FZS 1000 front fork preload adjusters - adjustment range

[kakabus]

Hi all, just bought a 2005 bike and front forks are a little bit hard. On the road, when i hit a transversal ridge in the corner, the handlebars kick me to my hands. In straight line is it not so bad. Tried to soften the preload, but the adjusters can be turned to max 3,5 rings out. There should be range of 6 rings. Can you say, if the dampers are bad assembled or there was some of fork upgrade made?
On 95% the roads, there are no problems at all during the ride and the forks are working well. Just the one situation described above make the ride not so safe.
Preload is 3,5 ring out, compression and rebound some clicks to soft setting from the user manual. Thank you for your suggestions.


Image of the adjuster - is it genuine fazer adjuster?


https://www.dropbox.com/s/wgm8u6qhjydxgnf/2014-08-11%2013.47.48.jpg

[AyJay]

Hi Kebabus. I think most FZS1000 riders would recognise the feeling you're getting from the front fork. As I understand it (and I could be wrong) there are two problems - the forks have too much compression damping and the standard springs are not strong enough to support the weight of bike + hefty European rider (that's me, by the way!)

This means that the fork does not soak up small bumps or bumps that arrive very quickly because the compression damping doesn't give the fork time to react. Unfortunately, you also get a lot of fork dive because the springs aren't strong enough to support the weight. This means that owners tend to keep increasing the compression damping to stop it diving, but that only makes matters worse.

Increasing or decreasing preload doesn't work either as that only sets the ride height and has little, if any, effect on how the forks soak up bumps.

Fazers have a lot more fork travel than sports bikes which is great for council speed bumps but again, it does mean the forks dive quite heavily when you brake, and again, the temptation is to try and increase preload and compression to stop it happening.

Transverse ridges really make it kick, I've found. There's a bit of A road near me where there is a 90mph bend with stutter bumps and it clatters off those like a bastard. My Kawasaki feels completely different on that bend, much much smoother.

If you can, get on a quiet bit of road, look down through the fairing and watch the fork legs and just see how much they're going up and down on small bumps. It's a dangerous thing to do, obviously, but you'll probably find that it's only really big bumps that make the fork leg move at all. The good news is that with all that travel, on properly bumpy roads you can ride faster than sports bikes! Nothing beats a Fazer down the Col de La Bonnette in France.

The thing to do is install stiffer springs (around 80-100 quid), increase the amount of fork oil by half an inch or so, and then slacken off the compression a couple of clicks from the manual settings. The stiffer springs and smaller air gap help with the fork dive, so you can then run less compression damping. I'm still experimenting with the compression settings, but at present I have more controlled dive when braking and less kick over small bumps which is good.

This is what I have done because it's within my spannering abilities, but it's by no means a complete fix. For that you have to start spending serious money on a fork revalve or fit a front end from an R1. They're not brilliant options financially, either of them. Revalves seem to start at £500 and go up, and that's getting on for a fifth of the cost of the bike in the first place. There is also a chap called RavenRider on the USA forum who modified the springs and spacers on his Fazer with some success and for very little money.

http://www.yamahafz1oa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31941

I didn't want to start hacking my springs around, so I just bought some help in shape of Ohlins.

Has anyone else got any tips?

[kakabus]

Thank you very much for your thoughts. Bought this machine not long ago, just reached 1000km on it and i learn to ride and set it to my driving style. Great great bike overall, but this one glitch with the front forks.
I measured the travels of dampers, bike on centerstand = 2mm, bike on the wheels after a gentle pumping = 31mm, bike on wheels with me onboard = 35mm. I did not see a lot of diving on brakes.
To this moment i owned a Yamaha XJ 600 96', XJ 900 95' and Suzuki RF 900 95' and XT600Z Tenere 90' (little bit another story, but nice memories) and these are diving much much more on brakes than the FZS. I have an cable tie on the fork installed and will make a test ride tomorrow, if the weather wil be on my side. Also i would like to try some compression and rebound settings.
What confuses me is the strange preload range on my bike.
Sorry for my english, i am from Czech Rep.

[AyJay]

You're English is better than half the people on UK and US bike forums, perfectly understandable, so no apology needed!


Whenever I'm testing, I take a notepad and pen with me. It's the only way to be precise when experimenting.


As for your preload adjusters, I have to say, mine are blue. I'm not saying your's aren't FZS1000 adjusters, maybe they were that colour in different markets, but it would be worth checking.

[Simon.Pieman]

Before I had my forks re-valved by K-Tech I replaced the oil in my forks with Motul 5W. This went quite a long way to making the forks more compliant over small sharp bumps and certainly improved the compression damping which as standard is a little fierce to say the least.
 But, compared to K-Tech modded forks this was just a halfway house to a decent fork action, they really do need re-valving to work properly.

[kakabus]

The adjustment ranges remains like on non modded forks or there is a difference after revalving? Or the adjusters are changed also with the revalving? Thanks

[shrekster]

The basic problem is the high speed compression damping is too hard and isn't adjustable. The only way to change it is to put in a different shim stack, you could try lighter oil but the rebound is already near the max and this would only make it worse. Even with the compression adjuster fully out there is no effect on how the fork deals with big bumps.
Jim.

[kakabus]

I guessed the hard compression problem too, i am at 13 click out of 21, seems a bit better. But not ideal. It can be, that it will not solve this even if on 21 clicks. Could this problem be affected also with the rebound setting? I mean, could it be, that the forks go up too qick after compressed on the bumb? I need to do more testing deffinitely.

[kakabus]

Problem solved   I have made the standard  settings and the ride was nearly dangerous. Bumps really destabilised front of the bike. Then i changed the compression to soft - it was better. Finally reached 15 clicks and the front behaves smoother and safe on hitting the bumps. Yes, it feels a bit soft and no that responsive, but stable. Also the bike leans much more proactive and that suits to my driving style. Rebound is set to user manual recommended value.
Thank you all for tips. Now i am just enough happy to not make any markable changes for some time, just enjoying it right now

[b1k3rdude]

Hi Kebabus. I think most FZS1000 riders would recognise the feeling you're getting from the front fork. As I understand it (and I could be wrong) there are two problems - the forks have too much compression damping and the standard springs are not strong enough to support the weight of bike + hefty European rider (that's me, by the way!)

I have tried this in the past and not been happy with the results as it either negligible or had no effect. But am going to have another stab at it and see how I get on.

I have also emailed K-tech for a basic re-spring/re-valve quote.

[update]
The previous owner had set - the comp to softest of 22 clicks, rebound to 7 clicks  and preload of 3 rings. So even at those settings the front end far to harsh compared to my bandit 1200, so it looks like a k-tech spring/valve is the next step.

[AyJay]

It's a wallet busting upgrade BikerDude. I contacted them again last year and it was £550 minimum. Even the DIY kit was 500 quid. Gulp. I'm still not happy with my set up but I have other problems right now, like a spectacular amount of corrosion, the lug on the back of the collector has snapped off so the whole exhaust system was hanging by the rear foot peg and headers and a rotten radiator.


Mind, since I've got the front end off the bike at the mo, I might have a crack at the RavenRider mods.

[b1k3rdude]

It's a wallet busting upgrade BikerDude. I contacted them again last year and it was £550 minimum.

When I spoke to them it was quoted £395, but that dosen include the cost of sending the forks to them. I am going to try thier springs first and if its still not good enough I can then to the re-vale upgrade down the line.

[AyJay]

I got some Ohlins springs for the forks when I got the Ohlins shock. The back end was transformed, the front end... yeah ... not a lot of difference. It's the shim stack - it's just plain wrong. There's absolutely no harm in getting the springs though, it's one thing K-Tech wouldn't have to change if you do go for the full monty (suspension wise, not Ivanisation!)

[b1k3rdude]

There's absolutely no harm in getting the springs though, it's one thing K-Tech wouldn't have to change if you do go for the full monty (suspension wise, not Ivanisation!)

Yeah that's my thinking also, I'm hoping that with the right/lighter oil it will give me a bit more finesse at low (5-25mph) speed.