XB12Scg Suspension Setup?

[SoCalVet]

So I will start by saying that I followed the Manual as far as the reccomended specs for the front and rear suspension.
After riding for about 1500 miles on those specs it just didnt feel right in the corners or just riding in general. So I went and met with a friend of mine that have lots of suspension setup experience and what we found was interesting.

With the front Preload set to factory spec it was at 7 turns in from minimum, leaving me with almost ZERO sag for my weight 205lbs. We ended up determining that the fron preload needed to be at ONLY 2 turns in from minimum to reach what is considered normal sag.
My Rebound was set to 1 turn out from max
My Compression was set to 1.5 turns out from max
The rear is fine with the reccomended spec of preload however, the Rebound was moved to 1.25 out from max and compression was set to 1.5 out from max

My question is this.. Does anyone else have a similar setup for the front specs considering my weight of 205lbs?
Is something wrong for my preload to be set so lite?
Any advice would be grateful

 

[delta one]

do you live in the south? and have smooth roads and corners?

my bike has to be set up much stiffer because I live in Michigan with terrible roads and parking lot entrances with 2" lips. I had a tendency to bottom out with a soft front end, that and its too unnerving for me when the front end drops in the corners. granted its the better way to do it as you get more weight on the front tire and can thus enter faster but I go slower with that setup because I get nervous on the street.

 

[buelladdicted]

I have an 08 scg,I weigh 212,the factory recomended settings,made the bike smooth and freeway comfortable. However,when riding the canyons,agressivly,the same settings are far from functional.the forks were in a constant state of bottomed,and would dive hard, and twitch under braking.Also the steering felt a little slow and slugish unless bike was pointed down hill and be bottomed out .I went up and down on all the settings,got best results with :the recomended dampning in front,but preload 2 lines from max,forks extended out in trees til level with top clamp,rear dampning 1 half click stiffer comp. and stayed with recomended rebound,spring preload is 1 notch less than max.If I spent less time on the freeway I would max out the front preload,but it seems those 2 lines prevent those surface ripples from rattling my shoulders out of the sockets,hope this helps

 

[SoCalVet]

I am in Southern California and the canyons/roads by me are all smooth. I do notice I can carry more speed in the corners now the the front drops down more with less preload..however I just thought that only two turns of preload isnt enough for my weight considering the factory specs.
One other things is that now with less preload I have noticed a little instability at freeway speeds and it seems to be bumpier at those speeds also.. kinda weird if you ask me.

 

[Alfatango1]

When I got my bike out of storage after about four years I put everything back to factory. I'm 5'7" and 175 and my 03 9R rode like ****. I searched all over and got a lot of different opinions. Here is what I kind of did to my bike following the below adjustments. I thought they seemed so wrong compared to the owners manual. Like setting rear preload to max stiff. I went one less. My bike handles really nice now.

The key is keeping most of the bike's weight on the front wheel by dialing up rear spring preload, with just enough up front to keep the fork from bottoming. Unbolting the seat (after peeling up the edge of the foam, yick!) with a Torx key from the abbreviated tool kit reveals a ramped adjuster set on the second (of seven) preload settings, with compression and rebound screws dialed out 1.5 turns. The fork preload adjusters come with four (of seven lines) showing, with compression and rebound screws unwound 1.5 turns from maximum. Thus set, the Firebolt should work for an average 140-175 pound rider possessed of average skills on average roads.

For an aggressive, 200-pounder on diabolically convoluted pavement, stock settings don't work, making the Firebolt only slightly more nimble than a '66 International Harvester milk truck. Heavier riders place more weight on the rear of the bike, and the Buell definitely doesn't like that setup. To compensate, bump shock preload to number five (moving the weight forward again) and you'll be able to filet a decreasing-radius right--or just about any other corner you're likely to dive into--with near-amazing grace. Set up thusly, steering is light, linear and precise as long as you use at least a little throttle to keep the chassis loaded and happy. The fork and shock are compliant enough over all but the nastiest pavement, though midcorner bumps and grooves a longer bike would ignore can unsettle the Buell's composure.Life is beautiful as long as you play by the rules.

 

[kbaddict]

I weigh 200 with an Scg and when I changed mine to the recommended settings I immediately felt very unsecure. It felt like the bike was going to fall over when making any kind of turn from a dead stop. I reversed mine back to factory and i feel like that is the best setup for me. i don't have a problem draggin toes at that setup.

 

[xtremelow]

Susp. is an item unique to each individual no matter the road, rider weight, or even bike to bike.

Actual seat time will be your only solid answer.[sad]

 

[ArmyMP09]

i set mine up to the factory settings (felt ok with this setup), and slowly am woking off that for my own setup.

 

[Alfatango1]

Army: That's pretty much what you need to do. Find a route you can ride repeatedly and jot down your settings as you change them. Note if it's better or worse and go from there.

 

[delta one]

yea that's how I set mine up. I kept going stiffer and stiffer until it got worse then backed up to where it was best.

 

[msgvb]

interesting thread. I find myself here not feeling quiet happy with the performance of my Scg's suspension. thing beats me to pieces when set to the specs in the owner's manual, so I've been playing around too.

did add a bit more preload to the rear. crazy how much diff one notch makes; at 4 it felt like it was bottoming out. at 5 it feels much better, though a 4.5 would be just right, I think, but what do I know; it still rides like schitt right now, imo

interesting info on the front preload, SoCal. I'm gonna mess with mine tomorrow.

right now I'm riding with about half a turn more rebound damping than specced. it's feeling better in general, but when the roads get stupid bumpy, or when riding at speed, it's still pretty rough.

how do you guys find the Scg to ride compared to other bikes with longer travel suspensions? do you think the 1.5" travel of the S model would make for a smoother ride?

 

[msgvb]

that's EXTRA 1.5" travel of the S model, sorry.