S2R 1000 fork setup issues

[blalor]

In the interest of starting from a known point, tonight I set out to reset the suspension on my new-to-me '07 S2R 1000 to the specs laid out in the manual.  I didn't get very far. :-(  I bought the bike used from a used-bike dealership who purchased it from a Harley dealership who took the bike in on trade.  I think it's a single-owner bike.  It looks clean and well maintained, but I'm finding a few things that may have been a bit mangled.

When setting the rebound damping, the left adjuster stopped after a bunch of clicks, but the right went at least 30 clicks â€" and the top of the adjuster was below the top of the nut â€" before there were no more clicks at all.  I never found significant resistance when screwing that adjuster in.  I never applied any actual force, just enough to get the adjusters to move, which felt pretty normal. 

Something's definitely wrong, but what?  I set the left one to 6 clicks out from full-in and tried to make the right match just on height; I know that's not correct, but is it correct *enough* to hold me until I can service the forks?  The compression adjusters both felt similar and I was able to set them appropriately.  The front end feels very soft.

When I checked the preload I found the left is about 15mm and the right's about 20mm.  I tried turning both of the large nuts with an adjustable wrench but was unable to get them to move.  I did manage to ding the right adjuster. (╯°□°）╯︵ â"»â"â"» How do I properly adjust the preload?  What size nut is that?  Looks like at least 32mm.  Do I need to counter-hold the top "nut" that the adjuster protrudes through?

Sorry, I'm sure these are very obvious questions, but shocks are new ground for me…

[Speeddog]

The preload adjuster is the part with the hex that I've highlighted in green.

From here, it looks like someone's been inside those forks, and not screwed the cap onto the damper rod quite far enough.

Set both sides the same number of clicks out from closed.

[blalor]

Fancy graphics, Speeddog!  Thanks!  That makes sense.  The manual does *not*:

[koko64]

Its very wrong. That will unscrew the fork cap. Good it didnt budge and then let go while test riding. I would spend some $$ on suspension work to your riding style and bodyweight. Its a good investment.

[blalor]

The more I thought that through, the more wrong it seemed. :-P  Right now I'm just trying to get the forks and shock reset to stock.  The fork seals look dry-rotted, so I'm planning on replacing those and changing the fork oil this winter.  I'll probably enlist the help of a local shop for actual setup, however.

The preload adjuster is the part with the hex that I've highlighted in green.

Well, that turns nice and easy.  That preload distance is now equal. :-)

From here, it looks like someone's been inside those forks, and not screwed the cap onto the damper rod quite far enough.

Set both sides the same number of clicks out from closed.

The problem is that I never hit "closed" on the right before running out of clicks.  In that picture above, the adjuster keeps turning freely without clicks, but hadn't bottomed out, yet.

Still sound like a reassembly problem?  Can I get at that without removing the forks from the triples?

[MonsterHPD]

The more I thought that through, the more wrong it seemed. :-P  Right now I'm just trying to get the forks and shock reset to stock.  The fork seals look dry-rotted, so I'm planning on replacing those and changing the fork oil this winter.  I'll probably enlist the help of a local shop for actual setup, however.
Well, that turns nice and easy.  That preload distance is now equal. :-)
The problem is that I never hit "closed" on the right before running out of clicks.  In that picture above, the adjuster keeps turning freely without clicks, but hadn't bottomed out, yet.

Still sound like a reassembly problem?  Can I get at that without removing the forks from the triples?

Speeddog is most likely absolutely right, someone's been inside the forks and not put them back together correctly.  If you back the adjuster back out all the way and start counting clicks, after about 35 clicks they will disappear because the "click" part of the needle will be pastthe spring-backed ball giving the clicks:



It might be possible to do it without removing the forks, but I've only tried that once, not succeded, just too awkward.

[blalor]

Thanks, everyone.  I just picked up a front stand, so I may try to pop the cap off that fork leg tonight, or drop that fork out.  I don't have any oil, so I'd like to avoid completely disassembling it, but I would like to try to get the two legs set up the same before the season's done.

[Speeddog]

You may find you have some trouble getting the axle out, as that fork leg is ~ 1/4" longer at full extension.

When I re-assemble that variety of forks, I set the adjuster screw flush to the top of the post.
Then screw it onto the damper rod and *lightly* seat it.
Be mindful, when doing that, the tapered nose of the brass adjuster is bottoming on the orifice in the top of the damper rod.
So *lightly* is the key word.
Then I run the locknut up finger tight, back off the screw a couple clicks, and then tighten the locknut.

That procedure gets both forks as close to the same length as is reasonable, avoids damaging the adjuster tip, and is relatively easy.

I use a fork compressor tool, and only work on forks off the bike.
It's just way too awkward on the bike, and the chance of damaging something is too high.

Check out MonsterHPD's posts on the Showa forks, it'll give you some good info on what's involved.

[R1racer]

Isn't inspecting the hole front end ( forks ) was something for you to do prior buying the bike, That to  include messing with pre-load ,rebound , compression part of pre inspection on  the bike before you give the stealership your money . Some one did not set the adjuster lock nut high on the damping rod correctly . Don't mess with it 2 much . Take it apart and inspect .

[SwiftTone]

There's no point of setting the suspension to "as stock as possible" at this point in my opinion. The components are OLD  and worn so even if you set it to the stock spec, it won't perform the same as it did as it was new.

For me, suspension is much of a black art that I just rather pay someone with experience and expertise to get the optimal setup. Regular bike shops typically don't really know what they're doing in regards of suspension and often times components get put back in correctly. And most people don't even think of suspension as a maintenance item.

While you're in there you might as well get some upgraded components in there such as springs and Gold Valves.

I had Computrack Boston out in Bellingham, MA do my suspension and it came out great. I also had them do my RC51 with great results. I ended up getting Gold Valves in the forks with Ohlins spring, as well as retrofitting Ohlins shock from a 998 for the rear.

They're running a winter special right now so it might be a good time to send it in. I know I'll be sending my stuff in for a refresh this winter.

[blalor]

I'd totally forgotten about this thread.  Speeddog and MonsterHPD were right on: someone'd been in the forks and totally screwed up the right one.  The fork cap was completely disconnected from the damper rod.  The washer that sits between the plastic spacer and fork cap was shaped like a taco shell, and the threads in the cap were a bit bunged up.  I was able to get everything reassembled and it's been fine since.