Once your suspension has been set
up by Meiser Racing, we strongly recommend
servicing your components every twenty hours. Professional
Class riders need service more frequently. Remember, your
suspension is designed to change mechanical energy into heat energy.
Just put your hand by your shock reservoir after a moto, it gets hot! With that kind of heat, the oil breaks down. If
you continue riding with broken down oil, it will accelerate wear on your
internal components. As the synthetics in your suspension oil wear,
you lose dampening on compression and rebound, leaving your suspension feeling
mushy. Compare your suspension oil with engine oil, would
you run it past the service limit until your motor burned up?
Linkage
New bike setup
Bleed your forks
Linkage
As important as it is to keep up with suspension servicing, it
is equally important to service your linkage. If you are setting your sag
and having a hard time coming close to the same measurements, it is time to lube
your linkage up. When you have excessive drag in your linkage, it will
affect the way your suspension feels, most likely making it harsh. When
you get your new Meiser Racing Suspension back, lube your linkage up. If
your bearings are bad, replace them. Otherwise you are only taking from the new
suspension that you just paid for.
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New bike setup
How many new bikes have you brought home, fueled up and just
gone riding? I am also guilty until recently. Sure, you can do it,
but from the factory to the dealer, it is more cost effective to not have much
setup time. What if you get a Monday morning or Friday afternoon bike that
barely has any lube in the linkage or loose or overtorqued bolts? When I
bought my last bike, I fought the temptation to ride it, and spent the afternoon
prepping it. I serviced the linkage with high quality waterproof grease,
then retorqued it. Then I set the controls including servicing the
steering head bearings and re-torquing them. The next step is important.
Make sure your compression and rebound settings are designed for you. The
suspension components stock on motorcycles today are very high quality
components which have been designed for a very vague rider. Most light
bikes have springs and valving for approximately a 130 lb novice rider.
Most big bikes are set up for approximately a 180 lb novice rider. This
means there is always something you are compromising by using the stock
settings. Suspension is the single biggest investment you can make to your
bike. More power won't do anything but spin your tires unless you get your
bike set up for you. Can you just gas and go? Sure, but your bike
will feel tired and loose a lot sooner. A little bit of time up front will
pay off in the end.
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Bleed your forks
Ever notice that your forks feel harder and harder but the
track is in the same shape? Chances are, that's air building up in your
forks. That is why you have a bleed hole in the top of your fork caps.
After every ride, take out your screwdriver and let the air out. Make sure
the bike is on a stand with the front end off the ground. This is also a
good idea when traveling to other elevations. You wouldn't go to Colorado
at 5,000 feet and not re-jet your motor, so equalize the air in your forks.
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