Side stand too short

[ballisticexchris]

Funny thing is my bike is the opposite of needing a taller stand. I'm waiting on a raising link to get more ground clearance and help my bike from standing up straight when parked on stand. I imagine it's all the stuff I have on it and the fact it's got the OEM spring. Crash bars, panniers, skid plate and over 6 gallons of fuel make for a heavy machine!

 

[Sierra1]

What's your preload setting? THAT hugely effects the lean while on the side stand.

 

[ballisticexchris]

I have been getting in the habit of hard preload before parking bike. For now I’ll be getting the riser links until I’m due for suspension service. The ground clearance really sucks on this bike. At soft preload it stands up almost vertical.

I’m letting Race Tech have my bike at respring/revalve time. I’ve had to send 2 springs back due to too much preload required to get proper sag. This bike is a whole different animal to respring and valve. It’s not a simple DIY job.

 

[EricV]

The ES is certainly more challenging to re-spring. The non-ES is more strait forward and a standard spring with a small spacer works well. I used to run an 1100 lb spring on the OEM shock for the '12 bike. I caved at 100k and changed over to Ohlins 30mm kit in the forks and a Touratech extreme shock. Those moved directly over to the Non-ES '15.

What settings are you using on your ES Chris? Some have resorted to two up w/luggage to get the back end sag right for them, riding solo.

 

[Sierra1]

This is a copy/paste of my post from another thread:

That's another common, often written about complaint; that she's under sprung. I'm the same height, but weigh 300lbs (136kg). Riding solo, my bike is carrying more than many other bikes carrying riders AND luggage. When my wife adds her 150lbs (68kg), we're right at the bike's listed limits. And, not once have I ever felt that the suspension is lacking. Like he said, adjust as necessary. Then again, I may not be experienced enough to know what a bad suspension is.

 

[EricV]

I was running rally load, so pushing about the same weight. I'm not a huge sag stickler, I was just getting back end wallow in the corners with the stock spring and my load with fuel cell, full luggage, extra water, etc. About the same load as you two up. In part it was a bandaid to my aging stock shock at the time. Rode great with a newer stock shock, so no problems for my needs that way. I ride differently in rally mode than in two up or riding with the wife. Push harder in the twisties, less slowing down for corners, slightly higher average speeds.

 

[ballisticexchris]

Funny you mention sag Eric. I should have never measured my sag. The bike tracks and the soft/hard settings do what they are supposed to with no ill handling traits. Biggest issue is the ground clearance. Even at a normal pace I end up dragging my toes in the corners and the skid plate regularly bottoms out.

My basic settings are soft preload/soft valving for highway, hard preload/hard valving for mountains and twisty's, hard preload/soft valving for off pavement.

I will start another thread on sag settings/ground clearance before and after once I get my raising links.

 

[Sierra1]

....In part it was a bandaid to my aging stock shock at the time. Rode great with a newer stock shock, so no problems for my needs that way....

I hadn't considered the degradation that age would cause....makes sense. And I forgot about your mega-tank.

....Even at a normal pace I end up dragging my toes in the corners and the skid plate regularly bottoms out....

I learned long ago to make sure my size 14s were on TOP of the pegs when going into a curve/corner. On the Beemer, the outside edges of my boot(s) had a bevel on the soles where they kept touching ground. I use the same preload for everything; I adjust the rebound/dampening as needed for conditions. I guess you could say I have an excess preload setting; two helmets for solo. But, it feels/works great, and I hardly ever bottom out. I add the luggage for two-up riding.

 

[EricV]

This bike pretty much requires a ball of the foot on the peg approach when ridden in a spirited manner. You may find some interesting things when you check the sag. I have heard several ES riders talk about running the 2 up setting for spirited riding. You may want to play with different settings and see what fits your needs. I don't have an ES, but seem to recall there are an amazing variety possible.

I don't recall what you weigh. I think soft pre-load is good for a 140 lb rider. If you're over 200 lbs in gear, you really owe it to yourself to try the stiffer pre-load settings. You should never be bottoming out on the street. Even with the stock '12 shock and spring I didn't bottom out, but I never ran full soft pre-load from day one.