Is your front tire starting to cup? That could be one cause.

Here's a thread I put together on the seductive Cycles forum.

http://www.seductivecycles.com/forum...showtopic=1363

Here's my contribution to the mechanical section for this month. I hope this can help some of you guys sort out your suspension and handeling woe's. I've never been a fan of having your suspension tuned by someone else, using tape measures and zip ties. The only one that truely knows the way your bike is suppose to handle is you, the rider. I know some of you will disagree with me, but what else is new. LOL Take this information for what it's worth to you. Maybe Aaron can add some helpful advice to this post as well.

The first thing to suspension tuning is ask yourself, what do you want your bike to do? The hardest part to suspension tuning is to be honest with yourself as to what you want your bike to do.

Look in your owners manual and find out how to adjust your suspension. Look to see which screws and knobs adjust what aspect of your suspension. If you need help, come see me. A good starting point would be the suspension settings found in the pinned post, titled the same found here:

http://www.seductivecycles.com/forum...?showtopic=237

From there (here's where the honesty part comes in) figure out how you want your motorcycle to handle differently.

Problem:
Bike doesnt turn quick enough

Reason:
Rake angle is too big. Wheelbase is too long. Not enough ride hight, not enough weight on the front tire.

Solution:
Increase rear ride hight by adding shims to your shock or drop forks through triple trees. Start at 5mm increments. Shorten wheelbase by removing a link in the chain and bringing the rear wheel forward.



Problem:
Bike wont hold line, especially exiting corners.

Reason:
Not enough weight on the front end

Solution:
Increase ride height slightly unless the bike already turns quick enough. Otherwise increase front rebound and/or rear compression.



Problem:
Rearend fishtails under braking. (some of this is due to the rear wheel locking up under hard downshifting)

Reason:
Rear wheel is lifting off the ground because the bike is pitching forward.

Solution:
Reduce rear preload, lower rear spring rate, increase rear rebound. Or Increase front compression increase front spring rate, reduce ride hight.



Problem:
Lack of rear tire grip.

Reason:
Not enough weight on rear tire.

Solution:
Pitch the bike backwards by increasing front ride height or lowering rear ride height. Shorten wheelbase.



Problem:
Front feels like it's going to tuck mid-corner

Reason:
Too much weight on front tire or too much front rebound.

Solution:
Pitch the bike backwards by increasing front ride height or lowering rear ride height. Reduce front rebound.




There's alittle more to it, but this should be a good start for you guys who know little about suspension and what effect certain elements of suspension tuning have on your bikes.