What rear suspension setup would you suggest?

Ssky0078

Ssky0078

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I have a 2009 Yamaha Fz1 on it's way for delivery.

As I'm planning to make sur the bike is setup for me as best as possible, I am workng on the suspension first.

I intend to do Racetech Fork Springs 1.0 kg/mm in the front.

I was wondering what you guys would suggest for a rear spring/suspension setup?

I'm 6'4" and 245 lbs (lost another 5, target weight is 225). The recommended rear spring is 15.33 kg/mm for my weight by Racetech and the highest spring that Racetech offers is a 12.00 kg/mm which is the same as stock/OEM.

Also, seeing as is that I don't have a garage, I will be paying the shop to do it at 80 an hour. So, if you can suggest simple solutions, that would be great.
 
My suggestion would be to try it in stock form first. I ride this bike 2-up quite a bit with combined rider weight of ~ 300. I crank pre-load to max (7) and rebound is set to 2-3 clicks out from max.

It does not feel undersprung. Damping is the weak point. Can't fix this on stock shock though (don't think anyone has had stock shock revalved.. people usually just get aftermarket shocks).

If you HAVE to get heavier spring, try looking for one from 06 model. It came with firmer spring.

Also.. the fork is fully adjustable (pre-load on both sides, rebound on one side and compression on the other side). Very different from stock FZ6 fork. I would measure sag with pre-load cranked up before shelling out cash for new springs. Compression makes a huge difference on this fork.. it may actually feel too stiff with a lot of compression on.

For street application, it should be adequate without suspension mods (again, compared to FZ6 it'll be night and day).
 
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Erci said:
For street application, it should be adequate without suspension mods (again, compared to FZ6 it'll be night and day).
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Thanks Eric, the adjustable suspension actually doing something is what I was hoping for in purchasing the Fz1 over the Fz6. I will start checking for an '06 Fz1 rear setup. That sounds like a good idea.

I just got news that my new bike won't get here till the 4th anyways. It gives me time to research and I'm kind of bummed a little.
 
Going with the old spring is a good idea but..... ;) Not even the '06 model had a heavy enough spring for a 200+ lb rider. Over at the other site, there was a thread where a rider had springs from all different possible rear shocks. He tested with many and settled on something, but the point is, it is specific to the rider.

I think you have a couple choices... send the rear shock to someone who can put the correct size spring on it for your weight, or, call Lee at Traxxion Dynamics and explain what you are looking for. They will give you the full range of what they can do from the economy build to the high-tech build. I did this and settled on the Penske 8983 with the remote reservoir but you might like the 8900E as a less expensive and great option.

Do you plan on using the bike for weekend carving and daily commuting? Or do you plan on a hooligan life dragging knees on the street? Or will you be tracking the bike and behaving on the street? ;)

I did learn through several bikes not to skimp on suspension. This is one area that you DO get what you pay for. :tup:
 
You should get the bike first and ride it for awhile with the stock setup. You are a newbie, especially with a bike like this. Play with the damping and rebound and spring setup, the stock components are NOT as bad as people are making out. You need to get comfortable with the bike first, setting up the bike long term can wait until you get fully acclimated to how the bike feels and reacts to inputs.
 
Erci said:
+1! :sport12:
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You guys are kidding yourselves. The forks are OK, the shock is a big POS. While it holds the rear of the bike up and moves when it hits bumps, it does little to control the wheel with internal compression damping. Those of you that say they are not bad, have never ridden an FZ1 with a shock that works well. When you do, your opinion will change.
 
loosenut said:
You guys are kidding yourselves. The forks are OK, the shock is a big POS. While it holds the rear of the bike up and moves when it hits bumps, it does little to control the wheel with internal compression damping. Those of you that say they are not bad, have never ridden an FZ1 with a shock that works well. When you do, your opinion will change.
Click to expand...

Of course. I have lots of experience with poor suspension vs top of the line stuff (granted it's on freeride / downhill bicycles, but if anything it's even more important there). Once you know what great suspension feels like, it's hard to go back to so-so setup.

I stand by what I said though, for the street, stock FZ1 is more than adequate. The harder you push it, the more it becomes noticeable (be it good or bad).

Sky is moving to FZ1 from FZ6. Stock FZ1 is loads better (and more adjustable) than FZ6.
 
Erci said:
Sky is moving to FZ1 from FZ6. Stock FZ1 is loads better (and more adjustable) than FZ6.
Click to expand...

And..... still heavily under-sprung for guys our size (over 200 lbs) hence our opinion of how bad the shock really is.

I'm guessing you're more in the weight range (and if so, I envy you) of what the stock bike is set up for, in which case, it will appear to do an adequate job. Now if you were to wear enough weights to put you up to my 220 or his 245, you'll have an entirely different opinion of the stock setup. For the bigger guys, it really is crap! ;)
 
Cobalt said:
And..... still heavily under-sprung for guys our size (over 200 lbs) hence our opinion of how bad the shock really is.

I'm guessing you're more in the weight range (and if so, I envy you) of what the stock bike is set up for, in which case, it will appear to do an adequate job. Now if you were to wear enough weights to put you up to my 220 or his 245, you'll have an entirely different opinion of the stock setup. For the bigger guys, it really is crap! ;)
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I mentioned in my original reply that I've put quite a few miles on this bike 2-up with combined weight of ~300. It didn't feel awful.

But yeah.. I'm ~170 and for solo riding I keep the preload at 4-5 and rebound at 3-4 clicks out and it feels pretty good.

If someone wants to give me an upgraded shock to convince me, I'll take one :D :D
 
Erci said:
I mentioned in my original reply that I've put quite a few miles on this bike 2-up with combined weight of ~300. It didn't feel awful.

But yeah.. I'm ~170 and for solo riding I keep the preload at 4-5 and rebound at 3-4 clicks out and it feels pretty good.

If someone wants to give me an upgraded shock to convince me, I'll take one :D :D
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Give you..... no, but you're welcome to try my bike out should we meet up some day! :D
 
The stock shock is adaquate? at what?

It holds the rear of the bike up. - check
It has a spring with pre load adj. - check, but limited to 7 positions
It has rebound adj. - check
It has compression adj. - No and it needs more compression

The suspension is adaquate on every bike sold, yet there is an entire industry out there to make it better. If your happy with adaquate, your money ahead. I prefer good over adaquate and try for things I consider excellent or great which the stock FZ1 shock is not. The Penske shock is excellent and the adjustable length allows for better handling in the twisties! :cloud9:
 
loosenut said:
You guys are kidding yourselves. The forks are OK, the shock is a big POS. While it holds the rear of the bike up and moves when it hits bumps, it does little to control the wheel with internal compression damping. Those of you that say they are not bad, have never ridden an FZ1 with a shock that works well. When you do, your opinion will change.
Click to expand...

Well that's not very positive..... my recommendation is to not try to guess. Go to a shop that will adjust the suspension with you (and passenger) on the bike. A good shop can tell you if the system can't be adjusted to completely work.

When I had this done (in prep for trackday) - the PROPER adjustments made my old '01 feel like a brand new bike and for me (not Rossi) it was fantastic and gave me much better confidence all around - with the ORIGINAL stock parts.

No more bouncing tires, soft rear travel in corners, much smoother ride, etc.

FWIW - just my opinion. The right adjustments can make the bike sing!

:sport12:
 
If you think the standadrd FZ1 shock/spring is bad, you want to try a Triumph Tiger 1050 susp set up. The sandard rear spring is weighted for a 140lb rider!:ugh: It's like riding a lazy pogo stick!!

Ridden my FZ1 now for a couple of months, and even though I'm sub 200lb, the suspension works for me.

As i've always found in the past, Suspension is ALWAYS a compromise with whatever you want to do with the bike (track/scratch/commute), and how much you weigh. And high quality components come at a high price:shame:
 
I changed my spring last season

fz1-spring_zps5a11efe9.jpg



The 130N/mm would translate to 742 lb/in or 13,25kg/mm

From what i have read on Wikipedia the 2006 FZ1 came with 700 lb/in rear spring and the 2007+ came with a 650 lb/in

I weight is at 275+ so the base suspension was really too soft for me
My sag was at 1 click from the max with the original spring and now I am running at the minimum setting and I am only getting 20% of sag instead of the 25% that I was looking for. Also I feel that the rear is too stiff

15.33 kg/mm is way too stiff , The original 700# spring (12,5kg/mm) would be my choice and I outweigh you quite a bit.

As far as installing the spring yourself, removing the rear shock can be done in a driveway with common tools. Replacing the spring requires a press and is best left to the shop. For the Olins spring, they has to machine a small spacer to fit it.
I purchased a rear shock assembly on the web. sent it to the suspension shop to have it re-spring. It took forever for them to receive the spring but I was still riding my original rear shock assembly. When I got my upgraded rear suspension, I swapped it and I adjusted my suspension
 
Cobalt said:
Going with the old spring is a good idea but..... ;) Not even the '06 model had a heavy enough spring for a 200+ lb rider. Over at the other site, there was a thread where a rider had springs from all different possible rear shocks. He tested with many and settled on something, but the point is, it is specific to the rider.

I think you have a couple choices... send the rear shock to someone who can put the correct size spring on it for your weight, or, call Lee at Traxxion Dynamics and explain what you are looking for. They will give you the full range of what they can do from the economy build to the high-tech build. I did this and settled on the Penske 8983 with the remote reservoir but you might like the 8900E as a less expensive and great option.

Do you plan on using the bike for weekend carving and daily commuting? Or do you plan on a hooligan life dragging knees on the street? Or will you be tracking the bike and behaving on the street? ;)

I did learn through several bikes not to skimp on suspension. This is one area that you DO get what you pay for. :tup:
Click to expand...

Commuting and canyon carving first (80% on commute, 20% on the canyon), maybe down the road dragging knee at the track (need a track suit first).:sport12:
 
Pyrogenic said:
Well that's not very positive..... my recommendation is to not try to guess. Go to a shop that will adjust the suspension with you (and passenger) on the bike. A good shop can tell you if the system can't be adjusted to completely work.

When I had this done (in prep for trackday) - the PROPER adjustments made my old '01 feel like a brand new bike and for me (not Rossi) it was fantastic and gave me much better confidence all around - with the ORIGINAL stock parts.

No more bouncing tires, soft rear travel in corners, much smoother ride, etc.

FWIW - just my opinion. The right adjustments can make the bike sing!

:sport12:
Click to expand...

Thanks I just looked up the sport bike training center in Scottsdale. They have a suspension setup day where they discount it from $50 down to $30 on January 12th. Only a week after I get my bike, should be perfect to get an eval on non-setup and then setup suspension.
 
So, after reading the suggestions from either the Ohlins or Penske, I think I will be waiting for 5-6 months. It looks to be basically a $800-1000 for the suspension and I would again probably have the shop put it in since I don't have a garage or a decent working space.

After the amount of nose dive that took place on the Fz6 with the stock fork/spring setup I'm having the Racetech spring done first thing when I get it. I honestly look at it as an investment in my safety after my previous experience.

I think the rear spring should hold up well enough at the beginning seeing as I am still a noob and should not be really pushing it anyway to where a soft rear end (that's what she said, : oops:,LOL) is a major problem.
 
Ssky0078 said:
So, after reading the suggestions from either the Ohlins or Penske, I think I will be waiting for 5-6 months. It looks to be basically a $800-1000 for the suspension and I would again probably have the shop put it in since I don't have a garage or a decent working space.

After the amount of nose dive that took place on the Fz6 with the stock fork/spring setup I'm having the Racetech spring done first thing when I get it. I honestly look at it as an investment in my safety after my previous experience.

I think the rear spring should hold up well enough at the beginning seeing as I am still a noob and should not be really pushing it anyway to where a soft rear end (that's what she said, : oops:,LOL) is a major problem.
Click to expand...
I wouldn`t be changing the fork springs until I set the sag,and did some adjustments to suit your riding style,then ride it for a month or so,several thousand mile,use cable tie`s around the sliders to check the distance of travel,before I would decide on doing anything.
 
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