Looking for guidance on suspension/shock adjustment

[Sebsi]

Hi all,

I'm curious about how and whether to adjust my rear shock. I assume it's stock. There is a S / H screw at the top, and the adjustment ring at the bottom (I have the tool for this). My ride feels a bit stiff and rough solo, but 2up riding is smoothed out. I'd like my 1up ride to be more like the 2up. Advice?

Thanks,

Seb
'93 K1100RS

[mystic red]

Can you post a picture of the shock? Stock shocks are usually not stiff....in my experience.

[Scott_]

I'd adjust the 5-stop ring to allow for the least amount of spring compression to start with. That will be as low as it goes.
If this is still too stiff for you, you may have to look for a shock with less compression.
IIRC the s/h screw has maybe 5 full turns from full soft to full hard for "bump" dampening.

Something else to look into is to refresh(drain and replace) the front fork oil. As the ride quality is also dependent on the front end dampening too.

Truth be told if that's still the original shock, you may as well start looking for a replacement.
Realm makes a wonderful aftermarket shock for our K-bikes. I have one and I love it. They do offer 2 "grades" of spring stiffness now that they didn't before so you may ask about that.
http://www.realmengineering.com/page15.html
There are many other brands out there, some new, some used but rebuildable, but most anything will be better than the stock shock.

[motodude]

Cuz I'm cheap, I typically run the stock rear shock until it no longer dampens.  Replacing it with a good aftermarket version will improve things.  Plus you can usually order them with some customizations for your weight, etc.

Changing the oil in the front forks isn't too difficult.  But, one thing to note, there are very few threads on the drain plugs.  Be careful when replacing them.

Tom

[CRASH]

Real rough rule of thumb to adjust sag to get to a good starting point.  You need a friend, and maybe 2 for the first time.

Put bike on center stand and measure from center of drive unit to a point on the frame above it.Make sure there is NO LOAD on the rear wheel.

Now take it off the center stand and make that same measurement again ... it should be roughly 1" less. (This varies from bike to bike depending on travel, but this works fine for most street bikes) I bounce the bike a few times to get rid of stiction issues.  Make sure there is normal weight on the back of the bike and you are measuring from the same two points.

Now sit on the bike, have someone balance you if possible so you can get all of your weight on the bike ... I bounce a few times to make sure there is no stiction issues again.   Make the same measurement again ... it should be roughly an additional 3/4" (1 3/4" total from initial measurement). Again, make sure it is the same two points.

Put any rebound and dampening settings in the middle.  If the bike is sprung to your weight properly, this would be the normal settings.

Now take it for a ride and see what you think.  It sounds like it may be spring too tight for you solo. It also may have worn valving.  I would make sure i wrote down all settings right now since you like it 2 up.  BTW, you should also make these same measurements two up so you know the proper position to start with 2 up.  Realize you will be making a compromise between the two settings (unloaded vs loaded bike)... if the bike has 1 3/4" travel 2 up, the initial setting will be tighter than a 1 up setting once you are done.  This measurement is to make sure you are in a good range to start with.