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Adjusting Hyperstrada rear shock

M

MartinSerdar

Joined Jul 2013
41 Posts | 0+
Timbuktu
Hi there,

I've been driving a Yamaha XJ6 where I could adjust the spring preload only. First I drove with the setting of 3 and over the months I brought it up to the max of 7 (hardest) for curve stability. After 4 days of driving I realized that the setting on the Strada is too soft now, too. I weigh approx. 90 kg. So I went out and wanted to adjust it a bit.
Now I have the options to change the preload and the rebound damping. So far so good. I'm wondering about a few things: When I play around on the reb-damping I can merely turn it any harder than 1 - 2 revolutions more. So I wanted to play around on the preload. But strangely, besides feeling the clicks every half revolution, I can turn it towards the harder settings endlessly, I turned it about 10 full times and wonder if I do sth. wrong. My intention was to find the hardest setting and turn back from there.
Can anyone explain me this and how it will affect the behaviour?
As far as I understand it, the spring preload is the stiffness, responsible for how strongly I get feedback from bumps and how hard the ride will be in general. The rebound damping is for how fast the shock will move back towards it's original position after a bump or being compressed, so in general I get better feedback from the street when the damping is higher? Please someone explain me, I'm a bit confused about the interplay of both.

Cheers

Martin
 

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The shock has lots of adjustment on preload. I have turned it all the way in to ride 2up. I and my wife are about 140 kg. When I am alone, I back off about 5 or 6 clicks (half turns) and my weight is about 84 kg.
 
trust me, you'll find the end. Thought the same thing first time I twisted to stiffen up. I've been riding 5-7 clicks from full stiff for a while but last fast on ramp I took hit some rough pavement with moderate lean at about 80 mph and got a nasty wave-like bounce going, like when front is tucking inside and back is bouncing outside in slow rolling bounce. It settled out when I straightened up and let off throttle.

Was I just outriding the suspension or do I need to adjust the rear?
 
Hi

I have learned some about setting up suspension during my years with the Multistrada 1100, by reading on the Internet.

To set up your suspension you have to set the rider sag properly.
As the front suspension is not possible to adjust, I just talk about the rear.

First the spring
The rider sag = R1-R3. (Se picture)
Commonly suggested 25-33% of available travel.
The travel for the HS (both front and rear) is 150 mm => Rider sag should be between 38-50 mm.
Turn the pre-load adjuster to archive the proper value. If the bike feels to stiff, increase the sag value.
Easy to do :)

Then the rebound damping
This is a little bit tricky and maybe has to be adjusted depending of your driving style.
If you push the rear end of the bike down and then release, it should return to upper position within a second or half a second.
To long time and you get a bumpy ride, to short time and the bike will be unstable. You have to test this by yourself.

How is my HS setup?
I am quite heavy (105 kg)
Front rider sag is 52, just over max. (can not be adjust)
Rear rider sag is 60, 10 mm over max (standard). I have short legs and can barely reach the ground with my feet as it is, so no adjustment here.
Rebound damping 1.5 turns out from fully closed (standard).
Despite the fact that my set-up is not correct according to "the book", my bike works perfectly.

sag.jpg
 
I thought i'd adjust my rear shock from factory setting the other day and found that there was no pre-load set at all, It did wind in a lot before it got to maximum, I just backed it off to approx half way. need to try it now.
1st service was carried out and the latest software was installed.
£80.00 for the service but i supplied the oil.
 
Is there actually a stop at the top and bottom end of the preload adjustment? I have never found it if there was...
 
Yup, there are stops at both ends, both min and max. As someone else said, I wind it pretty close to max if i'm two up or carrying lots of gear on a road trip.
 
Strider said:
Is there actually a stop at the top and bottom end of the preload adjustment? I have never found it if there was...
Click to expand...

yes, if you turn it clockwise until full preload, you have to turn about 17 full turns (as stated above) or about 33 clicks (1 click is a half turn of the knob).
Contrary - 33 clicks from full preload to full open. You will regonize full open as the knob turns easier when full open reached (have not found a stop at full open, because i stop to turn when it gets easy).

I way about 80 kg and have preload 10 truns clockwise freom full open alone, and with my wife additional 16 turns.

for real fast and hard driving i need some turns more in both loadsituations.


rebound i have -1.3 turns alone and -0.3 with 2 persons (-1.5 truns is rebound full open, measured from cclosed position, as per manual).
 
Martin, you are not alone who is confused about suspension on this bike :))
I wonder what to do if I want play with bike height I would like reach max. possible so bike is higher closer to the Hypermotard. This is other thing Hyperstrada vs Hypermotard height.
Is it only the seat what make different .. anybody know ? I just bought Hypermotard 2015 seat and doesn't really feels higher. In store when I seat on Hypermotard I feel higher then on mine with Hypermotard seat.
Thanks
 
the hypermotard has longer suspension front and rear than the hyperstrada.
You cannot adjust the factory height there is NO height adjustment rod like on the sports bikes. All you can do is up the rear suspension spring pre-load so the bike doesn't sag as much when you sit on it.

The only way to increase factory height, you would need to buy new suspension front and rear. Then you would have to also buy new side stand and center stand too.
 
Thanks mentalist!! Bad news :)
How can I up the rear suspension ? The knob all the way clockwise to the end ?
Thanks!
 
Yama Hu said:
Thanks mentalist!! Bad news :)
How can I up the rear suspension ? The knob all the way clockwise to the end ?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

The knob is marked plus/minus - turn towards plus.

But be careful - the adjustment is for sag to compensate for a given load, not a pure height adjustment. By doing this you will stiffen the spring, as it it will start responding from a compressed state. Too much and you'll be bouncing the rear wheel off the ground and slamming your spine. This is bad.

Why do you want all this height? Even if you're tall, the peg, seat, handlebar triangle will remain the same, it'll just be a longer reach to the ground.
 
Last edited:
Thats exactly what I want "longer reach to the ground"
I had supermoto Kawa before it was higher and I liked more. I mean I played with knob already all the way + and - too but I didn't noticed any different in height.
I'm 67kg and 174cm and the knob now is all the way to +. When I seat on the bike feels to me like bike get to low and doesn't actually feel like supermoto. Too low.
Before I bough HS I find the only different what make bike higher si touring seat.
 
Yama Hu said:
Thats exactly what I want "longer reach to the ground"
I had supermoto Kawa before it was higher and I liked more. I mean I played with knob already all the way + and - too but I didn't noticed any different in height.
I'm 67kg and 174cm and the knob now is all the way to +. When I seat on the bike feels to me like bike get to low and doesn't actually feel like supermoto. Too low.
Before I bough HS I find the only different what make bike higher si touring seat.
Click to expand...

I will repeat - this is not a height adjustment knob. For a light rider, if you dial it up you risk losing traction on bumpy corners. A bike laying on it's side is very low to the ground, as is the rider.

If you got a 2015, it came with the lowered suspension. Not sure if a dealer can undo this.
 
If you got a 2015, it came with the lowered suspension. Not sure if a dealer can undo this.[/QUOTE]

It can be undone, but will will require new suspension along with the stands to go with it.
If it is the low version he could always ask if someone who has the standard wants to swap?? Or trade it in for a hypermotard. like I said previously
 
The OP has not told us what year his Strada is, and if it is the low model. My 2013 has 150mm of travel at the rear, same as a regular Hyper. The Hyper's forks have another 20mm, that won't raise the seat more than 10mm. Add another 10mm for the regular Hyper's seat itself.

I have a regular Hyper seat, and it fits my bike just fine. I prefer the original, though.
 
Last edited:
Checked on my Hyperstrada 821 preload today and it was 42 clicks from fully open to fully closed. However, the first 3 clicks were pretty loose and it only started to tighten up from the 4th click onwards. Anyone else getting more than 33-34 clicks?
 

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