Hi Guys, Just wondering if anyone else feels their front end is too soft with the standard spring rate? The seems to dive pretty radically pulling on the front brake, also seems to sag a lot under its weight when coming of the stand. I'm 100 kg and thinking of going up a few spring rates on the front end only. Since the compression settings are fixed its hard to know if that's partly the problem. Any thoughts?
There are a couple compression adjusters out there, and springs are easy enough, if you feel you need them.
After fitting the safari tank my front end has to much preload sag.I am around the 85kg mark. Looking at the teknik spring calculator the standard forks and shocks are set for a 86kg rider. 86kg rider Fork spring .51 shock 6.4 100kg rider: fork .52 shock 7.0 I wonder how much you would need to add onto that for the extra fuel? I fit into the standard category but still find i can't get the right preload sag on the shock or fork http://www.teknikmotorsport.com.au/Husqvarna/# Click on find parts for my bike to work out spring rates
Philthy, you should measure you static and race sag. Based on those numbers, you will be able to tell if you need to change your spring rate. WickedWill, the same thing applies. You say that you've measured you sag, but you don't say what it is. I'm not familiar with the term "preload sag," but if you measure you static and race sag, you will know if your spring rates are right, and if not, approximately how much to change them. This thread has some good guidelines for sag: http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/suspension-setup-recommendations.17268/ Some might disagree with the exact numbers, but those are in the right ballpark and the methodology is the same.
Thanks Guys, Yes guilty for not checking SAG etc yet, but have now and the numbers are interesting, even without riding gear the front is too soft showing 17% static and 27% rider sag as opposed to the given 14 and 17 %. With gear and some luggage etc this will no doubt get even worse so I'll look into the heavier front springs shortly. Interestingly the rear spring shows to be quite stiff as has been noted by a number of forum contributors. The rear static was 7% instead of 11% and rider sag was 25% instead of 34%. I'm not too worried about this end as I often carry luggage and heavier gear, also I haven't adjusted anything on the rear shock since coming out of the box so maybe I need to fiddle with the spring preload. Just seems strange that one end is soft the other end stiff.
Post your actual sag measurements. It looks like at least part of your problem is just preload. If your rear is at 7%/25%, you should be able to reduce the preload and get it a lot closer. You probably won't quite get all the way there, but if you set the rider sag to the correct amount (about 100mm), the bike will be in a way better place than it is now. In the front, it looks like you need stiffer springs, but it also looks like a little bit more preload wouldn't hurt in the meantime...
Ha, yes R2D2 forgot about the passenger since first mod I did was to rip off the pillion pegs and grab bars. Good point. Kyle the actual sags for the front was 46mm and 73mm. Rear 21mm and 78mm. Percentages based on 270mm and 320mm travel front and back. Is there a proper way of setting the shock spring preload or just guess and remeasure?
Well, linkage ratio is about 3:1. So, if you want 105mm of race sag in the rear, and you have 78, you need (105-78)/3 or 9mm less preload on the spring. This might not work out exact, but it's not a terrible starting point. I'd probably err with a bit less change to start, but you're WAY off, so have at it! Also, fixing the rear might help the situation in the front a bit too. Having the rear all jacked up isn't helping the front.
