Hard Forza 300 Suspension

[velocipede6295]

My Forza 300 now has about 2,000 miles on the clock (1600 by me), and I find the suspension quite hard and jarring. No doubt the bike has it's work cut out with me on it ( 17st). I would like a softer more compliant/forgiving ride does anyone have any suggestions about obtaining a more plush suspension for the bike.

[Data]

Ok, so assuming you have played around with the suspension settings? If not, that's the first place to start. Also try to keep the tyre pressures near or at the manufacturers recommendations. Altering suspension settings & watching those tyre pressures are not too hard are crucial to the ride comfort.

If you are still not getting the ride you want, it's time to look at spring & damper rates. I've used White Power of Stowmarket to build customised rear suspension units on several bikes in the past. They can produce the perfect ride in my experience. However, very expensive! You may want to trawl through dealers to see if there are cheaper alternatives.

[MrGrumpy]

I'd be surprised if you can adjust the suspension on the Forza - adjustable suspension is rare on any scoot! For a start, does it seem that the ride is particularly hard at the front, or back, or both?

[Data]

I'd be surprised if you can adjust the suspension on the Forza - adjustable suspension is rare on any scoot! For a start, does it seem that the ride is particularly hard at the front, or back, or both?

I've never owned a scooter that doesn't have adjustable suspension Grumpy. Most bikes & scooters have some form of adjustment, although not often on the front. The Forza has adjustable rear preload which is what we are talking about here. If it's set too hard & high the ride suffers. Preload affects the spring rate to a degree which can substantially help ride comfort. Bear in mind spring rate is different to load rate. Load rate cannot be altered. Altering preload by quite a bit can on some bikes help front suspension ride comfort by altering front fork attack angle. This can have a similar affect to altering trail, but a bit less so than actually altering trail angles if you see what I mean. There's a whole load of stuff that goes on by altering rear preload. .

[roadster]

To be brutally honest you are at the top end of the weight range of the scooters design so probably should be running with a higher preload setting than an average solo rider. Preload adjustment is a very crude mechanism which in effect reduces suspension travel. Ordinary scooter designs can never be in the same league as motorcycles because they have massive unsprung weight at the back and front forks which usually do not have twin yolks and are relatively short which limits travel. Add this to small wheel sizes and its a wonder there is any suspension at all!
I can't add to the suggestions already put forward except to say that I have managed some improvement to the brutally harsh suspension of my Silence S01 by using a thicker grade of oil in the front forks. Also by carefully increasing the oil volume to produce an effectively higher spring rate because of the compression of the remaining air volume. Its no use overdoing this because hydraulically locking the forks is extremely counter productive! Stripping bodywork from the scooter to get at the forks is also a time consuming exercise.

Suspension specialists would undoubtedly change springs and damping to suit your weight but as Data says the price could be high.

[MrGrumpy]

I've never owned a scooter that doesn't have adjustable suspension Grumpy. Most bikes & scooters have some form of adjustment, although not often on the front.

Maybe because I've owned mostly Tmaxs for 20 years, I've hardly ever had a scoot with adjustable suspension! Tmaxs have never had any adjustment until the mk6, and even then only on expensive versions!

[Data]

Yes, I've always thought that a bit strange that Yamaha did that. Personally I'd never buy a bike that didn't have at least adjustable preload.

[horobags]

Just sold my SH300 as two up the shocks are quite harsh even when adjusted, but not the only reason.

[Ralph]

When you come from a bike the smaller scooter wheels that drop further into
a pot hole than bigger bike ones is one of the most noticeable things at least
to me, no real way round it.

[Data]

Indeed Ralph, smaller wheels often reduce ride comfort, but not always. The Honda SH's have large wheels but still remain quite uncomfortable over pot holes & bumps, one or two up. Surprisingly when the SH was compared by many professional bike mags to the GTS, the Vespa was far more composed & comfortable through pot holes & over bumps. I concur with this. The SH was very bone jarring when I took one out for an extended run. In fact it was a very poor ride I felt. The conclusion was the GTS suspension coped much better with those conditions inspite of the smaller 12" wheels. Just an example. Honda bikes can be a bit like that in my opinion.