Firming up suspension with surprising relief in another area

[Jagman]

Yesterday I firmed the suspension up on the bike all the way around. According to the manual, there are three different reccomendations and settings; 4's pretty much across the board for comfort riding and factory setting, 7's/8's/ with a 9 at the rear for "Sport" riding. I've been riding the first 2500 miles on my 2012 with the factory settings at 4, and felt the bike was plenty firm, and actually firmer than the majority of Jap bikes, but never harsh.

Yesterday after the first 100 miles on some fairly twisty backroads, I was once again annoyed at vibration through the pegs when I would push into double digit territory on the tach. The bike is actually very smooth most of the time with the motovation bar ends, but the thing that has really bugged me is that when pushing the bike into it's real power band, I've usually felt the bike get kind of unsettled and things start vibrating, (bars, foot pegs.)

When I pulled over to mount my Go-Pro for a trip back through same set of twisties I went completely around the bike with 7's at the preload and compression, 8's at the front forks and 9 at the rear. Wow..these are adjustors that REALLY work and you can feel the difference. I've never felt such a change on other bikes before. The entire bike firmed up to the point that it felt lighter, quicker, and as mentioned almost all vibes, (and I'm stoppping short of saying just "all" but I could), were gone. It's as if the entire bike was finally adjusted to where it needed to be for all parts to conform and work together. Now the factory settings feel mushy to me, and again while relatively vibe free with the weighted bar ends till the high end of the rev band, with the new settings it revs to redline with a silky smooth delivery that had been evading me prior.

I'm 6' and about 195 at the moment and have no idea what the factory weight target is, but I have what feels like the bike I kept trying to get to now with simple suspension adjustments.
BTW...these settings did not come close to creating a harsh or obtrusive ride. Quite the opposite, a nice controllled, firm but still very pliant ride.

[Mfisher702]

Was told the factory sag is set for a 187lb rider. I weigh that and my suspension guy left my sag alone after measuring it. He said BMW is better / more accurate since the '12s came out. I am tempted by your report of stiffening things up. I started at 4s of course and was hurting over small rapid bumps / various city crap getting to and from the twisty roads outside town. Felt like mostly the rear that was going right to my spine and teeth. It was especially bad coming home when tired. Suspension guy softened things up a bit but tightened up front rebound to 7.

I'm still not satisfied. Even through its a little easier on the bumps, it's loose under power demand and in the turns. I see guys like you tuning up tighter and getting used to it. I think I need to inch up that way and learn to deal with the crap around the city.


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[Juce]

Go to a shop that participates in track days. These guys know what they're doing.
The BMW shops ( at least around here) " don't want the liability" and won't touch the suspension settings. They all come from the factory with the default "4" setting. If you're a white haired hiway cruiser that's fine but the bike feels like crap when pushed.
The sag needs to be set up for each bike individually to compensate for differences in every component.
The compression needs to be relatively high 7-9 depending on rider weight and ability so you don't dive and compress to the stops when turning.
The rebound needs to be light in order to allow the suspension to ( u guessed it....) rebound.
Some trial and error at the track or a known road really helps dial it in.
Daves #'s were a really good start but you have to individualize your settings. WHAT A DIFFERENCE IN THE BIKE WHEN SET UP PROPERLY! CONFIDENCE INSPIRING - NO LIMITS!

[hodarah]

As a owner of 2012 model, I use 67676.

66666 is not bad but front sinks too much under braking so I firmed up the f/r compression.

REAR HIGH SPEED COMPRESSION IS VERY SENSITIVE and it impacts handling a lot.

Factory setting of 44444 is really bad. It's not comfortable at all due to the improper high speed compression setting.

[bmrboy]

Suspension set-up..... I've been fortune enough to have 2 of the best
in the business ... Performance cycleWORX Holly Springs Ga. Great guys ...
Chuck Giachetto , Daytona Sportbike Crew Chief, rider Dane Westby ...
Jerry Daggett, ohlins suspension set-up specialist to many Championship
Riders ... These guys no their stuff... suspension set-up is tricky stuff !!

The suspension on a stock S 1000 rr is excellent equipment, highly adjustable
very sensitive to the most minor adjustments, with maximum results ....
These guys have made that bike handle like a dream, feed back awesome
smooth, OMG. I can do anything I want to do on that bike ... If your going
to the track & their is an expert suspension guy there ... GIVE HIM YOUR
BIKE , tell him what its doing or what its not doing .... once it is where you
want it. ride the hell out of it... its the little things they do a click here
rear shock spring work ... remember, what ever you do to the front, will
effect the rear & so on.. the results are amazing, & is a big boost to your
confidence... Try it.... You'll like it !!

[freeflydive]

Just curious, what is your weight w/ street riding gear?

thanks,
Majdi

Originally Posted by hodarah

As a owner of 2012 model, I use 67676.

66666 is not bad but front sinks too much under braking so I firmed up the f/r compression.

REAR HIGH SPEED COMPRESSION IS VERY SENSITIVE and it impacts handling a lot.

Factory setting of 44444 is really bad. It's not comfortable at all due to the improper high speed compression setting.

[hodarah]

About 210lb. Preload adjusted accordingly.

There is a strange relationship between rear high-speed & rear low-speed compression setting. Too-low setting is not softer. Too-high setting vibrates and pitches the bike. Very weird.