[Wozza]

After a day of riding at the weekend, the next morning my bike had loads of free sag at the rear, much more than usual. I wheeled it out the garage, can't remember if I sat on it or not, but then noticed the sag was back to normal.

I can't understand how this would happen, any suggestions? And is it a bad sign? The bike only has 45 hours on it, suspension is all stock, haven't even adjusted it yet.

Cheers.

[Wozza]

Woops, meant to put this in the suspension section! Any moderators around?

[JimDirt]

Welcome to the site !!

I am assuming since you said you have not adjusted it yet , you mean you have not already "set" the sag ?? , this should be one of the first things you do , to make sure the bike will not only handle properly , but be enjoyable to ride , , as well as you need to make sure the bike is sprung for your weight , you do this by setting the sag and see what the measurements are , as this will tell you if its sprung properly , and will allow you to set up the bike correctly , you can't rely on clicker settings or adjustments , if the bike is not set up for your weight , the sag is the key to doing this , and will eliminate the need for any guessing as to why something does not look or feel right , improperly adjusted suspension by means of not having the sag set correctly will make the bike handle like crap , and even become unsafe , so before guessing as to the cause , first eliminate the guesswork by knowing what is set to what

**In case there is a issue other than sag

Check for any oil on the shock shaft , if you rub your finger (or a paper towel) on the shaft and its moist with oil , then its possible its sucking air in from a bad shock seal , which would mean it needs to be replaced , a bike with this low of hours , this should not be a issue , but it can happen , the only other thing that would cause the shock to have excess sag would be if the Nitrogen has leaked out , BUT , it would not refill on its own , so that is highly unlikely , do not try to test to see if the Nitrogen is full , since it is in Pressure , NOT Volume , so if you touch the valve stem on the canister , and it goes "pssst" you will have lost all your Nitrogen , and will have to find a bike shop that carries it and have them recharge your system , but again , it will not "replenish" on its own , so i am leaning towards either the sag/preload is not correct , or a leaky seal**

What i am guessing is you had the bike leaning on the kick stand , and then held the bike upright , when you noticed this
, if so i would double check your Free Sag , Static Sag and Rider Sag and Spring Pre-load and make sure they are all within spec

Pre-load should be around 10.2 inches (the bike on a center stand/lift , so the tires are off the ground , so nothing is loading the suspension , you measure the length of the spring)

Free Sag should be around 2 inches (50mm)(free sag is the amount the bike drops under its own weight)

Race Sag/Rider Sag around 3.9 inches (100mm), (you sitting on the bike , hopefully with someone helping , and measuring the distance the bike has dropped)

You can vary from 100mm up to 110mm to suit your preferences , your free sag should be between 10mm to 25mm , if it has more than 25mm Static Sag , then the spring is too stiff for your weight , if it has less than 10mm then the spring is too soft for your weight , this is after you set the Race Sag to achieve 100-110mm

If you can't get the sag to 100-110mm without those other settings within the specs as i mentioned , then the springs are wrong for your weight and you will need to get new springs before the suspension will actually set properly

Hope that helped some