New Shocks Question

[Roostabunny]

Hey fellas,

My new shocks arrived from CRC yesterday - wahoo. Very shiny.

They came with several sets of rubber bushings with small, medium, and large ID's and some small plastic mystery tubes.

Seems pretty obvious that I'll pick the bushings with an ID that's the closest match to the studs on the bike, but what about that tube? It's stepped with three sections and the OD's match the three ID's of the bushings. Seems to me that I need to cut this thing apart to give me a plastic sleeve the right size to fit inside my chosen bushing to go between the threads and the bushing, right?

Also, any tips on setup? I'm at 210lbs today. I do mostly commuting miles, about 50/50 street and freeway with an occasional jaunt to the hills.

[Steve]

Also, any tips on setup?

You are correct, you will need to select the plastic bushing that matches the rubber grommet that gives a snug fit. When you tighten the mounting nuts, be sure to snug them enough that they don't come off, but not so tight that the shocks can't move on the bushings.

Setup? Adjust them so the bike is about one inch lower with you sitting on it than when you're not.
Helps to have a friend measure from the back fender or license plate to the ground.

.

[Roostabunny]

You are correct, you will need to select the plastic bushing that matches the rubber grommet that gives a snug fit. When you tighten the mounting nuts, be sure to snug them enough that they don't come off, but not so tight that the shocks can't move on the bushings.

Setup? Adjust them so the bike is about one inch lower with you sitting on it than when you're not.
Helps to have a friend measure from the back fender or license plate to the ground.

.

Perfect, thanks, Steve!

Total newb question for clarification after reading through so many threads. When I'm making this adjustment, I'm changing the "pre-load" in order to get about 1" of rear suspension "sag" with my weight? All the same thing right?

I'll get those on then turn to the forks.

[Guest]

What'd you weigh yesterday? \\/

[Steve]

What'd you weigh yesterday? \\/

More importantly, what do you plan on weighing in the near future?
(That is what you want to set up for.)

Perfect Steve!

Hey, I LIKE this guy! 8-)

When I'm making this adjustment, I'm changing the "pre-load" in order to get about 1" of rear suspension "sag" with my weight? All the same thing right?

That's it, exactly. And when you get to tuning the front, you can go about 1.5" of sag. The basic idea is to have not more than 25% of your available suspension travel used up just by sitting on the bike. The rear usually has about 4" of travel, the forks have about 6".

Tuning the preload on the forks is a little more involved, as you will have to fabricate a spacer to load the springs. Your best bet, especially considering your weight, is a set of Progressive springs. You will still have to tune them for ride height, but they are better springs than the stock ones, especially when you consider that the stock springs are about 25 years old and have fatigued just a bit. :shock:

.

[Roostabunny]

What'd you weigh yesterday? \\/

I weighed 217 two weeks ago, and to Steve's question, in the near future I plan to weigh just under 2 bills. South Beach diet - works for me. :-D

Hope it doesn't work too well, or I'll be ebaying those stiff MIDI shocks.

[Roostabunny]

Wahoo! OK, I'm sooo, glad I finally listened to one of Bwringer's diatribes/rants about OEM/Original Shocks.

Naturally, I still feel the bumps, but I no longer feel like bridge transitions and manhole covers are tiny launch ramps! More importantly, I now know that the bike is not supposed to squirm over every groove, divot, and seam in the pavement that's not exactly perpendicular to the road.

Next the forks.

Thanks all, and thanks especially to Brian for literally scaring me straight!