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[s44captain]

On my ZF9S I have the rear spring rate dialed in but it is under dampened (too bouncy).
The little red knob (see photo)seems to have no effect. Anyone got some clues?

[Richard230]

The red knob adjusts the rebound damping. Turning it clockwise slows the rebound of the shock. There is also a blue knob on top of the shock reservoir canister, attached to the top of the shock.  If you can reach it, you can turn it clockwise (looking down from the top of the shock) and it will slow the compression damping of the shock.  Try turning the red knob clockwise until it stops and then back off one click.  On the blue knob, turn that one clockwise until it stops and back it off 4 clicks.  That should slow down the shock damping and make your bike less bouncy when going over a bump.   

[ZeroSinMA]

On my ZF9S I have the rear spring rate dialed in but it is under dampened (too bouncy).
The little red knob (see photo)seems to have no effect. Anyone got some clues?

Spent the better part of a day tweaking and riding the damping and rebound adjustments front and back. My conclusion: the middle adjustment the bikes comes with works best. Else you get a less jarring but a mushy ride with uncertain handling or on the other side of the middle adjustment you get a firm ride and solid handling but your teeth rattling over small bumps. I attribute this to the lightness and short wheelbase of the bike. Delighted to be corrected. I wonder if the all that jarring and shaking contributes to some of the reliability issues that some of these bikes later develop.

[Richard230]

I concur about the jarring and shaking when going over small bumps.  But I believe that it is because Zero recommends a higher air pressure in the tires than is necessary for a decent ride. The bike is quite light and the tires have a pretty decent load capacity.  Try dropping the pressures by 5 pounds in each tire and see what you think about the ride.  I am keeping my pressures up and my shock settings as recommended by the suspension specialist that I paid to set it up.  The bike is more stable when going around a fast corner and I just live with the harsh ride over small bumps.  Lowering the tire pressures may also decrease maximum range slightly.

[nicktulloh]

Before you mess around with any dynamic adjustments, you need to set the sag. The instructions are in the manual.

[s44captain]

Thanks Richard, the blue knob on top did the trick. I think around 3000 miles the seals lost most of that new bike "stiction" as the dampening seemed to lessen. Good now - thanks again!

[Richard230]

You are welcome, s44captain.  I am always happy when I have retained enough knowledge about something to help someone else out. 

I kind of know what twirling suspension knobs do, but I have discovered that the more you turn them the deeper you get into a bottomless pit of endless combinations.   

[nicktulloh]

Not to beat a dead horse, but before you venture into that pit of infinite adjustment depth - set the sag! Otherwise you're spinning dials trying to work around an existent problem. I started racing back in the days when you really just had to ride around handling issues and progressive springs were big news. Suspension had become so complex by the time I retired after 25 years that I mostly just handed the bike over to the experts. The one thing I know how to do is take two measurements with a tape.