Spring rates for loaded ADV riding?

[kevvyd]

Ultimately I ordered the 5.9 spring from Factory Connection.  It is 260 mm length which should be an easy fit into the shorter stroke shock body.  Bonus,  it is YELLOW!!

 

I'll let you guys know how it pans out after it arrives and I get some miles on it.  Thanks!!

[Syanur]

Hello Kevvyd,

My luggage is about 25 kg; My own weight is 75 kg

Here how it looks:

I have no problems with the weight distribution.

The previous owner put a stiffer spring on. I guesss it is about 56 N/mm

But it is still too soft. I was thinking about an 58. But reading the comments here, I will go for 60 at least.

(60 N/mm = 6,1 kg/mm)

On a previous bike I had lowering links. When driving with extra gear, and especially off road, this is a bad idea.

I learned to drive the stock seat height, even with my short legs.

May I learn what'r capacities of those bags? Liters? And brand/model... Edited August 29, 2016 by Syanur

[Matje]

Side bags are 15 liters each. Brand is DC. They came from UK, but I don't think that they are made anymore.

Earlier I had nearly the same model: brand IXS

 

Top roll is Louis 50 liters (www.Louis.de). But I do not use all the volume during the day.

So there is space to pick up some food and beer on the way to the campsite.

[BurnCycle]

I have a little input on this subject. Not about springs though but how you add up your weight. Most calcs start with the bike its self fully fueled. The wet weight. Your fuel adds into the total weight. So if you have a large tank that fuel weight is important. Second your body weight should be with all your riding gear on from head to toe including hydro pack. That is your body weight total. Third is the weight of all your added camping gear, food, water, tools, the weight of the bags or whatever you use to carry all your stuff, the weight of any added racks, etc. All of these added up is your total weight to spring and valve for. Don't forget the valving of the shock and forks because the springs and valves work in concert for your overall ride. Most often springing for the total load will be very stiff when unloaded and just tooling around. The hard part is finding the happy medium so you are comfortable when you are not in moto camping/adventure mode. As most bike are stock for load capacity until you make changes they can handle an added passenger and will test the suspension. Mostly showing it being under sprung with the added passenger weight. Think of all your gear as that passenger.

 

When I had my suspension done I had it adjusted to having 200lbs for the load. Me being 180lbs and 20 lbs for my riding gear. This is still a little under sprung if I add all my carry on gear and bags. So it is presently a little softer sprung than the total weight of being fully loaded. Pro-Action Bob said the DR-Z does not like or handle a lot of extra added weight period. I really should have questioned him more about that. Has to do with the bikes manufacture and frame. He said with a Safari type tank and gear it is hard to overcome handling problems of the added weight. He is a very good suspension guy but for mostly racers. He does try and help peeps like me who are asking more of their bikes then they were designed for. So when trying to do suspension changes to accommodate carrying these kind of loads take into consideration all the variables and just shoot for a comfortable middle ground. You may be happier in the long run by not over compensating for all the weight. You will not always be riding fully loaded.

[kevvyd]

I have a little input on this subject. Not about springs though but how you add up your weight. Most calcs start with the bike its self fully fueled. The wet weight. Your fuel adds into the total weight. So if you have a large tank that fuel weight is important. Second your body weight should be with all your riding gear on from head to toe including hydro pack. That is your body weight total. Third is the weight of all your added camping gear, food, water, tools, the weight of the bags or whatever you use to carry all your stuff, the weight of any added racks, etc. All of these added up is your total weight to spring and valve for. Don't forget the valving of the shock and forks because the springs and valves work in concert for your overall ride. Most often springing for the total load will be very stiff when unloaded and just tooling around. The hard part is finding the happy medium so you are comfortable when you are not in moto camping/adventure mode. As most bike are stock for load capacity until you make changes they can handle an added passenger and will test the suspension. Mostly showing it being under sprung with the added passenger weight. Think of all your gear as that passenger.

 

When I had my suspension done I had it adjusted to having 200lbs for the load. Me being 180lbs and 20 lbs for my riding gear. This is still a little under sprung if I add all my carry on gear and bags. So it is presently a little softer sprung than the total weight of being fully loaded. Pro-Action Bob said the DR-Z does not like or handle a lot of extra added weight period. I really should have questioned him more about that. Has to do with the bikes manufacture and frame. He said with a Safari type tank and gear it is hard to overcome handling problems of the added weight. He is a very good suspension guy but for mostly racers. He does try and help peeps like me who are asking more of their bikes then they were designed for. So when trying to do suspension changes to accommodate carrying these kind of loads take into consideration all the variables and just shoot for a comfortable middle ground. You may be happier in the long run by not over compensating for all the weight. You will not always be riding fully loaded.

 

Thank you.  I'd say you nailed it!!  

[jbusa8]

It's been a month, so how is the bike handling?

[DRZadvKat01]

Did you go on your trip yet??

[kevvyd]

Did you go on your trip yet??

 

Not entirely... I did a 2 night trip up to central PA with my bro.  Unfortunately the spring arrived later in the afternoon of the day we left.  

It was a good shake down trip.  Rode some Shade Mtn trails and lots of gravel.  Both in PA, and on the way from Baltimore to PA.

On Oct. 8 we are going to head out for 5 nights/6 days of riding/camping.  We are likely to to the Trans Blue Ridge Trail (TBRT), or the (TWVT) Trans West Virginia Trail.  Both of which are parts of the (TET) Trans East Coast Trail. 

[kevvyd]

Did you go on your trip yet??

I did a short shake down trip for 3 days up in central PA.  But we left in the morning and the new spring arrived later that same afternoon~~  During that trip I ran the OEM 5.5 spring cranked down as much as I could stand.  It was actually fairly decent on the loaded bike.  We rode about 450 miles on that trip.  Mostly backroad/gravel--and a day in the singletrack at Shade mtn.  But at least 50% unpaved.

 

So since then I have installed the 5.9 Factory Connection spring, but I have not ridden it a lot, or loaded at all.

Weird thing about the FC spring (see attached pic) is that the instructions suggest you would not preload it more than 10 mm. ???

So I did that and it feels soft-ish still.

I have not yet contacted FC to ask why--or if it is really--important to not put more than 10 mm preload on the spring.

I know that I have to preload it more no matter what they tell me.

The OEM 5.5 cranked way down was definitely stiffer than the 5.9 with only 10 mm preload.

Hoping that after I put more preload on the FC 5.9 it is good, but if I had to speculate....I might think that I could still have gone at least 1 rate stiffer???

 

BTW--I am 185 lbs.  And all the gear I carried on the bike (entirely on the rear fender rack, and saddlebags) weighed in at about 40 lbs, maybe up to 50 if I was full of spare gas and H20.

and--My bike is internally lowered 2" front and rear.  Has been resprung to a .46 front, and both ends have Gold Valves running an "enduro" shim stack suggestion.

 

I'll try and keep this post updated.  Thanks for asking!! 

Edited September 25, 2016 by kevvyd

[BillDirt1]

Kevvyd, I think you"ll like it once you load er up & ride it. The farther your rear suspension travels downward, the more you will notice the heavier rate.

I weigh the same as you, using a 6.1, also calls for 10mm. Got it set at 3/8" pre-load (9.5mm). You can bend the rules a little. Try setting the pre-load at 7/16" (11.1mm), chances are you'll feel no need to adjust it.

We used to take week long trips like that, good times!...I plan on going at least 2 more times (weekend) this fall. If I keep on getting 'over time' at work, might even stud my tires & do some winter riding. I miss my snowmobiles, but you 'gotta do what you gotta do'.

Have fun on your trip...

Edited September 25, 2016 by Throttle5

[Mr-Adventure]

What are your unladen and rider sag #'s?

Ball park #'s should be, @ 100mm +/- 10mm of rider sag, unladen sag should be between 10 -25mm.

You might want to measure your unladen sag with your camping gear on board aiming for 10mm of sag, then jump on and measure rider sag.

But as you have had the suspension lowered internally, chances are100mm of rider sag is wrong and you might need to be closer to 80mm of rider sag.

[kevvyd]

OK--Leaving tomorrow before the crack of dawn...gonna try to get as far as we can before Matthew does what it do:(

Weather the rest of the week looks glorious though.  6 days riding, camping, loafing, fishing, adventuring, if you will.  Headed to the Mtns. of VA, and WV.

 

Much of our route will cover the parts of the TET, TBRT, and TWVT.  Keeping it as dirt and backroad as possible.  Much thanks to DAMN riders, and Jay for the Beta.  Why do ADV bros keep this shit so secret?? 

 

The 5.9 spring is looking pretty sagged in...but feels firm.  Hope the new D606 does not hit the Q4 muffler~~

 

Will report back later.

[ptgarcia]

Awesome, enjoy your ride!

[bucket list]

OK--Leaving tomorrow before the crack of dawn...gonna try to get as far as we can before Matthew does what it do:(

Weather the rest of the week looks glorious though. 6 days riding, camping, loafing, fishing, adventuring, if you will. Headed to the Mtns. of VA, and WV.

Much of our route will cover the parts of the TET, TBRT, and TWVT. Keeping it as dirt and backroad as possible. Much thanks to DAMN riders, and Jay for the Beta. Why do ADV bros keep this shit so secret??

The 5.9 spring is looking pretty sagged in...but feels firm. Hope the new D606 does not hit the Q4 muffler~~

Will report back later.

Yea, have a good trip and let us know how it goes.

[kevvyd]

OK--so to keep this on topic.

 

The 5.9 spring was very good.  I had to turn down (out) my comp. clickers a little to get it where I wanted.

I am for sure that I had 50 lbs of gear packed up...entirely over the rear wheel.  It still handled very well.  I barely got to the bottom of the travel like 1-2 times. (bike is lowered 2" already)

We rode ~900 miles/30 hours---so 30 mph avg. speed.  Obviously not much on road.

 

Attached are some pics, and by the looks of things I need to do some more posts. 1-ride report, 2-post hydro-locked maintenance!   (damn hurricane Matthew that water was fast, deep, and I got so so close to the river bank!)

 

Good times!!

Edited October 15, 2016 by kevvyd