Some [front] suspension thoughts
I read through this thread and thought the original poster was talking to the front suspension, most comments were to the rear.
My 3 cents addressing the front suspension. I admit up front I am a novice in the suspension area, but I am trying to learn to appreciate the finer points of riding a bike, so I have spent much time researching the internet (its free and has lots of good information) and pursuing a better suspension for the PC.
1. I think for many riders, a more sophisticated suspension is wasted. Their riding style is such that they really don't require the adjustability. There is nothing wrong with this. All the sport bikes, especially the very competitive 600cc class have the latest suspension tunability out there; more suspension control = faster lap speeds (for any machine). The majority of NT riders (and PC riders) are not out there trying to get the best lap time, so there is no need for more expense in a better suspension. Honda thought so too.
2. What can you do? I think you have 3 options; stay stock, some modifications, or major modifications.
- stay stock: setting the preload (changing spacer length), changing to different fork oil wt, and or possibly sliding up the forks a tad up in the triple tree to increase turn response (I would not suggest the last one unless you know what you are doing, you could shorten it too much and create an instability issue at speed)
- slight modification: The items above + changing spring to better match your riding weight/riding style, possibly adding a gold valve setup, and/or adding a fork brace. I think as you play around with the suspension, you'll notice these changes and appreciate how they can make the bike a better performer under certain riding conditions. If you do not ride very aggressive at all, you might only appreciate these changes in emergency situations, and then you would be happy you made them if they allowed to to maintain control of the bike.
- major modifications: I am thinking of component swapping at this point. The NT has 41mm stanchions, so there are lots of other Honda bikes that you can swap your forks with to get different levels of increased precision control (mostly preload and rebound damping control. If you use the ST1100 forks, you can get compression damping + anti-dive valve), but with these changes come brake mods too. Personally, I think the NT has very good brakes. A fork swap could be made and still retain the NT brakes. Use bike bandit to help cross reference to NT brake components to find a suitable donor (CBR F2 or F3, VFR750/800, ST1100 are possible candidates).
3. What I'd do. Get a couple of zip ties (1 black and 1 white) and add one to each fork leg, white on on left leg and black one on right leg. Zip them up tight, then push them down to the dust seal. On the left leg, add some electrical tape around the stanchion (tube) a tad above the max travel of the front suspension. So, if you have 5" of travel, make it 5 1/16" above the dust seal.. Now, get on the bike and have someone steady the bike while you just sit on it in the riding position (hands on handlebars). Then get off without bouncing the bike. Note how far up the zip ties go up the stanchions (tube). If its close to 25% of your suspension travel, you have no need to mess with the preload. If it is more or less than 10%, don't mess with anything, just ride the bike for a month or so. Every time you get off, note where the zip ties are. You should never move the one one the left leg (white one). It represents the maximum you have compressed the fork. On the right fork, you should always reset it to the dust seal, but make a mental note how far it was moved - relative to the left leg (max compression). After a month, you should have enough mental data to know if you should do anything. If you ride sedately, you may not ever see anything close to using the complete suspension travel. If however, you see you have quickly gotten to the max several times, then you should do something. If you are an aggressive rider, your data might tell you you do not have much margin. One day, your aggressive riding style will require more control for a given situation. If the bike does not have it, you could loose control and go down, or worse. Or, if you are a bit heavy, you may ride sedately, but be using much of your suspension. Again, you are riding with little margin. If you have ever clamped the front brakes really hard and the nose compresses, you have just experienced one of the extreme loads you can put on a suspension without riding aggressive. Go check your zip ties, they will be equal, very far up the tube. I don't think when you are under these conditions you would want to steer to avoid something, but you might need too. Would you have enough control?
Anyways, here is a pic of the zip tie. You can use a white one on the left leg to go with the black tape (my tape had come off a while back) and a black zip tie on the right leg...
If enough of you riders do this and you ride together sometimes, go look at the zip ties on other bikes and pay attention to the weight of the rider. Seek out the ones like you (in weight) to talk about your zip ties sharing information about what works and what doesn't. Taking advise from a more aggressive rider who may weight 225 vs you at 170 is going to be very different...
Jerry
