Suspension Setup for Dummies
by Mr.7/11

Most people tend to leave their suspension settings alone, simply because they're afraid they'll mess anything up. But the worse thing you can do to your suspension is not to personalise it. Why do you think the factory makes it adjustable then?
Many people see the Setup Guides of Performance Bikes Magazine as the solution, but all those articles do is trying to remove the major faults in the factory settings. Do you really expect the settings for one person with a certain weight and riding style to be perfect for everyone else? Ofcourse not!


I must confess I was one of those guys who rather kept their hands away from suspension settings because I simply couldn't get my head around it, even after reading each and every article on suspension ever published on the internet.
That was untill I got myself a full-suspension mountainbike and started to fiddle with it's settings. Modern pushbike suspension nowadays is as advanced as what the bolt onto motorbikes and because I take the mountainbike in rough terrain it suddenly gave me a good view on how suspension works.
The main trick of suspension tuning is...
1.) to be able to feel what unsettles the bike
2.) to know which adjuster to turn which way to make it behave

I've developed a method in the past few years that should be able to give everyone a feeling for their bike's suspension by isolating all the different settings from each other.

We'll approach the suspension settings in the following order, which is as a matter of fact also the matter of importance...

1.) Static sag
2.) Rebound
3.) Compression
4.) Fork height

If your bike doesn't have adjustments for some of these setting then just ignore them. For instance the CBR600 forks I use on my 7/11 don't have any external adjustability except for preload, so I had to experiment with the oil thickness (viscosity) and oil level but that's a different story.
Just make sure that your suspension is in good nick before attempting any adjustments. Put new oil in your forks and make sure the oil level is correct. Also check if your shock isn't leaking oil.

Once you've followed this procedure over time you'll be able to analyse what's going on with your bike and say "hmmm... it needs a click more rebound at the back because I was getting a slight weave at that fast corner" ;-)

Just one final note before we move on with the adjustments... the most important thing your suspension has to do is get you trough a corner alive as you hit a pothole you didn't notice mid-corner. Not to keep you nice 'n comfortable... buy a goldwing if you think so ;-)