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1390 Super Duke R Evo Suspension Tuning (Canyon Riding)

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16K views 98 replies 17 participants last post by  Lowrance  
#1 ·
I am a new 2024 1390 Super Duke R Evo owner and would certainly love to understand everything about this next gen SAT suspension. Full Tech Pack Uploaded.
I wanted to start a thread that focused on this specific model where folks could post thoughts on what they have tried, what worked, what did not work, base line settings according to rider weight, etc.
I understand KTM has set this system up with different suspension mode settings, but in my humble opinion they do not go into depth on how it all works. There is a lot to understand here and how if all functions.
Maybe some others out there with more knowledge and experience could provide some insight on different modes and how to use them to their full extent to get the most out of the suspension system on the 1390 Evo.
I think keeping this more oriented to riders who like riding the canyons and twisty roads. Track riding I think is a whole other topic.
Thanks for posting....
 
#4 ·
Alright, I know there are much better and more experienced riders out there than me.
I have spent the last 2 riding days testing out the suspension settings on the 1390 SDR Evo.
Tested the Auto, Comfort, Street, and Sport suspension modes, and also the Pro 1 Suspension mode over 2 separate days.
I have a canyon run very close to home that I spend a lot of time riding on. It is about a 21 mile run one way, so round trip 42 miles. I would rate it on a 1-10 scale, about a 8 on the scale. It has a good amount of everything, sharp tight 90's, big sweepers, up/down hill off camber corners, a very good mix to test suspension IMO.

I am 190+ with gear and 6'-0" tall.

Saturday: Tested the suspension modes - Auto, Comfort, Street, and Sport, with standard pre-load. The engine was set to mode sport.

Auto/Comfort: It was very comfortable to ride but a little bouncy (soft). Still quite nice.

Street: Seemed to be a good balance and not quite as bouncy (soft) as comfort mode.

Sport: Seemed to be firmer and "maybe" slightly harsher on the larger bumps in the road.

Sunday: Tested Pro 1 suspension setting, left all the independent settings at 10. Pro 1 has 20 settings that can be utilized, fork rebound, fork compression, high and low, shock rebound, shock compression, high and low.
Also ran the engine in ride mode Performance, throttle response set at track, slip adjuster at 4, wheelie set at medium high, and engine brake set at -2, and pre-load set at 55%
This was very comfortable, maybe a touch on the firm side, but still really good with the base settings. I could certainly feel the input from the road and was able to be more aggressive into and out of the corners. The bike felt engaged, throttle response was fantastic and controllable. I think this is a good place to start working with the rebound/compression settings and start fine tuning. The suspension mode Pro in my opinion will be where I will ride once fine tuned.

All in all I think there is much more to learn and understand, there is so much more that can be manipulated within this system.
 
#5 ·
UK rider here.I’m a little late to this thread but I found your info very useful. I picked up a 1390 EVO r recently and still learning the setup, especially coming from a jap inline-4 litre bike ! The KTM is amazing. I would appreciate your thoughts on the following, on track mode I am getting a little headshake when I change direction rapidly- nothing close to a tankslapper or such, just a mild wobble- in medium to high speed twisties, especially when I move across the saddle. Any recommendations ? I would appreciate your thoughts.
 
#8 ·
No worries.... Which of the suspension modes have you tried to date ? Personally I would set the Auto Suspension mode and ride with that for a bit and understand how the suspension is reacting under the riding conditions you have described. See if you still get the the head shake feeling while in Auto, Auto should self adjust. Once you completely understand how the suspension is reacting in auto you could move to Pro 1 and use the base line that is automatically set when selected, should be 10's across the board, You will then have a base line to compare the Pro 1 to.
Let me know how this works out ? I will keep testing and provide the info here.
Have a great day.
 
#9 ·
Thanks, I have been tinkering with various settings since we last spoke, I have set the suspension to auto high and run my favourite twisty road a couple of times. It feels a bit more at ease with rapid direction changes now. I have a lot to learn with this bike coming from a string of jap 4s. I will try what you suggest and report back. Ive got absolutely no regrets buying the KTK the thing is just so much fun and that’s what was lacking on my ZX10. Many thanks.
 
#10 ·
Hey Morry27,
Nice to hear... Maybe a couple of other suggestions, try turning off the brake dive dampening feature and not sure what your rider weight is but I took if rear pre load off high and set it at 40% for my weight and that also seemed to help.
I too, still have many things to learn and will keep posting those here.
 
#11 · (Edited)
I found Street to be junky in the hills , mountain passes with uneven quality roads ( what we have mostly down here in Victoria , AU): its harder than comfort mode but behavior is worse overall than the plush comfort mode on these roads. So I guess city Streets only for that mode.

Sport mode feels great up until you hit a bump and you get your nuttz knocked up to your teeth . Which is not as bad if bike is straight but if you cornering you likely will loose it and end up bottom of the hill.
It isn’t usable, even on staights under acceleration a bump causes you to be on one wheel which you don’t want unintentionally.

Comfort is pretty manageable overall, cornering etc but at a faster pace and quicker direction turns bike becomes unstable , wobbles too much so you have to slow down.

The Auto mode, I hope , hoped, would dynamically set it ‘best’. But I cannot comment yet on it , I tried it Once on the same known hill road and I cannot yet get my opinion on what it does and if it makes it much better than others.

Overall I found surprising how hard the suspension is on my 1290 Evo model. I’m not the lightest in weight - 85kg plus my gear, but I found that the manual ‘s pre-load settings for my weight makes it way too hard, Unless I’m on straight line highway flat surface where anything would work really. So I do not set that preload manually with the suspension pro package now .

I don’t know if all SDRs have it this hard , but I’m tempted to search for lighter springs perhaps.

yea sorry your thread is for 1390 but i think the suspension is similar if not exactly same, including software
 
#18 ·
Did a 260 mile run last Saturday up Ca-88 and back home. Set the suspension to Auto and preload to 40%. This actually rode very nice the entire distance. Did not push it to hard but auto seems quite comfortable. Also added the WP Apex Pro Steering Damper prior to the trip, and did notice a nice change in cornering, much smoother.
 
#29 ·
Hi, I have the 1309 evo. I haven't had much chance to play around with the settings yet. Not sure if the 1290 evo was the same but apparently there is nothing inside of our left fork set up, as in the front suspension relies totally on the right fork internals. I have heard that if you use an underfork type paddock stand and remove the front wheel the bike will fall over as the left fork just collapses. I got this info from MCN (UK). I'm sure WP know what they are doing but it seems like a cheap *** way of doing it. Any of my Ducati's with elec.susp. had both forks wired up. Given that and the fact that you have to buy a HCU (€100) so you can use the heated grips you brought forward from your Gen 2 and 3 it would appear KTMs' financial problems must be bad.
My initial feeling is the forks are a little wooden compared to my standard 1290 R but maybe I need to play around with the settings and see how it goes, a tinge of regret that I didn't stick with the standard R, hope I'm wrong about that🤞
 
#30 ·
Hi, I have the 1309 evo. I haven't had much chance to play around with the settings yet. Not sure if the 1290 evo was the same but apparently there is nothing inside of our left fork set up, as in the front suspension relies totally on the right fork internals. I have heard that if you use an underfork type paddock stand and remove the front wheel the bike will fall over as the left fork just collapses. I got this info from MCN (UK). I'm sure WP know what they are doing but it seems like a cheap *** way of doing it. Any of my Ducati's with elec.susp. had both forks wired up. Given that and the fact that you have to buy a HCU (€100) so you can use the heated grips you brought forward from your Gen 2 and 3 it would appear KTMs' financial problems must be bad.
My initial feeling is the forks are a little wooden compared to my standard 1290 R but maybe I need to play around with the settings and see how it goes, a tinge of regret that I didn't stick with the standard R, hope I'm wrong about that🤞
I’m pretty sure on my 2023 both fork legs have ‘stuff’ in them .

also my Duke is constantly in the under yoke front paddock stand when not used , and I had no issue with this so far …

it’s actually recommended way to keep them parked ( for longer periods ), from the manual
 
#31 ·
Image

Clearly MCN has provided some faulty information. This is a snip directly from the KTM 1390 SDREvo service manual. Sure looks like there are components inside that would keep the left side fork from collapsing as stated.
I have been running in AUTO with pre-load set at 40% and it has been pretty good so far. Now that I know how those settings work I will go back and start working with the PRO settings
 
#32 ·
That's interesting. I haven't had the chance to check it out myself but I would have thought it would surely be highlighted in the user manual to warn against this happening.
I originally came across it in their (MCN) long term review on youtube.
Is that definitely the left fork ? mine is silver chrome, that looks black.
 
#43 ·
If it is of interest to you or any other spirited riders I weigh about 215 lbs geared up and for the twisties I made custom Pro1 settings as follows (This is per Dave Moss tuning advice) Rear shock manual preload %30 (For rear "sag") Fork compression 12 Fork rebound 15 Shock compression high 14 Shock compression low 15 Shock rebound 17 Works pretty well! Enjoy!
 
#44 ·
Thanks for the information !!! I ran the Pro 1 in it's standard settings (pre-load 40%) this weekend and it worked pretty darn good. Standard is 10's across the board. I will certainly give the settings you posted a shot and compare with the standard settings.
Again thanks for posting the info....
 
#48 · (Edited)
Neevesy from MCN has been talking about fork on the stand with axle removed, meaning that legs are no longer connected.

Parts catalog implies that there is nothing is the other fork indeed:

View attachment 120533
If you look through the service manual you will find that in fact there are springs in both left and right fork tubes. As shown in post #33.
Edit for clarity: The left fork has a spring and the right for has a cartridge. One would assume the cartridge would contain a spring, but it may not.
 
#53 ·
I have been riding on me SDR EVO '23 (1290 ..) now for while after upgrading with that suspension package ..

So. Pre-load mode Standard is Not bad. I can just leave in , city or not, and it just works.

But ,especially after NY i guess and me gaining some weight, the +30% manual on pre-load never felt so 'right' lately... I do have a backpack also,with some water. Last 2 weekend rides it just felt spot on, and better than that Auto preload mode. Just felt like that's how it should be, feeling I lacked with this bike.

The suspension damping: Street still only feels right on the city streets... Hills mountains, I either do comfort , especially if tired, otherwise I use the Auto smart mode for damping : overall seems not bad, does some magic while you riding, I definitely see its changing when I ride faster or slower.
I would say it's a tad faster that comfort mode damping, and its not as 'dumb' as the Street one.

Sport damping still knocks my nuttzz in, on local hill roads, so cannot really use it .
 
#54 ·
^^^ Void i just recently did a track day on the 1290, i adjusted my road settings down (less clicks out) by 2 on each. My front worked well but the rear took a bit of a beating. Tires measured cold once home were 27 rear and 31 front. Mate had a look and said rear under inflated and rebound too fast, front look ok. I now have a better setting for next time at Hampton Downs, (a very grippy track).
Image
Image
 
#61 · (Edited)
Just got back from 1st ride in almost two months (work getting in way) and have to say the 1390 EVO impressed me today. Reason is this is the first time I've ridden it with both GoGo's +15mm link plates and Dave Moss' suspension settings (stolen from Shiv's bike). The bike now rails HS bumpy corners with ease! Changes direction very quickly and brakes (with anti-dive on) and accelerates with absolute stability and I've not even sprung it for my weight yet! After today's rip I almost don't see a need. Almost....physics is physics.

Gogo mentioned (in one of his videos) a bump entering Riverside at Button willow that has upset the chassis of whatever bike he was on at the time, except the 1390 EVO. I experienced something similar today, albeit at less than track speeds. There's a nasty bump between two corners on one of my favorite roads that I post up for so my legs can absorb some of the energy in order to avoid getting shot out of the seat. Went over it 3 times today (just to be sure!), last time sitting and barely noticed it. Like the bump wasn't there! Wow!

Service indicator light just came up and was planning on pulling the LH fork apart at same time I perform the first service to get spring dimensions for Cannon Racecraft. Now I'm debating. Will be a couple of weeks before I can ride again to confirm my initial impressions so I think fork spring may have to wait.

Anyway, great result today. I'm really starting to gel with the latest WP SAT offering on this bike.

Cheers

-John
 
#65 ·
Do those link plates do anything about front stability or being too light and flappy under hard acceleration ..? Something I feel too often on SDR but didnt have / felt same on other bikes.

So it gets at times quite wobbly when Im on gas hard , it gives me this nervous feeling it will start oscillating non stop as per those horror videos when you have to just let your hands loose & pray it settles . Being a bit dramatic.

I don’t need for SDR to turn quicker or flip it faster, it’s heavy for me and not like a supermoto . I saw these plates I think you’ve installed in some YouTube video, and thought they may be will help keep the bike Planted , as they say
 
#62 ·
It's super interesting to me this open question about the electronics possibly stepping in to handle the more extreme forces, then backing off again to be soft enough for average forces. Used to be one spring and one valve setting had to handle everything. Maybe not anymore. But that's a really big maybe at this point, to me at least. I am supposed to be at laguna right now testing this idea but decided to stay home and stay focused on Gen1 Superclamp design work instead. I'm happy I did because it's been a super productive weekend so far in the Superclamp world. But a little gutted because this would have been my first ride back since the wreck. I'll get another shot this coming Friday to test two things: My now repaired Gen3, and this Gen4 suspension question (or series of questions). Good for you on your work and on your feel John. Keep up the great work. Oh, and props to you for understanding the difference between altering your chassis attitude by using a link, rather than using KTM's spring preload "solution" which compromises your suspension travel. Not everyone gets that. Respect
 
#64 ·
@Lowrance : well there you go, your go-go supplier said, spring preloading is crap cause it limits suspension travel .

So my this I read , WP did great no one wants preload …

and yet, best of best Ohlins have preload front & rear

am I getting this wrong , which preload you referring to go go ?

btw saw your posts on your web posts somewhere before about preload