Suspension Deep Dive 1 - Yamaha Tenere 700

Hi guys !
This have been on my mind for a long time, but here comes episode 1 of my suspension deep dive video series.
In this episode we will look at the OEM setup, go through the cartridge components, how everything work and so on.
Also talk about the compression, rebound, preload and the importance of SAG..
For quick navigating the video, see the timeline bellow.
Timeline
00:00 Intro
00:15 what will I cover in ep 1 & ep 2
01:12 OEM Front cartridge
02:20 disassembled front cartridge & how it works
06:36 OEM Rear Shock
09:10 What is SAG
12:20 Rebound & Compression
14:43 How to check front suspension SAG
17:35 How to check rear suspension SAG
20:05 More suspension adjustment talk
22:41 Outro

[@davidrsmith2417]

Marcus, your two videos are exactly the kind of practical information any Tenere 700 owner, or prospective owner needs regarding suspension upgrades! MAD TV has some owner / rider comparisons on 3 different $ levels of suspension upgrades you list for the Tenere 700. Your survey of the technical possibilities of fork and shock upgrades (circa summer 2022) is excellent and very much appreciated!. Thank you so much for your valuable research and thoughtful contribution to this often-difficult subject matter.

[@everythingtenere]

Thanks David!! Very humbled by your kind words 😊. Marcus

[@patrick87100]

Thanks for the info/video

[@1982travm]

Thank you. Very helpful!

[@ralfabel8657]

Suspension is a miracle. Thanks for explanation. Looking forward to the second part.

[@everythingtenere]

Thanks buddy!! Yes its like black magic 😅. But when you understand that the adjustment clickers only manage how much oil either go through the shim stack or pass by it, then it’s easier to understand. Ahhh OK, it doesn’t adjust the shims behavior in any way…. The. You understand that it’s more than just clickers to make feel good, you might need a reshimming or replacement to get the right feel. From my experience, it’s not well known, and very important info to take to heart.

[@anderssundqvist]

Tack för bra förklaring och genomgång.

[@everythingtenere]

Tack Anders 😊

[@davidrsmith2417]

Thanks!

[@cliff1551]

Cool Marcus 👍 well interpreted explanation of suspension travel and how it works 🤔👍 well done ✅

[@everythingtenere]

Thanks bud, diagrams world have made it easier

[@samhill3496]

In WSBK and MotoGp, setting sag was critical to handling. Freddie Spenser explained it to me years back. Ours is as much important. Good vid on understanding sag. Totally balanced suspension travel on both ends is desired. Often not achieved. Once accomplished simple adjustments for load can be made accurately. I have a set of Olins cartridges and springs rated for me for the front and someday a STX 46 shock and spring combo coming. Have been studying this deal several months on anything I can find out about installation, correct installation. Good work Marcus

[@nomad8160]

👍👍👍👍👍👍very good video, greating from Slovakia 😊😊

[@SOLOFOREST]

Hello friends, thank you for sharing. Great, creative video🤩🌻📸.

[@dungarees700]

You doing a very good job with your vid👍

[@everythingtenere]

Thanks bud

[@mikemulligan7140]

Great info Marcus, well done! I recently had an unusual oem rear shock failure & an unexplained change to the compression & rebound adjuster # of clicks from full in to full out at only 7k kms. You can read the full story on my blog, but the failure was with the rebound circuit....somehow the rebound rod moved past the tapered part of the needle onto the shaft & was freewheeling. Since neither KYB nor Yamaha will sell individual shock components & I was not about to fork out $900 for an entire oem shock, my suspension shop had to have a machinist repair the threads in the lower assembly & then they were able to set everything back to proper function. We will never know whether it was a result of a defect, the revalve done back in Dec, user error or gremlins. There were several take aways from this, that you may wish to share with your viewers: 1)the adjusters are very delicate, be very gentle when adjusting; 2) never exceed the number of oem clicks of adjustment regardless of if there is a firm stop point or not (the oem manual cautions about this); 3) the oem KYB shock is very limited in servicing & replacement parts. Am now considering the RR Extreme shock, which I think you currently have...can the manual pre-load be easily adjusted with shock in the bike?

[@everythingtenere]

Thanks Mike! Ohh, that’s very unlucky ☹️. The preload cam can be accessed and turned without mayor difficulty. However, the cam have a small locking screw at one of the holes you otherwise but a screwdriver in to turn the cam. This little locking screw can be hard to get to depending on where it is pointing. I think it’s like a 3mm hex head. But the shock it self is fantastic 🙂

[@chokochuku]

👏👍

[@filipledoux3565]

Hi Markus, finally I understand all the spring related terms and how things works: tx. Any chance you will show us the ‘clicks’ in your garage: real example of how to adapt the spring settings? Just like you showed us how to measure the sag? Congrats: you have the Claudia Schiffer of all Tenere’s

[@everythingtenere]

Haha 😆, to fancy to ride LOL. I can show on my RR cartridge for sure, but not sure it will help you out. Nomad has a good one that you could go by. Rule of thumb is that stock suspension is set too open, so you need to close the clickers some so you push more oil through the valves.

[@filipledoux3565]

👍 tx will check it out. If your bike is Claudia then you are her husband David Copperfield: the Tenere magician

[@everythingtenere]

@@filipledoux3565 haha.

[@giuseppecravero6367]

Hi Marcus, thank you for your video! It would be very interesting a video fo the front fork and rear shock complete disassembling. I'd like to install the k-tech front fork ORVS kit and shock absorber piston but not sure how to disassebmle and mount all components in the correct way. Is there anything that can help? Thank you very much.

[@everythingtenere]

If you check my fork servicing video you have more in depth removal. Just remember, if you do not have a impact driver, might be hard to remove the bottom bolt. I used the cartridge removal tool as well as impact driver. Might be less of a hustle if you just leave it to a suspension shop and have them install it, can’t be more than 150€ for the job

[@giuseppecravero6367]

@@everythingtenere you are right. Thank you

[@victorwinqvist4277]

Very good video! What bashplatr is that? I want one :D

[@everythingtenere]

GP Mucci

[@Tsuchiyaaa]

Great video sir. Question: How much would it be too much preload used? More than 30%? More than 50%? Or maybe more than 60-70% of the total? To know if I am using too much and need a spring upgrade. Never asked this question myself before. Thank you!

[@everythingtenere]

Id day if you have closer to 45% sag, then it’s too much and spring needs to be swapped. But it all depends on the riding you do, if only puttering around on gravel roads and tar, you’d be fine. But doing more off road style riding, you would want as much travel as possible, and be at that 25-30% sag