03 S3 Suspension settings

[Aggy]

I have an 03 triple that has always been a bit twitchy and extremely sensitive to tyre pressures; a couple of pounds out and it does not want to go round corners and wants to run wide.

Well I have got into a routine of checking the pressures everytime I fill up with fuel and i have learnt how to deal with the twitchy feeling. Towards the end of last year I met up with a friend who also has an '03 and we swapped - his handled like it was on rails and he called mine 'nervous' and a little bit scary when trying to run through a corner at speed. I took it to the local Triumph dealer who sucked their teeth, tutted, kicked the tyres and proclaimed it to be the Bridgestones I have fitted and then he promptly tried to sell me a Sprint ST.

Do you believe in fate? Well, last weekend I was riding home and had stopped at a motorway services to defrost myself (I had ridden through Snow, hail, torrential rain, sunshine all with in 100 miles)and re fuel when some one comes over to my table and asks if the S3 is mine. It turns out he is the previous owner. I then have a disturbing chat with the guy for 20 mins and find out he is one of those bike owners that fiddles with no knowledge. It turns out that on the day he bought the bike new he got the spanners out and adjusted the suspension. When I asked why he replied that he had read in a magazine how to adjust suspension and said that Triumphs handle better if you set the suspension up right. He then said he could never get the bike to handle right so he sold it - nice! He had only ridden the bike for 5 miles with stock suspension and then he screwed it up. He now rides a Suzi SV1000 and would you believe it that doesn't handle very well either!

So after my long post what I would like to know is what are the factory settings for the '03 S3?

Cheers :-D

[ This message was edited by: Aggy on 2006-04-14 02:59 ]

[kevf]

I set mine to the suggested settings i found on www.sportrider.com. In left hand column under tech click suspension. Its for a 2002 speed triple. Also i think the stock settings are listed in owners manuel. Hope this helps.

[ken750f]

I believe the "stock" settings are all in the middle between the "soft" and "hard" settings................according to my owners manual. Also they are set for an "average" person they call 185lbs. I am 145lbs and needed to lower my "sag" and soften up the forks and rear shock just a little.

[Aggy]

Cheers guys :-D

I had not got the owners manual but I found an S3 in the show room of my local bike shop and cheekily asked the sales man to photocopy the settings page. I have now set mine to the factory settings which has made it a firmer ride but it handles like a dream. Just for reference here are the Factory settings:

ST= standard
SF= softer
FI= firmer
FS= factory setting
RP= Rider and pillion
SR= Sports rider settings from WWW.Sportsrider.com

All settings are for turns out from totally wound in apart from front pre-load which is lines showing.

S3 single sided swing arm model

FRONT SETTINGS
SOLO
pre load
ST 5.00
SF 6.00
FI 4.00
FS 5.00
RP 4.00 - 5.00
SR 4.00

Rebound
ST= 1.00
SF= 1.25
FI= 0.75
FS= 1.00
RP= 0.75 - 1.00
SR= 1.00

Compression
ST= 1.00
SF= 1.50
FI= 0.50
FS= 1.00
RP= 0.50 - 1.00
SR= 2.00

REAR SETTINGS
Rebound
ST= 1.50
SF= 2.00
FI= 1.00
FS= 1.00
RP= 0.75
SR= 1.50

Compression
ST= 1.50
SF= 2.00
FI= 1.00
FS= 1.00
RP= .50
SR= 1.25

Tyre Pressures from cold

Front 32 lbs / 2.2 BAR
Rear 42 lbs / 2.6 BAR


:-D

[ This message was edited by: Aggy on 2006-04-14 11:30 ]

[Tridolph]

i was just on sport rider and here is there settings for a 02 s3 Speed Triple ('02) 10/02 3 lines showing 1.5 turns out 1.75 turns out 5mm thread showing 1.5 turns out 1.25 turns out