I would appreciate it if someone can give me the proper settings for my weight, which is 200 pounds.
My riding is all on the street.
Thank You

* Last updated by: Silverback61 on 9/2/2014 @ 7:41 PM *

Sil, those days are gone where we would only spin a collar on the bottom of the rear shock spring to make the tension tighter. No adjustments front or back. Then air forks took a trend. You don't see air in the fronts, however at the rear, there are now some high end gases used to keep things cool, a remote cartridge with a bladder inside for the rear shock too move that air up against for a cush/hard ride.

With today's technology, there is a way to make an adjustment or a pre-adjustment and that's called, 'sag.' One thought is no sag, just wind up the springs and run hard. The other approach is to know the sag of the springs so that creates a static balance to your 200lbs distribution. This spring can now create a balance at the front and rear by how fast you push down and watch it rise back to static.

That's this part and is all about compression and rebound. Compression is how hard does you chin hit the tank is to compress that downward force with less shock up your arms. Rebound is how fast can I get my wheels back down to the ground after a bump up and I'm waiting if my rebound is too slow to come back down so I now adjust that speed.

As you can see it is not so simple to ask for a 'sag setting number.' because not too many people dial in at your weight and/or know their sag number. You never know, but if you search how to sag the springs it's pretty simple. The comp and rebound begin to take a few tries as to what sag did when it's matched to you.

If the rear end of the bike likes to pogo, what adjustment fixes that.

The previous owner had everything too soft, I firmed things up a bit and it is noticeably better.

This youtube helped me. Also if you search the board there are other threads about it. Generally it is not worth trying to mess with the rear unless your situation is really extreme or if someone already messed with it. You need a spanner tool for the rear. The vid does a good job regarding how to measure the sag and adjust the front.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AzTkpqasr0

* Last updated by: tooncinator on 9/2/2014 @ 8:49 PM *

That's a good video. Yeah for the rear I went out 1 turn on the compression damping, that's all I'm doing there.
I made some major changes on the forks.

It does make a huge difference, when I took my 14 home the suspension was really soft for my weight and the tires were not inflated to spec (why do shops do that) and she handled like a pig. Now it is all better.

Handling level telepathic.

* Last updated by: tooncinator on 9/2/2014 @ 9:09 PM *

I'm 190-200. Call it 200 suited. My rear was bouncing off of bumps a lot more than the front. Front was bottoming out.

here's a bunch of stuff I've ccopied from my maintenance log. If you don't know a thing about the 3 suspension settings, it prolly will not mean much.

Front was too soft. 2-3 bottom-outs. Adjusted preload to firmer setting. Also adjusted compression and rebound damping. Sorry, I did not note where the forks were set prior to my change. The adjustment I made seemed to help a great deal with the bottom-outs.

rear shock. Reduced rebound damping, Was at 1.5 turns out out (recommended stock setting), Adjusted to 2 turns out. Compression damping was left at 2.25 turns out. Better but still a little jumpy.

I had not messed with preload at all until I measured the sag as the suspension was set up by the dealership. The sag I had recorded was Front, 40.48mm / Rear, 15.88mm. The sag adjustment recommended for street riding is 35-40mm front and 30-35 mm rear. So, the front was good but the back was way tight.

Rear shock preload adjusted. loosened spring tension nut 4 complete turns (counter clockwise). Increases ~3.5 mm sag with each revolution.

I plan to be removing my stock suspensions very soon so I will note exactly where I have everything set. Would love to do a tutorial on solo measure/adjustment of sag but no way do I have time right now.

First thing to do is adjust your sag (preload). Then mess with rebound and compression damping.

Does everyone understand what Rebound damping, Compression Damping and Preload is?

Thanks Rook. I started by bottoming out everything and going out from there.
I'm not going to mess with the rear spring.

I used this tutorial extensively. Also a few good vids. I think Blue06 suggests NOT messing with rear preload but that is def what you should mess with IMO. You will need to buy a Kawi spanner wrench to turn the nut and lock nut.

http://www.zx14ninjaforums.com/messages.cfm?threadid=5234DE9F-1372-66AE-3BD9FFE983AE060B

You can measure sag yourself by using a zip tie on the fork. Measure rear sag by inserting a fine point felt tip pen in the rear axle and taping a cardboard to the frame above. rubber band card to swingarm so that the pen makes constant contact. Sit on bike. measure the line drawn by the felt tip. It works.

If you really want to do this, I'll go through it with ya step by step but it will take several days by the time we are through. Can't guarantee a day/night change, but sounds like whatever we will do will help some.

BTW I have Ohlins front and rear coming home to Daddy tomorrow!!!!

Thanks Rook. I started by bottoming out everything and going out from there.
I'm not going to mess with the rear spring.

If you only want to adjust the front and not fuss a whole lot with things, you can get by with Blue06's tutorial. I'm pretty sure he mentions exactly where his settings were adjusted and he's about our weight. The front is easy to adjust.

If you want to do a thorough job, you can only do that by measuring the distance the suspension compresses when you sit on the bike suited or with passenger or whatever your typical riding/payload situation is. The measurement is called, "sag." You need to measure the front sag and the rear sag. The sag adjustment recommended for street riding is 35-40mm front and 30-35 mm rear. Adjust according to how far out of the recommended parameters you are. You adjust the sag by changing the preload. Preload controls how stiff the suspension is. From there, you can fiddle with compression damping and rebound damping which as you probably know, controls how fast the suspension opens and closes.

You can do just the front for now if you want. fasten a zip tie on the lower tube so it butts up to the top tube. Measure how far the zip tie travels after you get on/off the bike. I used front and rear stands so the bike was level. Also tried simply balancing the bike with my feet on the pegs for a moment(a half second is all it takes). Once you have the front set, it should be good as long as the spring and oil are in service. even if you decide to adjust the rear some time, there will prolly be no need to readjust the front.

* Last updated by: Rook on 9/2/2014 @ 9:52 PM *

ROOK:::You will need to buy a Kawi spanner wrench to turn the nut and lock nut.

....DOES THAT COME WITH THE TOOL SET

No. There are spanner wrenches available in different sizes to fit different nuts. I bought the Kawasaki tool for the ZX-14. The part # is in the SM. It cost me about $40 for a plain old stamped out wrench from a plate of steel. It works though.

See? The hook grabs a castle and the inner curve rests across the tops of the other castles while you turn. Have a look at the rear shock preload nut and locknut and you'll see how this wrench works. You can place a flat tipped punch against the castleated part of the nut and tap it with a hammer to break the nuts free. Never tried that. To "caveman" for me. I think a punch is worth a try but it's going to chip the paint a little. I'm sure the spanner scrapes a little bit too. Those nuts are tight.

* Last updated by: Rook on 9/4/2014 @ 8:56 PM *

To "caveman" for me. I think a punch is worth a try but it's going to chip the paint a little

Every stroke of the hammer side loads the cylinder to ram interface along with its seal.

Use the proper wrench whether it be KHI or MotionPro brand.

Just get an Ohlins;)

I was told "pogoing" on expansion joints etc, is from a mismatch of front and rear preload. I set both ends for desired preload/sag, and it stopped. Reading Ractech's book right now. maybe the answer will be in there.

Every stroke of the hammer side loads the cylinder to ram interface along with its seal.
Use the proper wrench whether it be KHI or MotionPro brand.

Yeah, get a motion pro if it's cheaper than the Kawi tool. MP makes good stuff. Their spanner will work as long as it is specced for the ZX-14 shock.

I was told "pogoing" on expansion joints etc, is from a mismatch of front and rear preload. I set both ends for desired preload/sag, and it stopped.

Just get an Ohlins;)

well, I guess on average one do not have to adjust the spring anyway

ehhh, I'm no suspension expert by a longshot but IMHO, the spring length/tension/preload, whatever you want to csll it is the most importsnt setting. For one thing, if it is way out of whack, you are riding with improper chassis geometry. Also, you can make the shock rebound faster/slower or compress faster/slower but if it is too hard or too soft to begin with, Those won't help much. Bite the bullet and buy the right sized spanner. Then you'd set for life.

You could try to make one out of wood. Use a screw for the hook.

I meant the spring which use the spanner wrench

Hopefully one of you can shed some light on my suspension setting question. I went to set the front sag using the zip tie on the shock tube. I measure just about 1" (26mm). So I need to go with more sag (softer)

BUT

I measured the adjusters to make sure that they were even, and they measure 16.5 mm. Kawi says that the stock setting is 15 mm for a "160" lb rider. I weigh 235. So I am already set softer than what Kawi says a 75lb less rider should have it set at.

Am I measuring wrong, is kawi wrong or any ideas???

I would revisit your measurement. At that weight, you almost need to max out the preload in front.
I had trouble getting a reliable measurement with the zip ties because they tended to slip or be too tight.
Also recheck the initial measurement. Take out any dampening before you make this measurement as well. They need to be done in order.

This is assuming stock suspension, yes?

* Last updated by: tooncinator on 9/14/2014 @ 11:59 PM *

I had trouble getting a reliable measurement with the zip ties because they tended to slip or be too tight.

Take out any dampening before you make this measurement as well.

I went to set the front sag using the zip tie on the shock tube. I measure just about 1" (26mm).

If it is the zip tie to rubber dust seal, that is sounds way too loose. I only got about 1/8" difference from the bike weight to me on the bike.

No, I did not take the damping out I have it set in the middle of the range I believe.
Yes, bone stock suspension

I am measuring from the top of the zip tie to the bottom of the rubber seal.

If it is the zip tie to rubber dust seal, that is sounds way too loose. I only got about 1/8" difference from the bike weight to me on the bike.

I'm confused by the 1/8" part above. am I measuring the wrong distance?

At that weight, you almost need to max out the preload in front

Thats what I thought too

* Last updated by: zone5 on 9/15/2014 @ 3:45 PM *