New rear spring 850GSA

[Boro8907]

Hi all


Seems to me when fully loaded and 2 up the rear is compressed too much even with preload on full.
Had a two day trip and found my center stand was touching down at modest lean angles.
Have spoken to a local suspension shop and have it booked into see what they can replace the rear spring with given my load requirements.
Not looking at a new rear shock as the spring would need to be changed anyhow, so once I speak to them and they do some tests I'll post what they come back with.

[Boro8907]

For those interested the new spring as worked out by the shop will be 18n/mm. Will take a few weeks to arrive and be fitted, so will update once that has happened and provide thoughts.

[Boro8907]

Confirmed with the shop that they are proposing going from the standard spring rate of 15N/mm to 18N/mm. This should stop the center stand bottoming out and give me back some preload adjustment.

[Matty589]

Is your rear shock ESA or manual? I have the low suspension version with manual only on offer. It’s too soft and wouldn’t be any good two up, but it’s OK with a single rider. Once the warranty is done I shall definitely look for a better replacement rear shock and front fork springs/oil as I’m fairly light and it’s under-damped. The amount of brake dive and bounciness is sadly indicative of the fairly poor quality suspension on offer as stock on most bike nowadays - it’s the easiest way to hide saving on manufacturing costs.

[Boro8907]

HI mine is the manual rear shock, and as you mention is was ok 1 up, bouncy and under sprung and damped. Add passengers and luggage and it is all over the place. It reminds me of my original MT09 very poor quality suspension and no adjustment up front can never been seen as a quality solution.

[smswy]

Originally Posted by Matty589

Is your rear shock ESA or manual? I have the low suspension version with manual only on offer. It’s too soft and wouldn’t be any good two up, but it’s OK with a single rider. Once the warranty is done I shall definitely look for a better replacement rear shock and front fork springs/oil as I’m fairly light and it’s under-damped. The amount of brake dive and bounciness is sadly indicative of the fairly poor quality suspension on offer as stock on most bike nowadays - it’s the easiest way to hide saving on manufacturing costs.

Following both Matty589 and Boro8907.  Just got back into MC after several decades away and have had the 2022 F850 GSA low suspension since late August. Only 2,000 miles to date and being in Wyoming, USA where temps got down to -17 degF last week, the MC is now in a detached garage on battery tender. In anticipation of touring, especially MC camping (I’ve done a lot in my truck with a roof top tent but want to try MC now), I bought the Mosko Moto 35L panniers and 30L duffle and some pouches.  Being a somewhat anal and OCD scientist I have made a spreadsheet, with weights, of all the things I might carry (and I suppose over time I would whittle it down). At present the total weight, with weight of Mosko Moto luggage and such is 110lb, with 29lb inside left pannier, 32lb center duffle, contents and MotoWinch and 20lb inside right pannier (lighter to account for fulcrum effect due to muffler and rack offset).  I weigh 175lb.

From your experience, do you think when I load out with this I should adjust manual rear shock for 1 up and load or 2 up and load? The 110 lb is not that great it would seem. Yes, I know the “try and see what it is like”, but I don’t have recent experience and the most I ever carried in past on my 500 cc Honda was a military duffle bag full of cloths.  What should I be experiencing that tells me I should set the rear shock for 2up and load vs 1 up and load? Any ideas? Thanks, Stephen

[SnoDrtRider]

It really does not matter... Preload is Preload if you are going with the settings suggested in the manual. The shock spring preload does not know if you are setting it loaded or unloaded.
If you are using a sag setting then it will make a difference because you cannot properly set sag without the full load on the suspension.