Soft suspension + tyre advice

[mops]

Hello PPl.
Just got my 'L' recently, and I'm starting to ride now and then, so far very gently.

First, quick question. My rear tyre (no idea what size) is on the borderline, so I'll need a new one. Somebody recommende me to get Bridgestone BattleAxe tyre, as they are very decent for very reasonable price. Can somebody comment/suggest something else ? I use my bike mainly for city commute, so I'm not interested in track performance.

Sencodly, my rear shock is adjustable, however I dont think the front one is. And the front is too soft and too low. Even under medium breaking it bottoms out pretty easily. How would I do about adjusting that ?

[Grahameeboy]

Hello PPl.
Just got my 'L' recently, and I'm starting to ride now and then, so far very gently.

First, quick question. My rear tyre (no idea what size) is on the borderline, so I'll need a new one. Somebody recommende me to get Bridgestone BattleAxe tyre, as they are very decent for very reasonable price. Can somebody comment/suggest something else ? I use my bike mainly for city commute, so I'm not interested in track performance.

Sencodly, my rear shock is adjustable, however I dont think the front one is. And the front is too soft and too low. Even under medium breaking it bottoms out pretty easily. How would I do about adjusting that ?

No idea on tyres but u could look at a harder spring for the front or heavier oil.

[enigma51]

Get the battle axe they are very good tires. Suspension seeing that you are a newbie I would say take it in to a shop let them have a look at it.

[Devil]

You want the bridgestone battleaxe BT45 tyres front and rear.

Suspension: Yeah, if you dont know much about it, take it to someone else. You need to make sure its got the right amount/type of oil in there.

[erik]

Dunno about the tyres. I just use Pirelli Sport Demons and they seem ok to me.

Re: the suspension.

You should check the laden sag http://www.strappe.com/suspension.html
to make sure it's right. You can adjust it by using different spacers in the forks. These can be made out of PVC water pipe tubing (or steel tubing [eg exhaust], but PVC is cheaper).
Chances are the bike will still bottom out though. In this case you really need stiffer springs. A backyard (and illegal for WOF purposes) way to stiffen the springs is to cut a couple of coils off them, then carefully heat, flatten and grind the end flat again http://www.off-road.com/dirtbike/tech/2002spring/ . Or you can buy stiffer aftermarket springs.
Another method that is sometimes used is to put heavier weight fork oil in, increase the spacers in the forks (to increase the ride height/preload) and just leave the springs. But from what I've heard, this can result in forks that are too stiff and don't absorb small bumps etc very well.

This is all assuming you don't have adjustable forks. I'm pretty sure GSF250's don't. If they did you might be able to adjust the preload/ride height easier.

Unless you are fairly mechanically minded, your best bet may be to take the bike to the shop and get them to fit stiffer aftermarket springs and adjust the ride height for you.