Air adjustment

[myminpins]

We are brand new to the RSV. We took one out for a test ride at a dealer's and I know it was more cushiony than ours is. Ours is a 2006 RSV. It has the stock seats, which are nice to us (compared to our cruiser Mustang seats, which weren't nearly as nice) but I find the ride a bit rough. On the one we took for a ride, he hit the bumps and I barely felt it in my back.

 

Can someone please tell me how to adjust the air to make the ride softer for the passenger? We are getting the manual but don't have it yet and I have no idea how to read what it's set at, where it should be set, what's better, higher pressure or lower pressure, etc.

 

I want as soft a ride as possible for my back's sake. Hubby and I aren't light so I want to be sure we don't hurt the bike, either.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

[V7Goose]

The manual is available for free download on Yamaha web site.

Goose

[myminpins]

Okay. Thank you. Do you mean the manual that comes with the bike? If so, I have that and didn't find it particularly useful. We're also getting the repair manual, which hopefully will have more detail.

 

I'd also like some experienced riders' opinions, too, if possible.

[allwx]

The manual sez 0 psi is good for soft ride on the rear, same for the front. So if you want to have the maximum soft ride, let all the air out of forks and rear shock. Let it out slowly though, as oil may come out with it.

[rock hound]

I run 0 in the forks and 25-30 psi in the shock very smooth ride. Were close to 400 lbs together

[XV1100SE]

Pretty sure the owners manual and shop manual are in the technical section.

[Darren]

I run 0 in the forks and 25-30 psi in the shock very smooth ride.

 

I've found anything under 6psi in the forks makes for rough handling in the corners, whether one up or two up. It feels like a slow speed wobble.

[MikeWa]

Let all the air out and start from there.

Mike

[allwx]

I've found anything under 6psi in the forks makes for rough handling in the corners, whether one up or two up. It feels like a slow speed wobble.

 

Me, too. I weigh 200 lbs, almost never ride two-up, often have bags loaded with cargo as I use the bike for transportation. I like the forks at 7 psi, the rear shock at 50 psi. It makes the bike ride pretty high, but handling is taught enough for such a monstrosity of a bike. A couple months ago I let all the air out, front and rear, just to experiment. It lowered the bike much more than I expected, and made the bike feel wallowy in the turns.

[myminpins]

I run 0 in the forks and 25-30 psi in the shock very smooth ride. Were close to 400 lbs together

 

Hm... sounds like most don't think this is good. If it's comfy, though, that's great. We're just over 400 pounds together.

 

I don't know how to adjust everything yet, though, and the service manual is greek to me so going to have to figure stuff out.

[lshafer]

When riding 2-up with my wife I set the rear shock at 40 PSI and the front forks at about 5. That seems pretty good to us and together we are about 480 (me being the majority of it). That's a RSTD though and I believe you mentioned you ride an RSV. Not sure how much difference that would make. Just my thoughts for you.

[myminpins]

Can anyone show me or link me to a gauge you're supposed to use to check the air pressure? I have a bicycle pump but there's no gauge on it.

 

It says there's one that came with the tool kit but I don't think we have it. We're not the original owners.

 

Thank you!!!!!

[Guest scarylarry]

Can anyone show me or link me to a gauge you're supposed to use to check the air pressure? I have a bicycle pump but there's no gauge on it.

 

It says there's one that came with the tool kit but I don't think we have it. We're not the original owners.

 

Thank you!!!!!

 

This a link to one not might be the cheapest and I would shop around but at least you have a idea.

 

 

http://www.easternperformance.com/products.php?product=Progressive-Motorcycle-%26-Bike-Hand-Air-Shock-Pump

[myminpins]

Thank you very much!! Now I know what to look for!

[V7Goose]

Any gauge can be used to check the pressure in the rear shock, and most compressors can be used to set the pressure in the shock, as long as you adjust the regulator on the compressor to 55 lbs or less. Your tool kit came with a cheap pencil-type tire gauge.

 

The front forks are different - they hold such a small amount of air that just touching them with a normal gauge or pump will change the pressure by a significant amount. Furthermore, at a max pressure of only 7lbs, use of any standard compressor to add air is begging for trouble. You must have a suspension pump combined with a gauge and a zero-loss chuck. For proper handling, it is critical that the forks be IDENTICAL in pressure; even a 1/2 lb difference will affect handling (but many riders are not experienced enough to detect it). Without the proper tool to check/set them, it is best to make sure the forks are both at zero.

 

This subject, including the options for suspension pumps has been discussed in many many threads on this site - do some research.

Goose

[lshafer]

Can anyone show me or link me to a gauge you're supposed to use to check the air pressure? I have a bicycle pump but there's no gauge on it.

 

It says there's one that came with the tool kit but I don't think we have it. We're not the original owners.

 

Thank you!!!!!

 

I picked mine up from Harley. About $45. It works perfect.

 

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTpulstibDYuLg4777Y0r8yJDGum2zcufKa3HpSmuhWnNgO2s4H_yHGU6g

 

This is the one I have.

[myminpins]

Thanks everyone!! My local bike shop carries one so I'll be getting one tomorrow!!

[myminpins]

Can anyone else chime in on the air pressure issue? I see in the manual it says, for softest ride, use zero air pressure in both the front forks and the rear. I can't see the owner's manual saying you can do this if it makes the bike unstable.

 

EDIT: Maybe not unstable but wallowy in the turns, harder to handle, etc. Thanks, Goose!!!

 

Any experiences with this would be very much appreciated!!!!!

Edited August 19, 2011 by myminpins

[V7Goose]

Unstable is not the right word. Any vehicle with too soft suspension will wallow and feel generally cruddy when pushed hard in the turns. If you want to improve the handling, the suspension needs to be properly matched and tuned to both the weight of the vehicle and everything on it as well as the way it is being ridden. Tuning includes spring preload (that is what the air does) as well as dampening rates (that is what the oil does, and is rarely adjustable on street machines).

 

Personally, I think the RSV handles like a pig with zero air in the rear shock. It is also very uncomfortable to me for a whole day if I run with less than 20 lbs when riding solo and unloaded. I weigh 250, and that affects anything I say about my own experience with the RSV. It does not feel uncomfortable when riding it with low pressure, and I never noticed it bottoming out, but I can normally ride 1,000+ mile days without discomfort, and 300-500 mile days are not even tiring for me on the RSV. One day I set the pressure to about 15 lbs when riding in the Rockies with my brother - bike unloaded - and by the end of a 300 mile day just fun riding, I felt absolutely beat to death. Next day I put the pressure back to my usual 30 lbs and felt terrific after another 300 mile day in the same conditions. My conclusion is that the overly soft suspension combined with fun riding on mountain roads caused enough extra wallowing and lack of precision in the curves to force me to use body muscles in a different way - not enough to be obvious, but enough to make me sore.

 

Bottom line is that you need to ride the bike and test different pressures over typical roads to decide what is best for you on that bike. And like I described above, just testing a particular pressure for 20 or eve 50 miles probably is not going to tell you a lot unless you are already very familiar with that specific machine to notice relatively slight changes in the handling. And if you aren't pushing the bike hard enough to demand the suspension deal with significant cornering forces and some rough road, then just about any setting will probably be fine if you think it is comfortable.

Goose

[myminpins]

And if you aren't pushing the bike hard enough to demand the suspension deal with significant cornering forces and some rough road, then just about any setting will probably be fine if you think it is comfortable.

 

Yes, that's us. We barely even lean in turns most of the time. We just ride around for fun, slow on most turns and there are very, very few sharp turns on our roads really.

 

Thank you for the info, though. That makes sense - that you'd get tired if you have to use more muscles (even infinitesimally) for every turn. By the end of the day, you'd be tired as heck.

 

What do you keep in the front forks??

[Guest Slab_Ryder]

I have my fronts set at 6 (makes steering more nimble on corners), and rear at 50 (I like a firm ride, and I don't have to adjust for going 2 up (on the rare occasions that I do).

[V7Goose]

I keep my front forks at 6 lbs. I generally keep the rear at 30 for solo riding, and 45-55 for two-up and loaded touring.

 

I believe the best test for most people of how their tires and suspension are working is to concentrate on how it feels in long sweepers at speeds over 45, and especially the curves where there is a bit of surface irregularity or dips/bumps in the middle.

 

Pay attention to how steady the bike follows the line you set through the curve - if you find that you are having to correct the line regularly, you have issues to find and fix. When set up properly the RSV will take a line and follow it like it is on rails, making the curves effortless. Even a slight difference in fork pressure or worn out fork oil will have the biggest impact on this ability to follow a line. A worn rear tire with a somewhat square profile will have big impact on the way the bike holds a line as you first commit to the lean and begin coming out of the turn.

 

For those curves that have some dips or bumps, pay attention to how the back of the bike feels - does it wag, wallow or seem to have some frame flex? That is often worn out shocks, old fork oil, weak springs, not enough pre-load. And for reasons I do not yet fully understand, an OVER inflated rear tire on the RSV will greatly exacerbate any tendency to wag the rear when the bike is heavily loaded.

 

Of course, all of that assumes that everything else on the bike is in perfect shape. Any worn or misadjusted bearings, bushings, loose suspension bolts, etc. will all cause any of the problems I described above.

Goose

[myminpins]

Thank you, Goose. That's great info to know!!! I'm giving it to Mike to read now and we're hoping to go out for a five or six hour drive this weekend so it'll be a good chance to see how it feels and what, if anything, needs to be adjusted.

[FuzzyRSTD]

Thank you, Goose. That's great info to know!!! I'm giving it to Mike to read now and we're hoping to go out for a five or six hour drive this weekend so it'll be a good chance to see how it feels and what, if anything, needs to be adjusted.

 

Also make sure to get in to the habit of checking your tire pressure. This is very very very important also. You would be amazed at the people whom do not understand the importance of tire inflation on a motorcycle. I know you will probably even have to lay down beside your rear tire to do this, but you must and if you do not, you will be replacing your tires very very very soon and the handling of your machine will suffer.

 

Fuzzy

[myminpins]

Definitely. Mike drives an 18 Wheeler for a living so is very used to checking everything all the time. . tie pressure is super import rant on all vehicles, especially bikes. great advice fuzzy