[Saint]

It seems the Rebel 300 and 500 use the same suspension setup so I have found some details on the suspension. Everything will be posted below


Front Suspension : 41 mm telescopic fork; 121 mm (4.77 in.) travel
Rear Suspension : Dual shocks with five-position spring preload adjustment; 96 mm (3.77 in.) travel (Showa with pro-link system)

The 41mm forks are set wide at 230mm apart for handling rigidity, comfort and style, and the lower legs are blacked-out. Trail is set at 110mm with 28° rake; the forks are offset at 30° and the result, combined with the 58.7 inch wheelbase, is a low 27.2 inch seat height and mid-mounted footpegs, for balanced and neutral steering.

Blacked-out 45mm tubular swingarm with twin conventional, side-mounted shocks that feature two-step preload adjusters.

Detailed 2017 Honda Rebel 500 Review of Specs + Changes | New Motorcycle for 17'! (CMX500 / ABS)

 

[Rebellion]

Not really surprised, HOnda did say that the only difference between the Rebel 300 and 500 is the engine. I'm sure the Rebel will be a combination of easy steering and solid stability with the suspension giving us a comfortable ride.

 

[Djdavies]

Would be nice to get the specs on the rear to find out what would fit. Seems that's a common complaint in every single review, so I'd like to get them on order. YSS's can usually be cheaper overseas, but shipping can suck. But they'd probably get here before the bikes do!

 

[shortyg83]

Would be nice to get the specs on the rear to find out what would fit. Seems that's a common complaint in every single review, so I'd like to get them on order. YSS's can usually be cheaper overseas, but shipping can suck. But they'd probably get here before the bikes do!

Yea from reading reviews the rear suspension will be something I will likely be changing on the bike this year.

 

[st.rebel]

Looking at who they're selling these bikes to that makes me wonder how many will actually go with a different suspension. Brands often make sacrifices, maybe this will be bad enough to motivate riders.

 

[shortyg83]

Looking at who they're selling these bikes to that makes me wonder how many will actually go with a different suspension. Brands often make sacrifices, maybe this will be bad enough to motivate riders.

In the thailand market it looks like a ton of people changed the suspension.

 

[Saint]

Love seeing what people do in the Thailand market. Those guys go real hard in the customization sector

 

[CueBaller]

So riding back from a friend's place the other night, I was on a road that had a decent amount of patchwork done to it... every few hundred yards, I'd hit a patched strip that crossed the lane, and it felt like my teeth were gonna rattle out of my head.

I've never even noticed these bumps in my truck, so I'm thinking I need to adjust my rear suspension.

The manual shows that they're preset at 2, and adjustable from 1 (soft) to 5 (hard). So which way do I need to adjust, and if it's to the harder end of the scale, how much? I'm around 220 pounds, for reference.

 

[macjosh1]

So riding back from a friend's place the other night, I was on a road that had a decent amount of patchwork done to it... every few hundred yards, I'd hit a patched strip that crossed the lane, and it felt like my teeth were gonna rattle out of my head.

I've never even noticed these bumps in my truck, so I'm thinking I need to adjust my rear suspension.

The manual shows that they're preset at 2, and adjustable from 1 (soft) to 5 (hard). So which way do I need to adjust, and if it's to the harder end of the scale, how much? I'm around 220 pounds, for reference.

Good question, I am interested in the answer too. lol. I weigh in at 153lbs, and I find the suspension is really soft. Sometimes feels like I am gonna bottom out the suspension on some bumps. lol. Can only imagine what it felt like for you. (not that I am calling you fat, lets make that clear, lol)


Thing I'd like to know, if you harden the suspension, would that just make the bumps ALLOT more pronounced and jarring?

 

[CueBaller]

I'm thinking to a certain extent, stiffening the suspension is probably the way to go, the logic being that a stiffer suspension has more resistance, so it requires more force to compress it.

Also, I find it hard to believe that a bike with an allowable passenger/cargo weight allowance of nearly 400lbs (rider and passenger and cargo) would already be bottoming out with only one notch left to go (from 2 to 1).

 

[FLrebel]

Great information, thanks for sharing.

 

[Benggolf]

If the rear suspension bottoms out, suggest you set the stiffness to the halfway mark initially and work yourself up the remain notches. if at the stiffest setting your rear suspension still bottoms out....you may need to use stiffer springs, change the rear shocks or loose some weight. :wink2:

 

[CueBaller]

Lol yeah, I know I need to loose some weight.. working on that, but in the meantime...

 

[[email protected]]

Put mine up to 3 and is ok for me. Try it and see, only takes a minute. I weigh 72kgs , sorry dont do pounds anymore ?

 

[01-7700]

When you switch over to the metric system, you automatically weigh half as much

US has been selling it wrong.

 

[Metromechanic]

I'm 185 lbs, or roughly 84 kilograms. My Rebel 500 on speed bumps and large potholes, set at the stock setting of 2 made it feel like I was going to break my back.

At highway speeds on older roads it was somewhat of a nightmare.

Today we played around with the settings and number four is perfect for my riding style. It also Corners better now.

 

[longballer]

New Air shocks are here. Fully adjustable

https://www.steadygarage.com/store/catalogsearch/result/?cat=0&q=rebel+shocks

 

[Lyoko]

New Air shocks are here. Fully adjustable

https://www.steadygarage.com/store/catalogsearch/result/?cat=0&q=rebel+shocks

Can someone shine some light upon the difference between regular shocks and air shocks? Pros and cons, etc.

 

[Goodtwin]

Can someone shine some light upon the difference between regular shocks and air shocks? Pros and cons, etc.

They do not use a coil spring. This reduces weight, and because they are basically using air pressure as the spring, you can adjust them with an air pump. The problem I have is that if the seal blows its like riding with no spring at all. The other problem is the air pressure can be setup great in the morning when it is nice a cool, and then when it warms up the pressures will increase. With coil springs, your spring rate doesn't change when the shocks get hot, with air shocks, the air spring will become "stiffer" the hotter it gets. I believe the technology has its merit, but I prefer the proven coil spring. Air forks were all the rage in motocross for the last few years, but nearly every race team has gone back to standard coil spring forks. The Yamaha YZ's are considered to have the best suspension of any production dirt bike, and they use coil springs. Most people I have converstated with that had air forks found it became tiresome constantly checking and adjusting air pressure.

 

[Lyoko]

They do not use a coil spring. This reduces weight, and because they are basically using air pressure as the spring, you can adjust them with an air pump. The problem I have is that if the seal blows its like riding with no spring at all. The other problem is the air pressure can be setup great in the morning when it is nice a cool, and then when it warms up the pressures will increase. With coil springs, your spring rate doesn't change when the shocks get hot, with air shocks, the air spring will become "stiffer" the hotter it gets. I believe the technology has its merit, but I prefer the proven coil spring. Air forks were all the rage in motocross for the last few years, but nearly every race team has gone back to standard coil spring forks. The Yamaha YZ's are considered to have the best suspension of any production dirt bike, and they use coil springs. Most people I have converstated with that had air forks found it became tiresome constantly checking and adjusting air pressure.

Yeah I was thinking about exactly this and woundering how it would impacted the performance. Seems very tiering, and not very street friendly. Never encountered such air shocks before, hence the question. But it seems there isn't really any greater edge with such shocks in the day to day life then. Perhaps in racing?
And besides, reducing weight? I mean, a coil spring hardly has any weight to it to start with. I guess every gram matters in some racing competitions, but still. Sounds like a case of "Sounds good, doesn't work"