My '11 S1K beats me to death!

[Dogged]

My bike is killing me. I weigh 140 lbs and have had my suspension set up by a pro. It turns out the best settings are near the top of the ranges. My sag is correct. It is so stiff I feel unsafe on a rough road in a turn. It feels like the wheels are in the air as much as they are on a rough road.

What can I do to enjoy the bike?

[RIQUE]

Are you 140lbs with gear? From your settings try to reduce front rebound a little and see where that goes.

[russianvr4]

you need to respring your forks/shock.
these bikes are set up for 180+ lb riders. i have all my settings all the way soft and its still stiff as ****.
my friend had her s1k resprung and revalved for her (110lbs) and it made a night and day difference! bike handles like a dream now.

[bahkhok]

What are your current rebound and compression setting for the forks and shock?

What tire pressures are you running?

I had my sag set and set the suspension to the BMW sticker suggested suspension settings that came with the bike (Yellow, Red and Black). I like the race and sport settings with my tires set to 32F and 30R. The bike just feels planted and responsive. Tried the comfort settings and the bike felt terrible. I got my bike back after getting its initial service done and the tech put the tires to 36F 42R and it felt like a chore to get the bike to tip in. Mind you I weigh 155lbs and with the preload about 2 turns out from full soft.

What is your front and rear sag?

[skapan]

I guess you could get the right sag by backing off the preload a lot, but the stock springs could still be too stiff. What did the suspension guy say about the stock spring rates for your weight?

[Dogged]

My front is set a 9 and my rear at 2/2 for the correct race setting per the track suspension expert. He looked at the sag and said it was really close to the book setting, so that would point to the springs being near the correct rate, right?

I run 32 / 32 at the track and 34 / 34 on the street with Q2s.

The suspension guy mentioned that he has had ok luck with revalving S1ks, but I was a little skeptical as to how well it may work. He was really pushing to totally replace the stock setup, but I know that will really be expensive.

Maybe I just need to strap a lead weight to the bike.....

[jhockey18aa]

Originally Posted by russianvr4

you need to respring your forks/shock.
these bikes are set up for 180+ lb riders. i have all my settings all the way soft and its still stiff as ****.
my friend had her s1k resprung and revalved for her (110lbs) and it made a night and day difference! bike handles like a dream now.

^Definitely this!

[dagor6]

Originally Posted by Dogged

My front is set a 9 and my rear at 2/2 for the correct race setting per the track suspension expert. He looked at the sag and said it was really close to the book setting, so that would point to the springs being near the correct rate, right?

I run 32 / 32 at the track and 34 / 34 on the street with Q2s.

The suspension guy mentioned that he has had ok luck with revalving S1ks, but I was a little skeptical as to how well it may work. He was really pushing to totally replace the stock setup, but I know that will really be expensive.

Maybe I just need to strap a lead weight to the bike.....

I'd respring it and swap the linkage to the LCR version, the rear roughness is probably coming from linkage progression

[Dogged]

What is the LCR linkage? I've never heard of it. You are the first to ever mention linkage changes as a way of working this problem.

I called the pro today and re-ran my story past him. He had me reduce the compression on the front to 5.

He still suggests re-springing and re-valving the front at about $700. He said the best solution would be Ohlin cartridges at about $ 1600, but the best bang for the buck is the cheaper re-valving.

Any thoughts?

[bahkhok]

Have you had anyone else try and setup your suspension? Not guru is gonna setup the bike the same. 9 in the front and 2 in the back seems loppsided. The front would be stiff while the rear is set really soft.