[DesmoBob]

Okay, after parting out my beloved '97 ss/sp over the last couple months, I took delivery of a 2007 MTS1100 in December, got it up to a whopping 320 miles, and today I received my Pitbull rearstand; so, I spent the evening doing some suspension stuff...

I weigh about 150-155 lbs w/ gear, so a lot of the time a bike's "factory" settings are a bit stiff for me. Today I pulled the forks up thru the triples 10mm from stock, to lower the front ride height a bit w/o just backing off the preload excessively. Then, w/ the bike up on both stands, I measured the full fork extension...163mm. Then I measured the same distance off the stand, which was about 125mm, yielding 38mm of static sag. Then, w/ the cunning use of a zip tie, I measured rider sag. That measurement was about 115mm, yielding an overall (static + rider) sag of approx 48mm.

That's almost 5cm! These measurements were taken w/ preload set at 8 turns in from fully out (vs factory 6 turns in, which is actually two full turns MORE preload than baseline). I know on my old SS, total (rider) sag should be *about* 35mm... a lot less than 48mm. And that's w/ only 150 lbs on board! It seems excessive to me, and I can't imagine any advantage to using up so much spring before any type of dynamic compression.

My compression/rebound settings are as follows: Compression 1 turn out (from fully in) vs factory 1.5 turns out, and rebound 1.5 turns out vs factory 2 turns out.

I know I'm used to having my ass in the air, but something just seems not quite right here. I haven't quite sorted exactly how I feel about the bike's handling, at times the front feels a little insecure, a little "skippy", but that's probably in the comp/rebound. I can say my rear tire is visibly worn to less than 1/8" of the edge, whereas the front seems barely scuffed off centerline. (I'm exaggerating, of course.)

In any event, those wear indicators suggest my rear ride height is too low, and my front end is riding high. I have 5mm preload on the shock, and rebound is set at the factory recommended 18 turns out from fully in, while compression is also at the factory recommended 2 turns out. I do have adjustable ride height, but I think I need to get some preload sett8ngs for the front down before I start messing w/ the shock...

I know this ain't a 999 (or should I say 1098, although being a Multi owner I'm pretty clearly a Terblanche fan), but there's gotta be some wisdom out there; someone who can help me figure out if or how far off base I am.

Sorry for the long post, but after all it is suspension crap. More details means less follow up questions by those in the know!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated...