Suspension tuning clinic?

K

Kendo

Member
Last fall (2017) there was a motorcycle meetup group that hosted a suspension tuning clinic at Moto Guild. The clinic was great--I got my suspension tuned for me and learned a few things about the settings for a reasonable price. The meetup group seems to be gone now and I don't see any mention of this clinic on Moto Guild's site/calendar. Does anyone have any info about this clinic (or another one like it)?

Thanks!
 
M

motomania2007

TC/MSF/CMSP/ Instructor
I suggest you ask Moto guild about setting on up.

You could also ask Dave Moss as he used to do them. IIRC, Dave Moss did one a couple months ago at MotoGuild on Treasure island
 
J

Junkie

gone for now
Climber said:
Doc Wong provided the space, but it was actually Gary Jaehne who did the clinic.

Tragically, Gary died in an accident in 2012, he was a great guy and truly gave back to the community!
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Doc Wong has sent out emails announcing suspension clinics since then. A quick look through his BARF posts shows 7 threads regarding it posted last year, including as recently as December: http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=520504 I don't see any from this year, though.
 
Climber

Climber

Well-known member
F

fubar929

Well-known member
motomania2007 said:
You could also ask Dave Moss as he used to do them. IIRC, Dave Moss did one a couple months ago at MotoGuild on Treasure island
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Dave is a heck of a nice guy and the best suspension tuner I've worked with. You can check he current schedule on his website:

http://feelthetrack.com/events/

If there isn't anything scheduled, consider getting together with a few buddies and paying for a private tuning session. These can range from him setting up bikes in your garage to Dave following you around for a day tuning your bike for the roads you actually ride.
 
K

Kendo

Member
Thanks for all the great info! It was Dave Moss who did the clinic at Moto Guild. I'll try to find out if he'll do another one nearby soon.
 
K

Kendo

Member
UPDATE! I reached out to Dave Moss and he confirmed that he's finalizing a schedule to run tuning clinics at MotoGuild for June, July, and Aug!
 
P

P.SON

Active member
Does anyone know if the Dave Moss sessions at Moto Guild last the full 5 hours or what the format is? i.e., is it a full on class or do you just drop in whenever and get schooled on your setup.
 
East Bay Blake

East Bay Blake

El Jefe
P.SON said:
Does anyone know if the Dave Moss sessions at Moto Guild last the full 5 hours or what the format is? i.e., is it a full on class or do you just drop in whenever and get schooled on your setup.
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In the past he usually started around 4:00pm and goes for a while. No apptmt. First come first served. Just ride into the shop and get in line. It’s the best $40 (last year’s cost) you can spend and Dave is the man when it comes to suspension tuning. It’s not a class, Dave will adjust your sag, preload, rebound.... whatever your bikes suspension allows for.
 
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N

NCGiant

.
Rob at Evolution in Santa Clara will do it for $40 too. Takes about 30 minutes in and out with an appointment. Just set my bike up last week, night and day difference.
 
P

P.SON

Active member
East Bay Blake said:
In the past he usually started around 4:00pm and goes for a while. No apptmt. First come first served. Just ride into the shop and get in line. It’s the best $40 (last year’s cost) you can spend and Dave is the man when it comes to suspension tuning. It’s not a class, Dave will adjust your sag, preload, rebound.... whatever your bikes suspension allows for.
Click to expand...

Cheers, thanks!
 
Derb

Derb

Well-known member
update to Dave Moss suspension tuning $40

I used the search function and figured this is better to just ad to this post rather than start a new one.

I have no doubt that Dave Moss is an amazing dude with tons of knowledge and is super helpful etc.

I am curious however as I have witnessed the "tuning" being done at Cycle Gear recently, and I am just wondering how many people say "it's the best $40 you will ever spend" when the bikes were coming and going ( in the line ) so quickly. I get that if you are good at what you do you can do it much quicker, but, bouncing the bike up a down a few times, a few quick turns here and there with a screw driver etc is tuned.

Again, just to clarify, not bashing or talking bad about Dave Moss or even questioning his skills. I have zero doubt the dude knows what he is talking about. I am just interested in reading other peoples opinions good bad or meh on this type of tuning. For further clarification, I can see how spending more time one on one or at a track day tuning clinic vs a parking lot bouncing the bike up and down a few times... thanks for any and all input.

Edit, to REPEAT how cool Dave is, he looked at my bike ( I did not pay $40 ) and he offered some free advice ( my bike can't be adjusted much ) and spent his valuable time with us ( all my friends paid, just I did not, again, my bike isn't very adjustable to begin with )
 
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Climber

Climber

Well-known member
That 'bouncing the bike up a down a few times' is telling somebody like Dave Moss what the current settings are doing with the bike so that he has a starting point to adjust from. Somebody who has done it for as long and as well as Dave has can quickly know where the bike is currently at with it's settings.

What he's doing is setting the bike to baseline for your weight, that would be the default settings that would be right for you, from there additional tuning (more than the $40) would be required to set it to the riding style of a racer who could actually benefit from it, that doesn't include the vast majority of street riders.

Hope that helps.
 
stangmx13

stangmx13

not Stan
setting sag and using the bounce technique is a best guess for suspension tuning using the very limited info thats available. for some random bike off the street, the tuner probably doesnt know what springs are in there, how much installed preload there is, what the damping curves look like, the efficacy of the adjusters, and a whole host of other info thats necessary for a proper tune. checking sag and bouncing the bike gives some approximation of all that info... and thats about as good as it gets.

a suspension tuner for a pro race team doesnt bounce the bike and probably doesnt ever measure sag. why.... because they know all the real info and don't need to. my race setup is springrates, preload, ride heights, and damping curves for specific clicker positions. great tuners know that my bike (R6) works on track with XX spring rates with YY preload and ZZ rebound for my shock. and if I have some problem, ill try some specific change because they know "where" my suspension is set and what might help.
 
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