Front suspension setup

[Miztaziggy]

When I bought my bike (GSXR1000) it was set to full hard all round....don't ask my why, I think the guy I bought it from was a little bit special.

Anyway it felt like it was skipping over bumps and losing traction.

I dialed it back a few notches and it felt better.

I then found the default Suzuki suspension settings and put those in. The main change was on the front rebound - which I assume is the top of the fork turn screw. I had wound it out to 14 clicks from full hard. Suzuki default was 6 clicks from full hard.

I went out today and it felt awful. It was like riding with my arms on a very tight springy trampoline. Going along relatively smooth roads with small bumps was bouncing the front quite hard.

I softened it off to 10 clicks out from full hard and it feels better....however isn't this counter intuitive?

My impression was that hard setting on the rebound made it rebound more slowly when hitting a bump, therefore by softening it off, I have made it rebound more quickly when hitting a bump......BUT now it feels the opposite, less like it's bouncing me up and down and more like it's soaking up the bumps.

IE...softening off the rebound should make it rebound more quickly, but it feels the opposite....is that right?

[8541Hawk]

Yes it can work that way. With too much rebound damping the forks can't return fast enough which makes it so they can't follow the bumps.
That in turn gives you a harsh ride.

[Pete.L]

When I'm adjusting my rebound on the front I normally start from fully unscrewed count clock wise. Forget the hard or soft for a minute (I think it can be really confusing at times)
Now it's always a good idea to write down the number of turns from where you start to fully open so if you make a total rock up you can go back to where you started and try again.
The fully open position should effectively turn off your rebound and when you press down hard on the front forks( with the front brake on) they should spring up pretty fast.
You might find that both the left and right side fork adjusters are pointed in slightly different directions, that's okay, I like to use a little black felt tip and mark the starting point on each fork so I can be more accurate when turning each adjuster by the same amount.
Start turning both adjusters back in by half a turn each time( do both forks together not one at a time) and bounce on the front fork each time. You will probably find he forks will keep bouncing back up at a fast rate, that's fine, but keep going. Eventually you will come to a sweet spot were the rebound valve starts to work and the fork start to come up a bit slower. When this happens you are pretty close to the right amount of rebound to have. Most write ups will tell you the fork should return in a "slow and controlled manor" or "will take about a second to return to rest"
I have found that once you find the spot where the valve starts to do its job you are normally within a turn (either way) of where your final setting is going to be.
Btw. If you turn off your dampening first it's a lot easier to set your rebound. Then after you are done return your damper setting to its original position.

Easy Peasy!
You'll now be twiddling for the rest of the summer trying to find that perfect setting
Pete.l

[Jamoi]

I'm going to revisit my rebound adjusters tomorrow on my ride after reading this

[lloydie]

Nice wright up it's how I do mine too

[popkat]

Adjust from fully wound in not out. Once the damping hole is fully opened there's no more rebound adjustment to be had, when fully wound in (clockwise) the valve is shut so you have max rebound, your forks should be stiff and slow (unless they don't have enough rebound anyway), wind them back out until the forks return at about the same rate at which you can compress them, this will be close to what you need and you can refine from there with quarter or eighth turns. set compression to factory standard to start with, then the best/easiest way to increase it is to set it so it dives at an acceptable rate (to you) on the brakes. set preload to 25mm which is a good setting. there's more to it than that but if you do this your bike will feel a lot better with hopefully only a bit of fine tuning.. This is all assuming the previous owner hasn't had them re sprung and valved for his weight, which may be not ideal for you.