Experimenting with the ES

[Gen2S10]

The wife and I took our first ride together on the S10ES today. I set the pre-load DAMPING to HARD 0 and 2 riders+bags. About15 miles into the ride we had to stop because it was just too harsh. I re-adjusted pre-load DAMPING to STD 0 and 2 riders no bags. The ride was more comfortable and we stayed with it through the rest of the ride. I do think that more experimentation is in order as we have the time. Today's ride was just about 40 miles because it is just too hot for my wife. 105 today in town and considerably hotter out in the desert. We are trying again in the morning before it heats up.

Anyone else with an ES riding 2-up have any settings experiences to share?

Thanks.

-Lee-

 

[OneOff]

Anyone else with an ES riding 2-up have any settings experiences to share?

Thanks.

-Lee-

No, but I'm all ears on this one.

Having trouble working out where mine should be....


Pete.

 

[Guls]

I have ES on my BMW and I love it, I always have it adjusted to whatever I carry, which is usually 1 passenger and I love it.

 

[pugsley]

settings on my es softened considerably after 3000 ks.

 

[Gen2S10]

We rode about 110 miles today. Some hiway but mostly 2 lane country roads. Messed with the settings again. I think that we have settled on the following for 2-up w/empty bags. Preload DAMPING STD -1, 2 riders.

Wife and I are both 5'11 (~179cm). I will give my weight only because I know what's good for me = 280Lbs (~127Kg).

There may be a few more minor tweaks, but I think that this is it. Later, after the heat abates, we will be making our first overnight trip with some gear. I will give an assessment of the settings for all of that later.

I am interested to hear of anyone else's experiences with their ES settings.

Thanks.

-Lee-

 

[mcrider007]

We rode about 110 miles today. Some hiway but mostly 2 lane country roads. Messed with the settings again. I think that we have settled on the following for 2-up w/empty bags. Preload STD -1, 2 riders.

Your posts are difficult to understand because you appear to be changing damping settings and calling it Preload. There are only 4 preload positions (which can only be changed when the bike is stopped) but as many as 21 damping settings (of which 3 can be changed when the bike is moving).

 

[MotoJunky]

Glad you posted this thread. I'm still fiddling with mine, trying to figure out what works best for the riding conditions/variables of each ride. I wish there was a "rule of thumb" guide somewhere.

 

[toadady]

with the wife i use 2 person with soft@0 , did some dirt road and set the damping to hard and she didn't like it, so i changed it to soft while decending some washed out steep gravel with some rocks thrown in and could tell a diffrence right away, she liked it, but i though the front was too soft for conditions

 

[Scoobynut]

settings on my es softened considerably after 3000 ks.

I agree with this; the suspension on both STs I had/have loosened up considerably after a couple of thousand miles, so don't assume that what isn't working for you now won't work for you as the suspension breaks in...

 

[Gen2S10]

Your posts are difficult to understand because you appear to be changing damping settings and calling it Preload. There are only 4 preload positions (which can only be changed when the bike is stopped) but as many as 21 damping settings (of which 3 can be changed when the bike is moving).

You are correct, and I am mistaken. I will endeavor to correct my posts for clarity.

Thanks!

-Lee-

 

[Gen2S10]

settings on my es softened considerably after 3000 ks.

Point taken. What I have posted for settings works today at 400 miles on the S10. We'll see what is happening at 4K.

-Lee-

 

[Brick]

I too have been wondering about this... however, I have a friend with the FJR with the same ES. I took his advice after playing with mine a bit.
Soft set to -3
Standard set to 0
Hard set to +3

Preload I've been playing with depending on what I'm doing. I seem to like rider no luggage so far when it's me not packing anything in the luggage.

This all being said... I use the soft as it is -3 when I take it on local Forest roads (gravel) and when I get out in the twisties of Western North Carolina I got to the Hard setting which is +3... works well so far.

Also with 8,989 miles on mine I too noticed that the suspension softened up... actually quite a bit.

I'll be watching this thread to see what others say/find.
Thanks