How much front fork pre-load?

That's what I had before hand, I have a set of 0.45's and 0.48's. I might go back, it just felt a little bit too soft on the road (I use my bike for riding to work sometimes, enduro, and SM when I can be bothered to change the wheels over)
 
Braking bumps will be way too fast for clickers to make a difference. It's just an orifice with a needle and that will limit.
 
Mmm

Ive still got an issue with headshake ?

I really can fault the suspension now, it only bottoms on the biggest of hits, the bike turns on a pin, traks over the slipperiest of roots and cambers, but every now and then it scares the bejesus out of me with a wicked headshake. It lasts a few seconds but is feeling as if it could get out of hand, I have springs to my weight, ballpark sag numbers too.

Anyone else had this and whats the cure
 
ive set mine up with rear at 38static/100 race.backed off my pfp 1 turn on front and ended with 53mm race on front.(76kg rider 13 ec200r).what should the front actually be for the 48 zokes with pfp?ive heard both 55 and 65-70mm recommended,rear was at 85mm race as stock,suggesting im just on the light side for this spring.front was stock at 48mm race now 53mm.what do u guys think?32:1 could your front rim be damaged or out of balance?steering head bearings too loose/tight?rear wheel alignment?bad tyre?
 
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thanks,so looks like I need to drop preload more at front,either by pfp or internally?question-can the internal adjustment be made without removing forks and disassembling?i understand theres a clip with 4 positions just not sure how much involved to get in there...can I just remove cap and there it is or do I need special tools?
 
Barossi, you can download the Marzocchi manual from their site. To access the preload you need to undo the fork cap, drain the oil from the other, and then undo the 19mm nut on the bottom and remove the cartridge. You can then press the spring perch down to reveal the circlip and groves and made adjustment, but from memory they only had around 5mm preload on them and moving it to the next slot would make that 0mm and you may find the spring rattling at full extension.

Also, the circlip can have sharp edges which can cause issues when removing/putting the spring seat back against it. This is what happened to my Marzocchi 48mms and destroyed the coating on the cartridges when the aluminium made its way into the cartridge. Take special care to dress the circlip ends if doing this.

I haven't measured my sag at the front, but I would guess I work more within the 55-60mm range. I prefer a firmer front end that can take some big hits. I'd try backing off the PFP a little before going internal. Also, the 48mm with PFP chew the oil out quickly - usually 25hrs and the forks are noticably performing less than they should.
 
I've gone down the route of less race sag on the front, and can only feel the bike becoming more compliant the closer to the 'ideal' 25% (72mm) I get. I definitely agree that you gain some high speed stability ON ROAD. But off road I find it causes juddering at the handle bars and makes the snotty stuff a lot more tiring than it needs to be.

I found similar with tyre pressures in trials, I used to think "I want my front end to be as predictable as can be", so I kept the front tyre pumped nice and high. On solid rocks etc the turning is much easier, BUT, when I finally dropped the pressure to what 'everyone else' uses, everyone thought I'd taken some form of magic pill or something and cleaned most sections!

I suppose it really depends on what you are riding, but as far as I can see, if the pro's recommend 25% front end race sag for MX, how can you want firmer for enduro?
 
That would depend what you consider to be an expert, and also what you actually prefer in your suspension. Its as personal as any other aspect of your bike.

Ohlins recommend 50+/- race sag on their TTX setups (as per docs for Sachs 48mm legs). Personally I wouldn't want to go under 50 and would aim in the upper spec myself.

You have to look at the function of sag to understand how it influences bike behaviour and if that is something that suits your riding. The sag is effectively how far the front wheel can 'fall into' the ground. This effects the wheels ability to follow the ground in the event that it does fall away. Now 2 things we all know are that offroad the ground isn't flat and is always changing, and that to have traction the wheel needs to be on the ground. Without sag enough free sag you lose traction. Its a compromise between maximising how much suspension travel you have to soak up impacts, and how much you leave for the wheel to track with.

Personally, I steer with the rear a lot. Use it to set the bike up, and use it to drive and steer through the corners. I find that a front that wants to drop into every undulaction feels tiresome, mushy and busy - some call this plush - I like firm and responsive. I like having the front skip along over things than trying to plough through them. It also leaves a bit more travel for compression impacts. Something you can never have enough of.

There are no magic hard fast rules when it comes to suspension. Only what works for you and where you ride.
 
I definitely agree with the soggy front end. But after reading the guide I posted earlier, I managed to combat it with less rebound damping and it feels great now!
 
Ive got 45mm fork sag, something Ive never thought about, only doing rear over the years and buying fork springs to match ?

Anyhow, Ive pushed forks down flush with clamps now, so that's 8mm down, also set reag sag to 110

Lets see what this does this weekend

As Ive said, bike feels great but for this headshake every now and then, I think its worse as I back out of gas or run a section part throttle, hard gas or brakes the front is predictable.
 
Fork sag? That race sag or static?

Tried mine on the road today and it feels great, backing off the rebound and increasing the compression really did wonders when going to the 'optimal' spring rate from a stiffer one. Full report and videos on the weekend :D!
 
That would be static I guess, from fully extended on stand to settled off stand.

Whats the correct amount if there is one ?
 
32:1 said:
That would be static I guess, from fully extended on stand to settled off stand.

Whats the correct amount if there is one ?
Click to expand...

Hard to measure due to stiction. You'd have to bounce the bike and let it settle, repeat and then average out your results.

I'd be more inclined to work with race sag (rider on bike), and still apply above principals.
 
Jakobi said:
Hard to measure due to stiction. You'd have to bounce the bike and let it settle, repeat and then average out your results.

I'd be more inclined to work with race sag (rider on bike), and still apply above principals.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, whats the ballpark for rider sag on the forks ?

Chris
 
Between 65 and 85mm.

When measuring static sag, pull up on the bars, then let settle and measure, then push down on bars, let settle and measure. Aim for 35+-10mm.

Race sag do the same, put a zip tie around the forks and get a helper to pull it up after bouncing lightly once, and then again when getting on gently. My readings were 65 and 75 repeatedly. I have quite a lot of stiction from new seals and it's about 3 centigrade outside atm (under my gazebo...:( ).
 
from stock my bike had approx 85 race rear ,48/50 race front.have found that when I dropped rear race sag to 105 the rear was smooth but felt out of sync with front as the most I could back off the front race sag to was 55mm(75kg wet,13ec200 zokes48/ohlins88).took the rear back to 95race and got a nice balance(...for me!).pfp preload 1/2-1 turn from full out softens the harsh fork feel some(stock 2 from full out).IMO the main thing is to get the front/back in harmony(the rear is a bit easier to adjust externally,front usually involves handlebar removal and poss fork dismantling)in my case the front seemed too firm for the rear so softened the front preload(external) and went for the stiffer end of the rear sag range.bike is firm but balanced.now to finetune the clickers all over again....
 
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