Post your Tenere 700 off road stock suspension settings

[niplo]

Or is the opposite true, actually? Should I look to go a bit undersprung (i.e. 6.3 N/mm - 85-100kg) and go with a slightly higher viscosity oil (i.e. Motul 10W) to reach the above mentioned effects?

[Tenerider]

Can't give you any recommendations for the stock cartridges, but meanwhile I've finished reading a book and several articles on this topic.

 

In fact, brake dive is predominantly determined by spring rates. Low-speed compression damping affects the speed at which the forks dive under braking, but not how much they dive.

 

So, if anyone is looking for less brake dive, firmer springs are to be considered first. Until I've read something else in another book

[niplo]

13 minutes ago, Tenerider said:

Can't give you any recommendations for the stock cartridges, but meanwhile I've finished reading a book and several articles on this topic.

 

In fact, brake dive is predominantly determined by spring rates. Low-speed compression damping affects the speed at which the forks dive under braking, but not how much they dive.

 

So, if anyone is looking for less brake dive, firmer springs are to be considered first. Until I've read something else in another book

 

Firmer springs = less brake dive. Check!

 

How about: low viscosity oil = lower high speed damping and quick reaction to fast hits?

 

 

[DT675]

Keep in mind, while changing oil viscosity will change the suspension action regarding high speed dampening (and low speed too for that matter), it will also change the rebound dampening.  If you slow the dampening down a lot you might slow the rebound down too much too, potentially causing packing, resulting in harsher action.

[niplo]

48 minutes ago, DT675 said:

Keep in mind, while changing oil viscosity will change the suspension action regarding high speed dampening (and low speed too for that matter), it will also change the rebound dampening.  If you slow the dampening down a lot you might slow the rebound down too much too, potentially causing packing, resulting in harsher action.

 

But going to a lower viscosity will make the oil flow faster, right? I don't follow.

 

I guess I am actually trying to reach closed cartridge fork behavior by chasing high and low speed damping tuning separately. I don't know if there is anything to be done on the OEM fork to reach the desired effects. Maybe one just need to find a happy medium.

 

At the moment I am thinking of going with the 6.3 N/mm springs, preload adjuster caps and Motul 10W oil. Even though I'm just a hair over the recommended weight range, the higher viscosity oil should extend that range on the top end just a bit. Then I could play with the preload if needed. I've read in many places that people are experiencing the forks to be too stiff when going with recommended rates, especially if you are at the lower end of the weight range.

 

But this is purely guessing at this point. If anyone has some experience with this, I would be grateful for tips.

[Tenerider]

2 hours ago, niplo said:

 

But going to a lower viscosity will make the oil flow faster, right? I don't follow.

 

I guess I am actually trying to reach closed cartridge fork behavior by chasing high and low speed damping tuning separately. I don't know if there is anything to be done on the OEM fork to reach the desired effects. Maybe one just need to find a happy medium.

 

At the moment I am thinking of going with the 6.3 N/mm springs, preload adjuster caps and Motul 10W oil. Even though I'm just a hair over the recommended weight range, the higher viscosity oil should extend that range on the top end just a bit. Then I could play with the preload if needed. I've read in many places that people are experiencing the forks to be too stiff when going with recommended rates, especially if you are at the lower end of the weight range.

 

But this is purely guessing at this point. If anyone has some experience with this, I would be grateful for tips.

Imho an oil change wouldn't allow you to tune high and low speed independently. If you want to do that, you need a custom shim stack/valving. K-Tech Valving might be what you want.

[niplo]

4 minutes ago, Tenerider said:

Imho an oil change wouldn't allow you to tune high and low speed independently. If you want to do that, you need a custom shim stack/valving. K-Tech Valving might be what you want.

 

The idea was that the combination of changing spring rate and oil viscosity would somehow affect high and low speed damping separately. I guess both spring rate and oil viscosity affect both high and low speed simultaneously in an open cartridge fork. If there only was a possibility to have a variable size valving. High pressure would open the valve to more oil flow in case of big hit. Why has no-one developed this? 

[Tenerider]

14 minutes ago, niplo said:

 

The idea was that the combination of changing spring rate and oil viscosity would somehow affect high and low speed damping separately. I guess both spring rate and oil viscosity affect both high and low speed simultaneously in an open cartridge fork. If there only was a possibility to have a variable size valving. High pressure would open the valve to more oil flow in case of big hit. Why has no-one developed this? 

 

What you are thinking about is exactly how a proper set shim stack works. And it doesn't matter if it's a closed or open cartridge.  There are many technical solutions to achieve that. If you really want to dive deep into the matter, get the RaceTech Suspension Bible. Explains everything!

[williestreet]

I am 100kg without gear and running 6.4N springs.  If I were to do mine again I would go a lot higher with 6.9-7N. 

6.6N should work good for you but I would consider going even higher.  

You will end up with less sag than might be desired, but on this bike I don't think this is a real problem. 

It will get rid of the brake dive and if you don't like your sag numbers it is easy to remove the top washer that your springs seat against and allow you to run less installed preload.

 

Our bike has approx 14mm of installed preload and that is far too much in many tuners opinions.  Removing the stock spring seat allows for less installed preload.  You just make some plastic washers that go above the springs and sit under the fork cap.  This will result in a more plush ride in the bumpy sections and still allow you to get very good sag numbers.

 

Look on the site for posts by Suspension101.  He does a great job of explaining how to properly setup your bike.  

[DT675]

6 hours ago, williestreet said:

I am 100kg without gear and running 6.4N springs.  If I were to do mine again I would go a lot higher with 6.9-7N. 

6.6N should work good for you but I would consider going even higher.  

You will end up with less sag than might be desired, but on this bike I don't think this is a real problem. 

It will get rid of the brake dive and if you don't like your sag numbers it is easy to remove the top washer that your springs seat against and allow you to run less installed preload.

 

Our bike has approx 14mm of installed preload and that is far too much in many tuners opinions.  Removing the stock spring seat allows for less installed preload.  You just make some plastic washers that go above the springs and sit under the fork cap.  This will result in a more plush ride in the bumpy sections and still allow you to get very good sag numbers.

 

Look on the site for posts by Suspension101.  He does a great job of explaining how to properly setup your bike.  

I agree 100%. I sprung mine for my weight (don’t remember which one) and wish I had gone one heavier spring. 

[DT675]

11 hours ago, niplo said:

 

But going to a lower viscosity will make the oil flow faster, right? 

Yes that’s right. I was just making the point, either way you go in viscosity will change both compression AND rebound together. And as @Tenerider stated, the way to separate compression from rebound is through learning shim stacks.  Well, there is more to it than that, but that’s the jist.

[niplo]

10 hours ago, williestreet said:

I am 100kg without gear and running 6.4N springs.  If I were to do mine again I would go a lot higher with 6.9-7N. 

6.6N should work good for you but I would consider going even higher.  

You will end up with less sag than might be desired, but on this bike I don't think this is a real problem. 

It will get rid of the brake dive and if you don't like your sag numbers it is easy to remove the top washer that your springs seat against and allow you to run less installed preload.

 

Our bike has approx 14mm of installed preload and that is far too much in many tuners opinions.  Removing the stock spring seat allows for less installed preload.  You just make some plastic washers that go above the springs and sit under the fork cap.  This will result in a more plush ride in the bumpy sections and still allow you to get very good sag numbers.

 

Look on the site for posts by Suspension101.  He does a great job of explaining how to properly setup your bike.  

 

4 hours ago, DT675 said:

I agree 100%. I sprung mine for my weight (don’t remember which one) and wish I had gone one heavier spring. 

 

Thank you, that is good information! I will go with the 6.6 N/mm spring. Perhaps I could mix 50/50 the Motul 7.5W and 10W to get quite close to OEM viscosity numbers. Our climate in Finland is also a bit colder, so oils will be thicker on average.

[niplo]

Well, well, well... Looks like someone DID come up with the variable size valve for damping rod forks.

 

Emulators-How They Work

 

Does anyone have experience with these?

[williestreet]

I have used emulators on many bikes and they a significant improvement to damper rod forks, but they do not compare to a cartridge fork.

 

I am confused why you are looking at them?  We have cartridge forks on the T7 and these are not compatible.

[Tenerider]

1 hour ago, williestreet said:

I have used emulators on many bikes and they a significant improvement to damper rod forks, but they do not compare to a cartridge fork.

 

I am confused why you are looking at them?  We have cartridge forks on the T7 and these are not compatible.

And I've said before that a cartridge fork can also behave like that - either by shimstack or by any fancy bypass valves etc. Don't have my suspension bible here atm, and I don't remember exactly how it's done.

[discoganya]

These are the setting I like using the OEM hardware. I'm not a racer, only an average off-roader and they work ok for me.

 

- Forks
    - Rebound (upper screws):  13 clicks out
    - Compression (lower screws): 7 clicks out
- Rear Shock
    - Rebound (lower screw): 9 clicks out
    - Compression (upper screw): 10 clicks out

Edited August 19, 2023 by discoganya