Rear Preload Adjustment- '18 Speed Triple Rs

Warren71 · Nov 4, 2019

I've had the bike now about 2,000 miles and have yet to get into that super comfy groove where the bike feels like an extension of your mind and body, as I did with the street triple.

Meaning I'm way more conservative on twisties than I'd like.

Changed tires, tweaked rebound and comp, but bottomline I still feel like I'm perched high on a bull and with a 5% forward pitch to boot.

I hadn't messed with the rear suspension preload because the manual states fairly explicitly not to, but looking the manual for the Ohlins shocks themselves, there's nothing there to suggest you shouldnt.

I took some measurements and my crude ride height number was 5-10 mm above the Ohlins reference at 42cm and the free sag was just above 20 or about 5-10 above reference.

I'm tempted to drop that a few spins to take about 7-10 mm off the preload and perhaps that will have me less perched and lower the ride a tad.

Thoughts ... anyone do this?

FYI - Im ~190 and have the compression and rebound between road and comfort

Sad that after 2k, Im juts not loving this and I think it just the ride height + forward cant and high rearsets making it seem more precarious than Im accustomed too.

Thanks

RSReggie · Nov 5, 2019

If you are 190 its time to give up riding ....(190 years old...)
Anyway, of course Triumph advise against it so you can;t blame them when you lose control after adjusting to make the bike unstable.
If you measure sag properly I believe rear static sag comes out about 20mm as standard - measuring from axle to a fixed point on the upper body with bike raised of the floor then sat vertically on its wheels.
I adjusted mine to about 14mm as I wanted quick steering (and it was recoomended by K-tech in Performance Bikes) it was only about a turn or two of the adjusting collar . If you wind the collar out a couple of turns amd measure, you should be close. It will slow your steering a little , You could also drop the front forks through the yokes a little to similar effect .
Have you considered adjusting or changing the 'bars so you sit more upright ?

Warren71 · Nov 6, 2019

thanks for the reply

I didnt want to straight up raise the handlebars. I've done that to a few bikes (BMW R12000RS) but this didn't feel like that situation. It really felt like there was just too much preload on the rear booting the tail up.

I (actually local shop) wound up taking a tad off the preload on the back, but then adding a turn to the front fork (which affectively raised it a touch to balance)

seems to have half solved the problem. Steering seems uncompromised.

Not track settings, but good commuter and canyons settings

We finally got a bit of warm weather so i took it up and down the canyon and have tweaked the rebound / compression setting between the road and comfort settings - maybe a few clicks out from comfort on the rear - I dont have my notes in front of me.

Still not as flick-able as my old street, but seems a bit more of a hybrid on between the two now and I may be ok with that.

I dont know that I have much more room to adjust with my fat arse, but it was a step in the right direction.

will be interesting to ride this side by side with the new street RS in the spring (and maybe a SDR) ... but I think its good enough to stall that.

beats lowering the suspension which I really, really did not want to do.