Removing the Tenere 700 rear shock

[Desert Mariner]

JayD

 

I don't think there's a single answer, and maybe it doesn't matter much between one or the other.

 

I'm 105kg in riding gear currently. I could probably stand to lose the 5 kg I gained since last March when I started teaching online due to the pandemic. I may get thinner after this pandemic is over and I may not. If I do get thinner, I may get fatter again. I buy my pants to fit who I am, not to who I aspire to be. In our discussion, you might perhaps buy the spring to fit who you are now and what your present riding is as opposed to how much you might weigh and do in the future. You can always buy another down the road if you stay thin and decide you really won't ride the bike with a passenger or luggage.

 

You can certainly choose a lighter spring, but the ride gets less pliant as you add preload. I'd rather preload minimally for my own weight, and have plenty of adjustability when I'm riding two-up or carrying a full camping load offroad, but I do both regularly. I'm no suspension guru, but I have ridden both properly suspended and undersprung bikes and I prefer the former. Also, so much depends on how much luggage you carry and/or how heavy your passenger is. 

 

Then there's my buddy Martin. While I spent over a thousand US dollars changing my suspension on my Suzuki DR650, he kept his stock. We've ridden together many thousands of miles on road and off. I truly find the ride on his bike to be awful! Still, he's happily ridden 50,000 miles on that undersprung bike, often with a full touring load and has enjoyed every minute of it. And, he still rides way better than me offroad. 

 

For most of us, we're probably fine with the stock suspension if we don't push the bike aggressively or regularly ride heavily loaded. I've got a 95kg spring for my current weight and usage.

 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2020 by Desert Mariner

[JayD]

6 hours ago, Desert Mariner said:

JayD

 

I don't think there's a single answer, and maybe it doesn't matter much between one or the other.

 

I'm 105kg in riding gear currently. I could probably stand to lose the 5 kg I gained since last March when I started teaching online due to the pandemic. I may get thinner after this pandemic is over and I may not. If I do get thinner, I may get fatter again. I buy my pants to fit who I am, not to who I aspire to be. In our discussion, you might perhaps buy the spring to fit who you are now and what your present riding is as opposed to how much you might weigh and do in the future. You can always buy another down the road if you stay thin and decide you really won't ride the bike with a passenger or luggage.

 

You can certainly choose a lighter spring, but the ride gets less pliant as you add preload. I'd rather preload minimally for my own weight, and have plenty of adjustability when I'm riding two-up or carrying a full camping load offroad, but I do both regularly. I'm no suspension guru, but I have ridden both properly suspended and undersprung bikes and I prefer the former. Also, so much depends on how much luggage you carry and/or how heavy your passenger is. 

 

Then there's my buddy Martin. While I spent over a thousand US dollars changing my suspension on my Suzuki DR650, he kept his stock. We've ridden together many thousands of miles on road and off. I truly find the ride on his bike to be awful! Still, he's happily ridden 50,000 miles on that undersprung bike, often with a full touring load and has enjoyed every minute of it. And, he still rides way better than me offroad. 

 

For most of us, we're probably fine with the stock suspension if we don't push the bike aggressively or regularly ride heavily loaded. I've got a 95kg spring for my current weight and usage.

 

 

 

Thank you for a thorough answer, my friend. I agree with everything you said. As a former competitive powerlifter, I’ve always lived my life weight-wise according to the weight class I’ve competed in. When I was emotionally done with the 105 kg class, I bumped up to 120kg, sold all my regular clothes that fitted at 105. After a while I got tired of being 120, so I went back to 105 and had to rebuy clothes. My point is, you never know just exactly how much one weighs in the future, just as you said.

 

I went for the 90nm. Im much more likely to drop further below 95 than going back up now that I’m stepping down the training.

 

Thanks again!