[lie2me]

Thanks for the links. I'm being lazy with my suspension setup, hope to have a baseline to work with by this weekend.

I've assumed at my weight, that it just wont work. So, I will establish how good it works and start from their.

 

[ltx8zx14r]

my 2006 had a severely weak rear spring. I got a stronger spring, and it worked great. The forks on the 14 were fine, but this time around i'm thinking about something a bit different. I did respring the 2003 forks and i loved it.

From snooping around here in uae, i've found several shops that are extremely capable of setting up my suspension, and/or upgrading. There is an avid group of track riders in dubai, and a sweet track at motorcity.

I'm just looking for any feedback or experience with the 14s suspension. I've looked into reworking the stocker, but i am not sure of the time and effort involved. For the rear, i will probably buy a complete plug and play shock. As for the forks, once my truck arrives, i will pull them off and have them resprung and valved(if i still feel the need for it).

The endgame is to get a better feel for the road and have some room for adjustment. Street riding 100% with the ability to soak up some of the huge frickin' speedbumps? Possible? I just don't feel like i am 'in touch' with what the bike is doing....maybe the overall height compared to my 2006? Tires maybe...never had bridgestones. Steering damper on the '06???

I'm frickin' clueless, but i still think i should have a better feel for the road than i have now. It's really hard to explain.

watch some dave moss videos should give better understanding of setting up suspension.

 

[Neilp]

From my own observations & listening to what others have said, it seems the front end of the zx 14 all models may be a bit undersprung, if you are any more than say 85-90 Kg
Stiffer springs seem to be the order of the day if you are anywhere north of those weights, the problem being when you stiffen up the springs, the current dampening goes out the window, you may just get away with a heavier weight oil, depending on the spring weight you go to. It all depends on the riding you do, & the type of roads you do most of your riding on, no 1 setting is going to suit everyone.
My suggestion to everyone is to adjust the suspension to suit sag for your weight (with gear on). If you cant acheive say 35mm of sag front & rear then you need to look at other solutions.



Neil

 

[NinjaNick]

My 14 is the 2008 model. I had to go different set-up as well. I went DragShockEZ in the rear in 2011, and RaceTech fork springs for my weight up front.

Huge difference and riding under hard braking, turning, and WOT. Better suspension feel all around the board.

 

[psycho]

Ive had my o9's shock resprung and revalved which has made it much nicer.
the forks could benefit from the same treatment

 

[Robp69]

I had a big drop in the front end under brakes, more than I thought reasonable from new, had someone that knows this gear well adjust them. These were my original settings and final - very happy with end result. I'm ~75-80kg and like good feedback from the front, don't use ABS and try to drift it a bit, not a racer tho! Tucking in well and bike is completely different:

Front:
Sag (L) 50, now 41mm
Rings 5, now 2
Comp low 9, now 7 &
Rebound 7, now 2

Rear:
Sag (L) 29mm (within spec)
Static sag 15 ok
Comp low 2.5 turns, now 2 &
Rebound 2, now 1.5

Settings will obv be diff for individuals, just saying that from start to finish, a whole new confidence in the bike has been borne :king:

 

[joe123]

rebound setting

My ZX14R took a little experimenting to set up the suspension and I have found a combination that gets the most out of it for track days, city riding and fast touring. The issues I needed to fix were 1) rear end wallowing and pogoing coming out of corners under full throttle, and 2) front end traction. Starting by setting sag, compression and rebound front and back right in the middle, I adjusted each one at a time back and forth. The fix for the rear ended up being adding 1 click of rebound dampening. For the front I found too much preload made it worse so kept the springs moderate, not stiff. Rebound and compression didn't make much difference to traction so left it in the middle. Still not happy I tried a 55 profile rear tire to raise the back and put more weight on the front. That changed everything. Front end stuck better and could cut a tighter line. I lost a little straight line stability and it falls into corners a bit but am okay with that because that I am expecting it and it doesn't slow me down. The Pirelli Rosso 3's help too.
The bike is forgiving and confidence inspiring with decent feedback within it's limits now that it is dialed in. I have peace with the 600's passing my on the outside of corners because we all know what happens when we hit the straight.

 

[chris555k]

Anyone know if the rear shock is compatible from the early model to latest?

 

[JASEZX14]

Drop the front through 15-20 mm, set your sag and carve up the mountains!