How many rings showing?
 

I have had my front and rear suspension "sorted" - except they did not make a note on just how many rings are showing through the top yoke.
I am at Mallory on Tuesday (if the rain clears up) and feel there may be less showing than before.
Having more rings will improve the turn-in - potentially at the expense of high speed stability, (so will changing the head angle but I'll play with that another day), and thus I am keen to hear how many rings are showing on a stock bike and if anyone has played with these settings.

LS

The perfomance bike set uo suggest 6 .... I have 4 . But I'm well covered .....:frog:

Rings showing
 

This is a good question - One suspension expert claims you should start reading rings from the shoulder, ie shoulder = first ring, another expert claims you should read first ring as the first visible after the shoulder - so where is the correct reference point?

Less rings mean more preload onto the Front springs, dosn't it?
Confused javascript:icon(':o')

You add/less rings to get the correct amout off sag !
So it the sag you should really be looking at , but if your bike is the same as others then the amount of rings showing should be the same !!
I cant compare the rings on my 998 with any one else as i have slightly lighter springs in the forks !
:)

Totto is right about the sag being the correct measure for initial pre-load setting. Starting with the correct pre-load setting, you then modify it for different conditions. For instance, when braking hard into corners on the track, it tended to "sit up", i.e. didn't want to turn in. Another two turns of pre-load cured the problems almost entirely. Obviously, this will affect the static sag, that's why it is only a starting point.

When I bought my 748 from a track day junkie it had all the rings showing and then some! In fact, it was so low the front wheel had been contacting the cylinder head! When Keefyboy came round to have a nose (after he had stopped pi55ing himself) he offered to sort it. Book says three rings showing and now bike is just uncomfortable instead of unrideable!

Are you talking about rings on the preload or rings on the fork legs showing thru' the yokes??
The preload will depend on your weight, springs etc.
The rings on the fork legs that show thru' the yokes will affect the front geometry.
The standard position of the forks in the yokes depends on model year. It's either measured from the axle to the bottom of the lower yoke or from the top of the fork to the top of the lower yoke.
It usually results in about 3 rings showing on the fork when viewed at the inside of the top yoke. Because it's tapered away to the outer edges, there's just over 4 showing on the outer edges.
You'd be better off raising the rear ride height to get it turning quicker. Dropping the forks will reduce ground clearence a little.

This really is a black art.

What I'll do is chat with the guys who did the mods and see what they recommend I do should if I find the turn-in affected and needing too much effort.
There seems to be a ying and yang to the whole suspension thing, where you adjust one element and another is affected.
That in its self is not a problem, it's a case of "slowly, slowly, catch the monkey", so a 1/2 turn here and a half turn there.

I will make notes as to what I have done and let you know here, all assuming the weather is conducive to actually going out on the track in the first place.

LS

Just popped out and counted 1.5 rings showing in the center / middle of the forks showing through the top yoke - ie if I were to put pen marks on these 2 said points they would therefore be facing each other.
Sounds like it should be 3 rings.
Spoke with UK Suspension and they recommended I leave it as is, do a 20 min session and then drop them to 3 rings and try it as such for the next 20 mins session.
Then call them and if I have any more adjustments, make them after each phone call and all we need then is a rain free day.
Pigs mighht fly!

LS

Call me mr picky, but you start your thread by saying "ive just had my suspension sorted." If its been sorted, why do you want to alter it again?

This is a very technical area that is, to say the least very confusing to the uneducated, including myself! I have to say that reading most of the threads on suspension just add to the confusion, although it is a relief to read an addition from some one like Nelly who clearly has a better understanding. Any adjustment made by ourselves is just guess work. Why dont we just leave it to the professionals, of which there are numerous reputable ones, its not that expensive either all things considered. :mad:

I would tend to agree , BUT then i would never learn anything !!
Some adjustment made by yourself AFTER research will teach you much more than some expert saying I have adj this & that !
The expert cant teach you how each adj FEELS !
But there are some Basic principals
to follow , plus what works for one will not work for others !
Good luck !!;)Text

[Edited on 16-5-2003 by Totto]

If the experts cant teach us how each adjustments feel, how do you know what your messing with? They cant teach us, because we dont know what were doing!
I have read threads on here where people have taken their bikes to experts and been amazed at the results. It would have been more by luck than judgement to have achieved this ourselves, with a little tweek here or there, not least to say dangerous.

Stancheon passing thru' the yoke measured on the deepest side, as yoke slops down to the right, eg right side is 19mm standard.
Spring preload as per manual is 20mm and I think this equates to 5 rings showing.

Nelly as experts where do you start counting the rings from, first visible ring or from the shoulder?

I've always counted from the shoulder.
Just like to point out though that I don't see myself as a suspension "expert". I'd love to be, but other than building the things and doing the basics with the sag etc. that's as far as I'd go with mine or a customers.
The settings for the fork/yoke positions are factory settings. I think they are also in the Haynes.
I've set my forks to these and use the rear ride height for tweaking.

Then surely my thread is all the more valuable.
I am ignorant (= not knowledgeable) and having had the guys at UK Suspension re-valve, re-sprung and set everything up for me (11 stone 4, plus my leathers and gear at another 14lbs) and track set-up too, I am hoping for great things.
There is much talk of suspension settings and the like at present, so my playing with these settings I believe will have real resonance with those who are going on the DSC track-day at Mallory. It's not by chance that I choose Mallory to test the settings on.
Please, afford me more credit!
Thus I will report back as to what I have found out for those who know little – just as I do – as I am exploring what the bike does under a set of variable settings.
Keep watching is all I can say, and maybe I might have something to add to peoples’ collective knowledge.
Or maybe I’m full of ><<j !

LS

That must be a first !! a post about "rings" and "sag" and not one double entendr'e in sight !!!! :P

Hmm,
There seems to be some confusion on the thread as to what rings people are talking about.
On my 998,the third ring down on the fork legs are flush with the top yolk.
The pre-load adjusters on the top of the legs are on the sixth ring flush with the top red hexagon.
Works for me.

BTW,when I looked at Clarkmeisters bike,the forks where pushed thru the yolks as far as they would go,and the preload was turned down to the maximum.(Go figure that one out!)It may have been ok for Mallory,but no good for the road,As the man said,the front wheel was hitting the cylinder head!

Im not showing my RING to any of u FKKRS!!!:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

:o surely not.....cant be???;)

Someone has been replying to ancient postings again!