Suspension Setting for Fire Roads

[kmasa58]

Hello Forum...

A quick question ... I've had my 18' S10ES for about 3yrs now & recently, I discovered that I prefer the S10 over my 17' Africa Twin when riding on fire / access roads. I'm a 'newbie' riding these big 'adventure' bikes off pavement, so I don't ride 'hard', just enough to kick the rear end out a bit to align myself for for the turn. My question is should I leave the the suspension setting 'soft' to soak up all the bumps or set it at harder setting since I tend to find hidden rock protrusions? I do drop the tire pressure to about 20~23psi & my preload is set at its highest. I tried the 'hardest' setting and the bike kept pushing the front end out. I guess I'm worried about blowing the fork seals when I unexpectedly hit a bump that I didn't see.

Thanks...

kmasa58

 

[fac191]

You must set the preload for your weight. Off road you could add luggage to the single rider setting to stiffen it up. Unless you get that right you will not get suitable damping settings.

 

[Sierra1]

My "usual" roads are rough/bumpy as hell. I run one helmet & luggage, and hard, -3. The back wheel stays on the road, and the forks are working their ass off. But, it's a sort of smooth ride, but I know the rear wheel stays planted, because the cruise stays engaged.

Edit: Since twinrider is absolutely correct. . . . 300lbs.

I was actually coming back to post it, when I saw his post.

 

[twinrider]

It'd be useful if people add their weight when they list their settings.

 

[Cycledude]

I weigh 200 pounds , normally ride my ES set at 2 helmets plus luggage

 

[fac191]

My "usual" roads are rough/bumpy as hell. I run one helmet & luggage, and hard, -3. The back wheel stays on the road, and the forks are working their ass off. But, it's a sort of smooth ride, but I know the rear wheel stays planted, because the cruise stays engaged.

I would run similar settings and am about 95 kg in riding gear. I don't really off road as such but find it will tackle rough lanes with potholes etc.

 

[kmasa58]

I think I got the idea...thanks guys! I'm 170lbs fully geared, I treid all 3 preload adjustments and found 1 helmet + luggage is low enough for me to put my feet down if needed but enough ground clearance for 'most' of the bumps I encounter. I was riding with '0' on dampening at first realized the front end would bottom(?) on some of the dips & bumps I encountered. Raised it to 3 in fear of blowing fork seals & soild my pants couple of times when the front end went in a different direction then I expected. I'll play with the dampning setting more to get better picture. Thanks.

 

[Sierra1]

. . . . I'll play with the dampning setting more to get better picture. Thanks.

That's the best way to do it. Don't forget you also have soft & hard setting also. It seems counterintuitive, but, hard seems to work better on big bumps than soft. Also, I don't know accurate it is, but, I use 200lbs per helmet, and 50lbs for luggage. (max weight rating is 450lbs, so. . . .).