Sagging with age

[Steve M]

After a couple of rides this year it was obvious that my 900SSie was slower steering than I remembered. So I checked the suspension settings (using baylissboy as a human jack) and sure enough there is too much sag. To get the front to about 20mm static sag I had to screw in the adjusters untill there was only 2 rings left showing.

so a couple of questions;

assuming your sag is correct, how many rings are showing?

have you had to replace the front fork springs as they have become old?

[Iconic944ss]

Hiya,

An SSie cant be THAT old so unless shes been ridden ALOT I'm quite surprised at this happening already.

I dont think there is any hard and fast rule about how many rings should be showing - rider weight (sorry) and if you have had a pillion etc will all effect the wear in suspension generally - so I believe its just a case of finding what is 'right' for your bike.

Could be time for a rebuild however, is everything else OK? No leaking fork seals - rear Shock ok and ride height / sag correct ??

All things to consider sadly.

Frank

[Steve M]

Hi Frank

The bike is a 1999 model reg' in 2000 and I've had it from new.
There'e no oil leaking from the seals and it's only done 7000 miles.
At the rear I've swapped the spring for a Maxton one for solo use only with a 70kg rider.

Like you say I wouldn't expect the springs to need replacing yet, but was just wondering how other bikes were doing.

[Derek]

I sold my '95 bike with 32k on it, still with the original springs. I was running it with 3 rings showing and still had 10mm of travel left on full bump and I weigh 90kg.