suspension set up on TE511

I have a 2013 TE511. I know very little about suspension tuning. I'm about 240 with gear and pack and feel the all the bumps on the trail. Whoops are a real pain. Yesterday I rode a buddies DRZ400S with stock suspension briefly and was impressed with how well it soaked up the bumps, especially when seated. Of course it also has a much more cushy seat too and that may have added to the feeling.
My question is what have you all found to work with the stock suspension? Increase preload and damping? Thanks for your advice.

I've found the stock suspwnsion great for our local areas, a little fiddling the the clickers & it suits the terrain well.
These aren't a touring bike, the are more focussed than that & most of my riding is done standing on the foot pegs.

There are aftermarket seats available if sitting is your thing.

I stand too. My point was that even while sitting his DRZ soaked up the bumps better than my TE. Since standing helps absorb some of the bumps I was very impressed with how much his bike did even while sitting (letting the suspension do all the work).

My question is, do I go harder or softer to make it absorb the bumps better? Thanks.

I have both those bikes, and one is a playbike (DRZ) and one is a racebike with a plate. I like them both, but if you
like the DRZ better at your weight, back off on all the setting on the TE, read the manuel and set everything to
Softest settings, and goe from there, compression setting are important, and compression and rebound on rear,
The DRZ is alot heavier, and the weight is higher up, the longer you ride each in tight stuff it becomes really obvious,
Same with high speed, the drz bottoms much easier, stock

I'm 208 without gear. I opted for stiffer springs front and rear using the RaceTech calculator as a guide. Very happy with the results. With the rider sag set right in the rear, the static sag is now spot on. I've heard that adding the gold valves + springs is THE way to go, however. But I'm cheap.
EDIT: at your weight, I'd be willing to bet you're bottoming the front over almost everything. And I found the rear to be way too fast rebound at stock settings.

I do bottom out at times in the whoops.

+1 on heavier springs. I'm only 190 and the stock shock spring was way too light for me. The stock fork springs were good, though. Adding preload will do you no good and actually make the ride even harsher, given the linear nature of the springs themselves. I'd suggest new springs front and rear.

Ok, that's what I was afraid of. I was hoping to make the best of the stock suspension.

I'm 200lbs (90kg) and find my 2011 is about right for me. I've added extra oil to the forks to help resist bottoming and have the rear sag set as per the manual.

I use a system for setting up the clickers that I read somewhere that works well.

Count the number of clicks to wind each clicker in to full hard and note where they are for reference later.
Back all compression & rebound clickers softer from the stock settings.
Find a reasonable sized loop you can repeat of the kind of terrain you usually ride.
Ride the loop.
Adjust the rebound only in (harder) a few clicks & ride the loop again.
Move them in and ride again...
Keep doing this until it feels like it getting worse and return to the setting that felt best.
Begin on the compression settings the same way until you find your sweet spot.

From this point you should only need to move a few clicks either way to adjust for different terrain you might come across.
It's time consuming, but it does work.

Thanks DM! That's excellent advice. This is exactly what I need to do, just haven't put in the time to do it yet. But I will! Did adding the extra oil in the forks help?

It helps with big landings of jumps, not like putting in heavier springs but is noticeable.
Have a dig through the pdf shop manual, I'm fairly certain it gives you a range of oil heights away from stock.
There's the factory recommend volume, but somewhere it gives you oil heights in the legs, fully compressed with the springs out.
Going from memory here, but pretty sure I raised my levels 15mm. Don't quote me though, have a look in the book

Best thing about using this method if you aren't tearing around on big MX jumps, is you still have the soft spring for all the small trail stuff.

Did you add the fork oil through the bleeder valve? 5wt? Also, the on the last thing you said. Are you saying I can stick with the stock springs if I'm only doing trail riding?

This is what I've done to my other KYB forked bikes to resist bottoming. (extra oil)
I've packed on a few extra Kgs in the last two years (was always about 82-85 but taken a desk job)
My bike, for me on our terrain rides ok on the standard springs.
It is allergic to big jumps (table-tops on tracks & large 'whoa-boys' in the forest) and if that's what I wanted to use it for, I'd go with heavier springs.
The oil gets added through the fork cap, you must support the bike on a race stand (preferable a pop-up one) pull the fork caps & then allow it to fully compress the fork.


A good suspension tuner will be able to match the suspension to your needs if you give them enough info on the types of riding you normally do,
but.....the tuning method above & the extra oil may be all you need. Totally up to the individual.

Below are the oil volumes & oil heights.

NOTE - These are different from 2011 to 2012 onwards and probably for the reason you are chasing, less bottoming.

NOTE - It say 'Remove the legs' from the bike. This can be done in the bike if you know it hasn't been added to before, simple to pour in extra 5w oil to the height you choose
(adding more than 20mm extra height isn't recommended)

Correct, and running a full tank of fuel compared to a 1/2 tank changes things.
I used to think the Youtube guys were on drugs stating they could feel the difference in the rear of the TEs, I can definitely notice it as fuel is used.

If you often do the sort of riding that requires an add-on rear tank and extra gear on the bike, you might want to look at heavier springs too.

There's simply no way a 240 pound guy is going to get proper sag, front or rear, with the stock springs. Sorry. But that's a fact. Cranking up preload only causes a harsh ride, and adding fork oil or burying the clickers only adds to the problem. Believe me, I know. Search back far enough in my posts and I crowed loud about a bunch of such nonsense. I know better now. Get the right springs, set the right sag, and you'll have compliant suspension that's soft on the initial stroke and firms up as needed to avoid bottoming. Or ride slow.

You guys misread my question. I don't weigh 240 lbs. I'm adding on (estimating) for gear and pack like I said. But I could stand lose a few pounds. I should try that. ;-)

When I first got the bike I measured the sag and I got about 2 inches front and 4 inches rear as it was stock. But that was without my gear on and pack. I ride in very remote areas where there is no phone service and nobody will come tow me so I have to carry a lot of stuff to be self-sufficient.

I've also never had forks that had a bleeder before. How often do you guys bleed your forks? How necessary is it?