749S Suspension setup
 

It's amazing when you first get the bike it's brillaint tight responsive everything. It's now done 4,000 miles and getting looser, so it feels looser, so time to think about the setup. We noticed on a rideout on Sunday when comparing the 749S to the 749, it appeared that the forks were set higher in the yolk on the 749. Is this right? There was at least 2 rings difference.

I have also noticed that it could do with a little quicker turn in, which could be accomplished by the fork height, adjusting the steering head or the ride height.

Any thoughts?

Webby
 

The ride height is the easiest thing to adjust and then change back if you dont like it.
I'd have a go at that first as at least you can change it easily and little by little.

If you start pushing the forks through the yokes, or changing steering head angle - it could be a slippery slope!!!

Have performance bikes or similar done an article on 749/999 setup yet?

Tim

No but tried the MCN 999 settings and they have made a difference. However I am interested in the different fork height settings between the 749 and 749S that we saw on sunday.

Webby,are you saying that the 749 had its forks dropped by two rings,or are you talking about the preload adjusters on the top?
Dropping the forks sounds a bit extreme on a 749/999.On my 999,I have raised the rear ride height by two full turns of the adjuster and taken off one ring of preload off the front.It makes the bike a little twitchy but the turn in is a lot faster.I'm happy with the standard damping settings,so I left them alone.

setup engineering
 

Webby,

You know what you need to do. My 749s has been a whole lot plusher since having a 'crate set-up' from setup engineering. See www.setupengineering.com for more info.
Fletch:cool:

(Very bored currently as they did my hernia with'full' surgery - won't be on the bike again till September - bugger!)

Keefyboy - the front preload settings were the same as mine, but the yolk had definitely been dropped by 2 rings. Neil from Sigma was with me and we were trying to work out why.

Webby,

Set-up found that on mine one stanchion was lower than the other! (which apparently is rare for new dukes). This would have caused extra stichion in them. They were lower slightly in the setup, as well as ride height increase at the rear (this only really possible by taking out the bar).

749s setup
 

I increased front bump settings 2 clicks from base as I did not like the excessive diving at the front when braking, the next step would be to also increase rear rebound but have as yet not done this. I also gave it 2 full turns of rear ride height. The increased front bump also helped to reduce the pitching when shifting. Keeping an eye on tyre pressures and making sure they are spot on helps a great deal.

:sing:

Chris, if you or any other DSC members are interested Francis Williamson is willing to do individual bikes - he did the Surrey set-up day - takes about 2 hours and costs £65. U2U me if you're interested. H

Give Francis a go, he set my 999 up at the DSC day that Henners organised, and it is spot on:D