Try the settings loosened off (soft) front and rear and ride. Then do same stretch of road with both settings fully wound up and you will feel a difference. Then it's just a case of fiddling in between.
Sometimes the knobs have a habit of turning but doing nothing. sometimes they are seized. In these cases then it could be a new shock required but take a good look at them first i.e. clean them, WD40 etc.
If you really want to sharpen up the front end then look at getting a GS torque arm - they are shorten so raise the rear end. Not sure of what the length is but do a search as it is out there somewhere - there was a recent post.
And for my next question - suspension
Moderators: slparry, Gromit, Paul
ok, here we go.
you have 3 possible adjustments, 1 on the front and 2 for the rear.
The knob for the front just forward of the fuel tank. Standard setting is: turn knob fully clockwise until it stops. Then back anti clockwise 6 clicks. this is for solo riding. Basically the more clockwise the harder the front end, the more anti clockwise the softer it is. In practise however if you have standard suspension the front adjuster makes little perseptable difference.
The Rear
The preload knob
Basic setting: solo
All the way anti clockwise, then (and this is straight from the hand book)
" a few turns clockwise".
What your actualling doing here is compressing the spring. If you actually look at the rear shock during adjustment you will see the piston at the top of the shock gradually compress the spring.
The more you preload the spring the harder it becomes to compress it
At the base of the rear shock there is what looks like a flat head screw, It is marked "Tension"
Basic setting: solo
Turn screw fully clockwise, then back off 1 half turn anti clockwise.
again a lot will depend on the condition of your rear shock, tired shocks just aren't going to perform well.
Before you fiddle with suspension Your tyres should be in good nick AND check your tyre pressures, Solo: Front 2.2bar(31psi) Rear 2.5bar(35.5psi).
In practise you would be hard pushed to make the bike dangerous with the adjustments you've got, nasty handling tho maybe.
If you jack up the back end you will increase the weight to the front end and this will have the effect of sharpening up the steering.
For your homework read "Tyre Compounds and their relationship to grip"
you have 3 possible adjustments, 1 on the front and 2 for the rear.
The knob for the front just forward of the fuel tank. Standard setting is: turn knob fully clockwise until it stops. Then back anti clockwise 6 clicks. this is for solo riding. Basically the more clockwise the harder the front end, the more anti clockwise the softer it is. In practise however if you have standard suspension the front adjuster makes little perseptable difference.
The Rear
The preload knob
Basic setting: solo
All the way anti clockwise, then (and this is straight from the hand book)
" a few turns clockwise".
What your actualling doing here is compressing the spring. If you actually look at the rear shock during adjustment you will see the piston at the top of the shock gradually compress the spring.
The more you preload the spring the harder it becomes to compress it
At the base of the rear shock there is what looks like a flat head screw, It is marked "Tension"
Basic setting: solo
Turn screw fully clockwise, then back off 1 half turn anti clockwise.
again a lot will depend on the condition of your rear shock, tired shocks just aren't going to perform well.
Before you fiddle with suspension Your tyres should be in good nick AND check your tyre pressures, Solo: Front 2.2bar(31psi) Rear 2.5bar(35.5psi).
In practise you would be hard pushed to make the bike dangerous with the adjustments you've got, nasty handling tho maybe.
If you jack up the back end you will increase the weight to the front end and this will have the effect of sharpening up the steering.
For your homework read "Tyre Compounds and their relationship to grip"
All problems can be fixed with the correct application of a big enough hammer.