Suspension settings

The purpose of this page is to propose a general method to achieve correct suspensions settings. General idea is the following : always deal first with preload, to reach a correct bike position, and then adjust dynamic behaviour with damping settings. Here is the whole method :

In order to start correctly, adjust the damping settings to 'sport' settings if you know them, and on average position either. It's really important to avoid to start with max damping. This could cause dramatic behaviour and some falls. It's better to have a too soft suspension than a too hard one.
Then real setting procedure starts with preload adjustment. Stroke from 'wheels off the ground' position to 'pilot seated on bike' position must be 1/3 of total stroke, in order to have enough stroke margin for compression and rebound ( compression margin must be twice rebound one).
Then let's start dynamic setting. Put some tie raps on fork and rear shock, go riding 2 or 3 laps, and come back to the pit. Check that tie raps are quite totally up, but not completely. Too up, that means suspension came to stroke end. Not up enough means you don't use all stroke, which is bad either.
Once these settings are done, you must have a quite correct behaviour. You will have to adjust them with the following table, according to your riding style and many other subjective parameters.

Table

	Problems	Causes	Solutions
Front	Bike is wild on bumps on straight lines or when braking.	Fork is too hard, because of preload or compression damping Fork is too soft and comes to stroke end	Loose preload and/or compression damping Tighten preload and/or compression damping
	Bike is moving at high speeds	Bike comes to rebound stroke end.	Loose preload to give more available stroke
	Bike is wobbling	Fork isn't fast enough to control repetitive bumps.	Loose rebound damping
	Bike sets upright on bumps or when braking	Fork goes down too fast	Tighten compression damping
	Bike is unstable at beginning of corners	Fork rebounds too fast at end of braking	Tighten rebound damping
Arrière	Bike is wild on bumps on straight lines	Shock is too hard, because of preload or compression damping Shock is too soft and comes to stroke end	Loose preload and/or compression damping Tighten preload
	Bike is moving at high speeds	Bike is too much 'on the back'	Tighten preload
	Lack of accuracy at end of corner	Weight transfer when accelerating is too fast	Tighten rebound damping
	Bike is oscillating when accelerating	Shock rebound is too fast on bumps, or wheel is sliding.	Tighten rebound damping
	Grip lost on bumps when accelerating	Suspension is not fast enough	Loose rebound and/or compression damping
Pitch	Bike has wide lines	Too much trail	Increase pitch to front (negative pitch)
	Bike touching the ground	General position is too low	Heighten front and back
	Bike is moving at high speeds	Not enough weight on front wheel	Heighten backe
	Front wheel comes too fast in the turn	Not enough trail	Heighten front