Suspension advice: setting up your rear shock

MCN expert Chris Dabbs is here to answer any questions you have on anything bike related.

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Q. I have a 2006 Speed Triple 1050 which I absolutely love. It goes and handles as well as I could have imagined, with the only downside being that it can kick me out of the seat sometimes when I am riding enthusiastically along country roads that are less than smooth – some tell me the rear suspension is too soft and bottoming out, others that it is too hard and so not compressing enough in the first place. 

I have not touched the suspension since I got it and so assume that it is actually on Factory Settings.  Can you give me a clue please?  I am around 14 stone.
Rob Chisholm, Oakham

A. It sounds like you’ve got a little too much compression damping. As with all suspension changes, the key is to make certain you know what settings you have already, so go round the bike armed with a screwdriver and a notepad and pen.

Once you’ve confirmed the settings, look to make changes that are 5-10 per cent of the total adjustment, whether that’s clicks or turns. It’s also possible that the rebound damping on your bike is wound off, so that the spring is extending rapidly after the bump and kicking you up the bum.

If it happens after you’ve been over a series ofbumps, there’s too much rebound dialed in, and the suspension isn’t ableto recover before the next bump so that it “winds down”