On Apr 4, 2011, at 1:12 AM, Nick Vale wrote:
> As your priority will be to ensure the back doesn't bottom out (as opposed to getting razor sharp cornering!), you'll be wanting to harden up the back, so for your weights I'd set rear preload and comp damping to the max, and reduce the rebound damping to min (to give the suspension the best chance of recovering quickly after a bump), then see how it feels. If it's totally solid, slacken off preload and comp damping a bit. The front I'd not play with, other than possibly just cranking up the preload a tad if, once the rear is set, when you both sit on it , the front nosedives.
>
> Cheers - Nick
> See the face, admire the bikes, yawn at the holiday snaps...
>
>
> http://www.worldwidewobble.com
>
> On 04/04/2011 00:26, Ian Ellison wrote:
>>
>> Next weekend I'm off to an event with my bike club in Hay on Wye. It's the
>> one weekend of the year my better half comes with me. We'll come back with
>> panniers loaded with cheap books from the second hand stores, so I will need
>> to crank the rear preload up. Given I'm a big lad, 18st/250lb/110kg, and Mrs
>> E is - errm - not tiny (nor huge!) and we'll have some heavy luggage, do I
>> just crank it to the max or is there some science behind how many turns to
>> add?
>>
>> TIA,
>>
>> IanE
Most springs and damping settings on *any* shock cannot handle that wide a load variance. In other words if it works well at all for a solo rider then it can't be cranked up high enough to also accommodate a passenger, touring gear and the collected works of .
I can't see how you could go with anything less than full on as spec'd by Nick but I do think you should limit your speed to about 80 kph as you will have somewhere around 500 kilos and there are few (if any) OEM suspensions that can properly handle that type of load at speed. I think you'll find that the suspension is sacked right down and have very little usable travel so hitting a big bump or dip will be very exciting. Ride comfort will probably only be a memory.
But the whole escapade will probably be a lot of fun. I rode 16,000 miles on a Norton 850 Interstate with shocks about the same as Konis (SW if your remember them). Gear, girlfriend and many adventures.
But I have no memory of anything approaching "ride comfort" and especially remember the pavement transitions across South Dakota. Kind of like a single jackhammer pulse about every 10-15 seconds or so for about 150 miles.
You've probably figured out that will all that weight at the rear the front will feel (and be) light.
Thanks,
M./
Michael Heth
mheth@motolectric.com
(415) 992-7840
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