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2017+ 390 Duke has a funny suspension setup

4K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  Harry1962 
#1 ·
I noticed it first on a test ride on a 2018 model and the same thing persists on the 2019 model I bought.

The rear suspension has very high rebound damping. Punch down on the pillion's seat and it takes over a second for the bike to rebound back.
On the other hand, front suspension has a lower rebound damping. Push down hard on the handlebars and notice how it jumps up back almost immediately. It's still better than most cheap bikes (where it'd pogo a few times before settling, with almost no damping whatsoever) but it's definitely faster than the rear.
The front also has low compression damping, I believe. It's easy to make the front end dive with sudden brake inputs.

The forks are an open cartridge design, which makes me hope there's a possibility to increase damping using different shims. Has anyone tried? It would be great if it didn't require buying expensive inserts (like Andreani).

I believe I'm running into this issue during aggressive trail braking - the rear wheel tends to skip and slide to the side. I suspect the front compresses too fast and the rear shock is too slow to rebound and keep the tyre planted. It might be poor riding technique (too much rear brake?) or just the way this bike is bound to be (short wheel base, easy to lift the rear wheel), so I'm not yet looking for expensive replacement parts but I'd be willing to try revalving/shimming the stock units if someone's had success with that.
 
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#2 ·
The stock rear shock has a progressive spring which starts off very soft. This makes the damping feel too hard during the last part of the rebound. It's also designed for little people. I'm not little and I replaced the shock with something more sprung for my weight. Big improvement.

The forks are not too bad but respond to a little more preload. It's easy to fit some packing washers. Heavier oil helps as well

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