Noisy Rear Suspension...

[vroomnut]

Well, I decided to adjust the rear preload on my 00' GSXR 750 this weekend. For the most part I stiffened it up, with a little over 3/4" of sag measured while I'm aboard. I have the compression and rebound damping set between stiff and standard as well. After making the adjustments however, I noticed quite a bit of noise coming from the rear shock when I initially jump on and compress the suspension. The noise is comparable to a the sound of a creaky old matress. Can anyone tell me if this is normal or not. All my linkage bolts are snug as well. Also I returned the preload back to standard to see if the extra compression on the spring was the culprit, but it was just as noisy at the standard preload position. Unfortunately, I never really noticed the creakiness before tampering with the preload adjuster. Lastly, I can not seem to find an answer to this problem in any service manual either. If someone has some insight on this issue, I would greatly appreciate hearing it.

[BlueDevil]

Get rid of that Gixxer. haha Only kidding. Im glad U finally got that thing to move to set the sag correctly. THat thing upset me all weekend. Let me know if U find the monster under your bike that keeps making those hamsters squeek.

[Anonymous]

Maybe have someone sit on the bike and bounce it while you stick your ear down there and try to figure out where it's coming from. You could try squirting some WD40 in where the shock mounts to the bike (both ends) and see if that makes it go away...

[vroomnut]

Hey Dion...

Yeah... I'll have to get out the rat poison to take care of that damn hamster. More than likely I just never noticed it before, but funny how you take note of things after you start tinkering around. I actually tried locating the source, but it was hard to tell where it was coming from. If I had to venture a guess, it seems to be orginating from within the shock absorber. I'll try WD'ing all my linkage points, but I suppose I'll just have to live with the rodent ridden gixxer as long as the handling isn't compromised in any way. Didn't get the chance to test it out yet after making the adjustment, so I'll let you know. Talked to a service guy down at Excel... said that could be normal... and if something is wrong it should be obvious when I ride it. If anyone else has any suggestions on the matter... do tell. Thanks.

[rocktboy]

Maybe have someone sit on the bike and bounce it while you stick your ear down there and try to figure out where it's coming from. You could try squirting some WD40 in where the shock mounts to the bike (both ends) and see if that makes it go away...

wd40 all the way baby

[vroomnut]

Hey Dion...

I actually emailed Max over at Traxxion asking him about my problem. Here's a copy of his reply. Thought you might find it interesting.


------
You could not have damaged the spring, that is silly. You do need to
have at LEAST 1" of sag.

The stock swingarm busings and linkage bearings have no grease in them
from the factory (they put a teeeeeeeeeny amount there) and this usually
causes the squeaking. This means it need immediate service.

It is not abnormal to have to whack the collars. We use a large
flatblade with a chisel point on it, that we hold into the corner of the
collar so that it leaves no damage.

Or you could get a good shock! HAHA!!!

===============================
Champions Choose Traxxion...
Max McAllister
President
Traxxion Dynamics, Inc.
===============================

Subject: Question regarding noisy rear spring...

This past weekend I decided to adjust the rear preload on my 00' GSXR
750. For the most part I was looking to stiffen it up since I weigh
about 205-208 lbs with equipment on. It was tough getting the adjuster
to move first off, and a spanner wrench wouldn't work. So I needed to
resort to a punch and hammer along with some WD-40 to get the
adjuster to even turn. Well it worked, and I made my adjustment to just over 3/4" of sag while seated on the bike. Unfortunately, I noticed that the shock is now quite noisy when compressed now. None of my other friends seemed to have had this problem when adjusting their bikes, so I'm wondering if this constitutes a problem or not. I have not had a chance to ride the bike yet since making the adjustment either. I did return the
adjuster back to the original position to see if this was just an effect of
having the spring in a more compressed setting, but the noise from the shock was still there. It sounds like I'm hopping on to an old creaky matress when I get on my bike now. Am I fretting over nothing, or is my concern legit? I asked a service tech at one of the local shops about it, and he said that this could be normal or that there is the possibility of having damaged the spring. I plan on taking the bike out later for a test
drive to see if I encounter any problems with the rear end. Any insight you can offer would be greatly appreciated.


--------

So I actually emailed him back.... explaining about the 3/4" sag as a recommendation by racers... and that I do track days. I'm interested to see what he says. That's about it for now. Gonna try and get in there and grease up those bushings and bearings if possible when I get time. Later...

Alan

PS... THe bike rides just fine now. Took it out Tuesday with no problems.

[Anonymous]

Or you could get a good shock! HAHA!!!

That's the best part of his whole email!