Post your suspension settings here.

[Steely]

A lot of people seem to be setting their rebound damping (the only damping adjustment available, though adjusting rebound damping unavoidably has a (smaller) effect on compression damping) close to maximum.

Have any of you who do that actually tried bouncing the bike at standstill, to see how it rebounds? You should need just enough dialled in so that the bike rebounds smoothly and swiftly, without bouncing downward again. Too much rebound damping, particularly on a bike as softly sprung as the MT-09, prevents the suspension recovering quickly after bumps or over dips in the road, resulting in the tyres losing contact with the road; loss of traction at the rear; and packing down of the front suspension under braking or over harsh bumps, causing the front end to become totally rigid. Not good. You also don't want your front tyre staying off the ground when you hit a bump whilst leaned over in a bend.

It seems to me that what the MT really needs is more progressive (and possibly slightly heavier) springing, and/or a bit more compression damping.

 

[Val]

I am using SportRider settings:

motorcycle issue front preload front rebound damping rear preload rear rebound damping
FZ-09 ('14) May-14 2 lines showing .5 turns out Position 5 of 7 1 turn out


Suggested Sport Bike Motorcycle Suspension Settings | Sport Rider

 

[kernow]

It's probably been asked many times before but with out trawling through reams of posts to find it a quick and simple answer is all I'm after....

With regards to the front fork adjustment on top of the right fork leg, I see some obtain and fit another r/h adjustable fork leg cap to the left leg, so my question is, is it that simple or does one need the whole inners of the r/h leg also.??? And is it a mod worth doing.???
Thanks.

 

[Bon]

Invest in a proper suspension set. Its not cheap but it makes a hell of a difference to the quality of the ride. Nitron rear road shock and Matris front fork cartridge kit and springs all set for my weight and riding style. coet me £1100 though there are cheaper or more expensive depending on what you go for. Mine was a ride in / ride away service from PDQ in Taplow. Great service and quality products.

 

[Steely]

It's probably been asked many times before but with out trawling through reams of posts to find it a quick and simple answer is all I'm after....

With regards to the front fork adjustment on top of the right fork leg, I see some obtain and fit another r/h adjustable fork leg cap to the left leg, so my question is, is it that simple or does one need the whole inners of the r/h leg also.??? And is it a mod worth doing.???
Thanks.

You'd just be doubling up on the rebound damping, rather than adding compression damping. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I believe that soft (stock) springs and lots of rebound damping is an undesirable - and potentially dangerous - combination.

 

[Mikejbry]

Ok, new owner of a 2016 MT-09 here. I thought I'd set the rider (loaded) sag today.

The bike is at completely stock settings, I weigh just under 11stone (70kg) without my riding gear on.

So to start with, the stock settings were:

Front preload = 12mm of rings showing, plus 4mm adjuster nut, so 16mm.
Rear Preload = position 4


Ok so rider sag should be somewhere between 25-30% of total travel for the road, that equates to:

Front fork travel according to Yamaha is 137mm, so 34.25mm to 41.1mm of static sag.
Rear travel according to Yamaha is 130mm, so 32.5 to 39mm of static sag.


I measured my static sag and have the following results:

Rear
Position Rider sag (mm)
4 = 27mm 20.8%
3 = 31mm 23.8%
2 = 33mm 25.4%
1 = 37mm 28.5%

Front
Height including top nut Rider sag (mm)
16mm = 46mm 33.6%
14mm = 43mm 31.4%
11 = 41mm 29.9%
10 = 40.5mm 29.6%
9 = 40mm 29.2%
7 = 39mm 28.5%
6 = 37mm 27%


So, to get the front and the rear of the bike into the same amout of rider sag for my weight, it would appear I need the rear shock on position 1 or 2, and the front preload at 6 or 7mm (just 2 or 3mm of lines showing plus the top nut). This can't be right can it? Are the front and rear springs that mismatched that the rear shock needs to be backed right off and the front wound almost completely down?

Or am I adjusting this incorrectly, are the front and rear meant to have different amounts of rider sag (as a percentage)?

As for rebound I have increased the rebound damping by 2 clicks from standard and wound in the rear shock half a turn (now 1 full turn out from max)

Cheers all
Mike

 

[motorcycleboy]

Your way of thinking is right Mike..
First gen mt09s (with preload only in R leg) are soft front and stiff rear, as the front fork springs pressing force is 75kg/cm when rear spring's is 105kg/cm.
My weight is 68kg w/o gaer, and my bike's suspension became "equal" when i put a pair of ohlins linear springs (which are stiffer at 90kg/cm) and a KYB rear shock from a ZX10R '09 (which has a softer spring at 90kg/cm).
It took me a little time (over a year) to find out that the best setting for me is:
- Front: no preload at all (all the rings showing) rebound as enough to raise up smoothly and swiftly, without bouncing downward again, as you like.
- Rear: Springs length about 180mm for preload, fast comression dumping in thw middle, slow compression dumping in the middle, rebound about 2/3 from full fast (close).
For me that is the best "value for money" combination and i must admit that the ZX shock is fully adjustable and responds accurate in every adjustment.
My matter is that my PR4s (3rd set) are not enough when turning... their side limit wears faster than the center of tire... everybody adviced me to go for pirelli... but pr4s are safe in wet...
I remember that my bike had better cornering in -4- than -5- (stock shock) when in front i've had 6 rings showing (stock springs)...