would have taken it for a ride today.
 

outdoor

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Jan 13, 2023
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Ottawa, Canada
Member Sierra1 posted this in a different thread today “On the ES, preload and compression/rebound are separate. Preload has to be set while stationary, and out of gear. Compression/rebound has a s**t ton of variations/combinations, and can be set/changed while on the move. ”

I was totally unaware the ES suspension adjustment actually worked that way so got out my 2018 ES owners manual and sure enough there it is on page 4-35 through 4-40 !

Does anyone happen to know how much the ride height actually changes between the 1,2,3 settings ?
don’t know what mine is currently set at but it stands up to straight while parked on the side stand so I need to be very careful where I park so it doesn’t fall over on the right side, hopefully pressing a couple simple buttons on the handlebars could pretty much eliminate this very annoying issue my bike has had for its first 14,000 miles ?
Are compressio and rebound not 2 separate adj?

I thought there are 3 possible adj on suspensions

Sag compression and rebound

So is the 1 person 1 person with luggagr 2 person 2 with luggage not the preload settings and the softbstd hard either compression or rebound?
 

Sierra1

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Are compressio and rebound not 2 separate adj?

I thought there are 3 possible adj on suspensions

Sag compression and rebound

So is the 1 person 1 person with luggagr 2 person 2 with luggage not the preload settings and the softbstd hard either compression or rebound?
Compression/rebound are not really the same, but they are adjusted as one.
Sag is a result of adjustment. Preload is the 1-helmet, 2-helmet, and luggage. Compression/rebound is the "hard" "std" and "soft" settings in combination with the +1 through -3. For example, you could have a preload setting of 1-helmet and compression/rebound setting of "soft" +1. Me personally have assigned 200lbs to each helmet, and 50lbs for luggage. Preload is fairly straightforward, but finding your preference for rebound/compression could take a while. And that setting will/can change depending on road surfaces.
 

Jlq1969

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The preload is only in the rear spring….the rebound and the sinkingis,… forward and back together
 
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outdoor

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So, i just pulled the trigger and bought a 2020 Super Tenere. If i understand it correctly. THe 1 helmet, 1 helmet + Luggage, 2 Helmet, 2 helmet +luggage are presets?

so for my 250lbs,i may need to select 1 helmet +luggage to get the proper sag ? There is no way to reset 1 helmet to give me the 30% of shock travel? So when i have luggage i may need to select 2 helmet + Luggage to get proper sag.

If i cannot get proper sag with any of the settings, a stronger spring may be requred? Do i understand it correctly?
 

Jlq1969

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So, i just pulled the trigger and bought a 2020 Super Tenere. If i understand it correctly. THe 1 helmet, 1 helmet + Luggage, 2 Helmet, 2 helmet +luggage are presets?

so for my 250lbs,i may need to select 1 helmet +luggage to get the proper sag ? There is no way to reset 1 helmet to give me the 30% of shock travel? So when i have luggage i may need to select 2 helmet + Luggage to get proper sag.

If i cannot get proper sag with any of the settings, a stronger spring may be requred? Do i understand it correctly?
You should start from the premise that the maximum load capacity of S10, is around 210 kg... and that the average weight of a adult male person (a helmet)... is around 80/85 kg
 
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