hey everyone,

I bought my GS second hand as many of us do and knew that a problem was the soft suspension.

it looks like the person that owned it before me made some mods and the first thing i noticed is that the suspension is hard. I mean the large bumps on the road feel like a kick in the testicles hard. What do you think I can do? Thanks.

Go to the thinnest fork oil, and maybe remove any spacers from the forks.  The rear, if adjustable, move it to the softest settings, and start here: www.peterverdonedesigns.com/introduction.htm

Just to clarify. the thinnest fork oil is.....10W?

2w - like water (don't use water, though).

Stock is 10w, it might be best to start with that.

Correction: it would be best to start with that.  As per Mr. Verdone, it affects all the other aspects of the suspension action.

Wait wait wait wait wait...

I am confused.

This person wants SOFTER suspension on the GS?

MY MIND HAS BEEN BLOWN!

So did I.

He might be lighter than the previous owner.

the spacers/ oil level could have been done incorrectly. It's best to open them up & do it yourself like scratch suggested.


is it the rear shock too? what do you have for a rear shock?

Hmmm I'll trade you my Softer Partss for your Harder parts.

Wow, I just spent 2 hours reading Verdone's site... very informative stuff, AND he's into the hobbies I am! haha 

Quote from: SuperSanka on February 02, 2007, 03:10:17 PM
hey everyone,

I bought my GS second hand as many of us do and knew that a problem was the soft suspension.

it looks like the person that owned it before me made some mods and the first thing i noticed is that the suspension is hard. I mean the large bumps on the road feel like a kick in the testicles hard. What do you think I can do? Thanks.

Question: Are you sure it isn't bottoming that's causing this? I have racing setup for my weight and it would never even approach that kind of punishment even on a sub 100lb rider. But when I had stock and it bottomed it was worse than anything... And I mean ANYTHING.

I don't believe that previous owner overdid it in spring department, to make your testicles worry. I guess he put some 20w oil. You can try to push down front end. If the bike sinks but slowly, the oil is too thick. If the bike sinks quickly but very little, the spring is too hard.

And yes suspension can be too hard, try setting damping setting on katana shock on the hardest setting and ride over some bumps its like replacing the shock with straight pipe. Hammered my butt a lot.

Anyways if you want to have it right, i suggest you take out the springs to see what you got in there. If you cant identify, post some pictures, people here will know. Then read some posts and decide if the springs are ok and what weight oil you need to use, to suit your weight and riding style.

Quote from: domas on February 03, 2007, 02:26:25 AM
I don't believe that previous owner overdid it in ... your testicles, ... with straight pipe. Hammered my butt a lot.

...If you cant identify, post some pictures, people here will know. ...

Hahahahahaha... sorry.. and off to the farm I go...

Quote from: SuperSanka on February 02, 2007, 03:10:17 PMI mean the large bumps on the road feel like a kick in the testicles hard. What do you think I can do?

When I think a bike is riding hard the first thing I do is check the air pressure in the tires.  Your bike sounds like a GS500 with 40 psi front and rear. You must have checked that already?

Hey thanks for the replies. I will try and post pics when I can.

I dont think i can be lighter than the last owner. I am 6'1 203 lbs.

The front end sinks quickly but very little. It never bottoms. I am unsure of if the rearshock is stock or not.

Hmmm.... I will try checking the PSI, but i just recently had the tires replaced at a local shop. I would assume they did it correctly but i can check anyway.

Not to throw bad news at you but the forks might be bent---thus causing them to bind and be really really stiff

You can check out the pictures on the rear suspension page of the wiki if you aren't sure about the rear shock http://cgi.stanford.edu/~sanjayd/gs500/Upgrades/RearShock . That page will also show you how to adjust the preload if you need to.

Quote from: SuperSanka on February 03, 2007, 11:24:14 AM
Hmmm...I will try checking the PSI, but i just recently had the tires replaced at a local shop.  I would assume they did it correctly but i can check anyway.

Always check the tire pressures when you get new tires.  The guys at the shop have no idea what your ideal tire pressure set-up is.  You may not even run stock tire pressures. 

And, you want to change your tire pressures according to temperature.  As an example: During the winter, I run 1-2psi more in the front tire.

check to see what the rear shock collar is adjusted too

You might want to look into getting progressive fork springs, I believe they are about $40 new from http://mawonline.com/. This way you will know you have something good, something that doesn't bottom out, and something you know has been done right.