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V Star 950 Cornering (Drag Floor Boards)

6K views 28 replies 11 participants last post by  patrickdk 
#1 ·
So, i'm not sure if it is just me, or this is just the way the 950 is designed.

I was out on a ride with my club on Sat. Four bikes. Two Harleys (don't know models) and a Honda Shadow 750. I was following the pack.

I found they were taking the corners a little fast. In some, and in particular Round a'bouts I was dragging my boards where they appeared not to be. Now i was taking the same line as they were, and nobody was doing any hanging off, just sitting upright.

So i started to question to myself.... Am i doing something wrong, since I was slowing down more to take the corners to avoid dragging the boards.


Now i don't mind dragging the boards now and then, but i don't want to be always pushing to perhaps the limits???

So, my question is.

Is the V star 950 just that much less clearance than many other bikes in that the lean angle would be much less? Thus taking corners should be slower than many other bikes?

Or

Is there something I'm doing wrong?
 
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#2 ·
I think the 950 scrapes easily.

Since you are new on this bike, you might be leaning on the outside of the bike without realizing it.

To keep the bike from scraping (staying more vertical) shift your weight to the inside of the curve. Even just a little, leaning your head in and moving your upper body into the turn will move the center of mass of you and the bike over, allowing the bike to stay more vertical.
 
#4 ·
Might check and see if the rear shock preload is set to a lower number (lowers the bike). You can bring the back of the bike up a bit by setting it higher.

Also have to ask if you are taking the outside inside outside path thru the curves? If the other people are, and you are not, then you are cutting the curve tighter.
 
#5 ·
In addition to what KCW said about the preload on the rear ,you can check the sag height of your forks. On my 650 I found it was about an inch too low. Since I put it longer spring spacers I haven't scraped the floorboards once!
Have heard that the 950's scrape easily but they shouldn't be worse than any other cruiser. After all they are far from a sport bike!
 
#7 ·
The rear shock pre-load makes more difference than you think it would. However, the 950 does scrape the boards easily. Since I set the pre-load I only rarely drag the boards. (even when riding with Harleys. :) )
 
#8 ·
#10 ·
I would suggest to set at least on 4. Spring preload is weight dependant, so you have to try a couple of different settings to see what works for you. Below is screen shot of owners manual.

 
#11 ·
Maybe mine is at 4, don't remember exactly. I believe last i checked it was a the normal.

BUt is there some sort of measuring to find a more accurate setting? Measure seat height before sitting on it? Measure after? Should drop by 'x' inches?
 
#12 · (Edited)
there is a lot of confusion about setting the preload on adjustable springs and shocks.

What the adjustment does not do is make the spring stiffer or softer - it does not change the spring rate

all it does is move the bike up and down when there is someone sitting on the bike.

For example: if you weigh 200 lbs and you set the preload to the default number for a 200 lb load, then when you sit on the bike the spring will be compressed half way between top and bottom.

When you hit a bump the spring will have half its travel down before it will bottom out, and when you hit a crest and your weight is tossed up, it will have half the travel before the spring tops out, and your back wheel comes off the ground.

If you then crank the number higher so the bike sits higher, the back wheel will lose contact easier (on a smaller crest). Imagine hitting a crest on a curve and having your back tire come up off the pavement!

and if you crank the number lower the spring will bottom out on just about every bump you hit.

Both things will make the bike very squirrely when they happen, and should be avoided.

There are lowering kits that drop the bike without messing up the suspension. If you think your bike is sitting low, check and make sure a previous owner has not lowered the bike with a suspension lowering kit.
 
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#13 ·
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#14 ·
Yes you want to measure from the axle to a point on your fender or another place ,easy to get to above the axle. Measure with the suspension completely unloaded. Then measure with you on the bike. Someone may have to help you as it's hard to read the tape measure while you're balancing the bike, and keeping your full weight on it. The difference between the two is the sag. The sag should be between 25 and 33 percent of full rear wheel travel, which you can find in the bikes specifications . Some may question the 25 to 33 percent figure, but that is what most race machines use. On my 650 it works to about 26 percent when it's just me on the bike and about 31 percent when loaded for a trip.
 
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#15 ·
outdoor, if you're seriously concerned about ride height and will take the time to adjust the rear don't forget to check your forks as well. Most OEM springs are lame and will fatigue rather quickly which means your front end will sit lower now than when new and that affects ground clearance, especially when you start bombing through corners which loads the front end. I can't stress that enough but it's something a lot of riders gloss over because it's not as easy as clicking the preload on the rear shock(s).

Last year when I was fed up with the ill handling and lousy ground clearance of my XVS650, I replaced the stock fork springs with Progressive Suspension springs because the OEMs ended up measuring 2 inches shorter than they were supposed to be and their spring rate was comically wimpy. The result in handling was the difference between night and day.

OEM (top), Progressive Suspension (below)
 
#21 ·
How do you measure what the correct sag etc... should be on front?...
Put a zip tie on your fork tube (it needs to be tight and not slip due to gravity) and have it touch the top of the slider then sit on the bike. The zip tie will indicate one point you'll measure from. Get off the bike and jack up the front of the bike so that the forks are extended as far as they could possibly go and measure the distance between the the top of the slider and the zip tie... that's your 'sag' measurement. Now remove the fork tube caps, pull out the springs, pull up on the wheel and let the sliders move up as far as they'll go, the zip tie will mark that new position. Allow the wheel to drop back down and once again measure between the top of the slider and the zip tie... that's your 'full travel' measurement. Typically you want the sag measurement to be about 1/3 of the full travel measurement.
 
#18 ·
Even easier to measure sag on front. Sit on bike and have someone mark on the forks at the bottom of the outer cover, then get off the bike and measure the difference. Paint thinner on a rag to remove mark.
 
#20 ·
load up the shocks or springs till it bottoms out

then sit on it normally - you dont want the springs loading up more than half of their bottom-out range
 
#23 ·
Front springs can be adjusted by putting a spacer on top of spring. This is a patch, not a fix. Normally if spring is weak you need to replace.

 
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#24 ·
I don't even know if i need to adj or replace

This all started with why i'm perhaps dragging my floorboards. Part is, the bike is super prone due to it's low profile. One suggestion was it could be the Preload adj of rear, so i will have to check that.

The other is front, so i guess i will have to check that as well, though i'm not clear what the number i'm looking for? If the front is not within that 'number' i guess i should replace fork springs. Maybe i should replace regardless with progressive?

My bike is 2013 only has about 15,000 KMs

Another note on rear, i should check sag with my wife :) as well since perhaps i need to adjust when riding 2 up. though not sure how you adjust front if weight changes
 
#25 · (Edited)
... The other is front, so i guess i will have to check that as well, though i'm not clear what the number i'm looking for? If the front is not within that 'number' i guess i should replace fork springs. Maybe i should replace regardless with progressive?
You should pull out your fork springs and measure them. I'm sure the 950s service manual specifies the length they should be. If yours are shorter than what is specified I say you should replace them (I would do it anyway. Of all the things you can do to improve your motorcycle, suspension should be one of the more important ones). My 650s manual stated that the spring's length should be 13.1" but mine measured ~11"... that's how much they age fatigued. According to the manual fork travel for the 650 should have been 5.5" but that was greatly reduced.

As lesblank mentioned, sections of PVC pipe are used as spacers but it's only a patch if you use them to compensate for saggy OEM springs... they're a legit method for setting sag when you go with new beefier aftermarket springs with a progressive spring rate.

... Another note on rear, i should check sag with my wife as well since perhaps i need to adjust when riding 2 up. though not sure how you adjust front if weight changes
Adding weight to the rear wouldn't affect the front too much... bombing into a turn does which is why I suggested looking at your fork springs. But ultimately it's up to you to decide whether that's important enough for you to be concerned with. Plenty of people here on the forums have run the OEMs for years.
 
#27 ·
Hi all. New to the boards. I ride a V Star 1100. Recently I put a 200/80/B15 on back and a 140/90/16 up front. It raised my bike by what seems like a couple inches ( I didn’t not measure before and after). It corners so much better in my opinion. Going around corners where I used to scrape I no longer am. I am also able to take these corners faster.
 
#28 ·
I have a xvs1300 and drag the boards fairly early too, the fix for me will be a set of 4" forward controls that are 1" higher than the stock boards, the cost is Aus/$450 complete with foot pegs and lever, on my last bike I put in 3" fork extensions that lifted the front of the bike to lessen the drag on my pegs....
 
#29 ·
I put in the progressive springs with 4" spacer, this gave me approx 3/4" lift in the front.
On the rear I put in the progressive spring on the shock, and set it to position 5.

I rarely ever grind the boards anymore, but my goal was just the progressive springs are just much nicer, and I feel like they handle the weight of the bike much better in turns so it doesn't bottom out anyways.
After grinding the frame 3 times, I needed to do something, the floorboards are fine to grind, but don't go even more and hit the frame.

I probably didn't need the extra lift after I put the progressive springs in it, but it is nice that the jack fits under it a lot easier now.
 
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