Jovinski Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Okay, believe it or not, I am fairly techinically literate. But these shocks, just don't compute for me. As far as the fronts, I have a lot of dive. If I turn the adjusters clockwise, this will harden the dampening? As far as the rear shock, I have read the manual, I have looked at the tools, I have stared at the shock, and I just can't figure out what's what. I don't know what # it's on, I don't know which way to turn it to make it stiffer. My main problems are that I have a "do it yourself" rear fender eliminator and my tag is hitting the tire, even when I'm riding solo and hit bumps. My first order of business then, is to tighten up that rear shock. If anyone can tell this dummy how to do it, I would be greatly appreciative.... Thanks, JB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer ravi4l Posted May 17, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted May 17, 2007 sounds like you need new rear Shock and maybe get front one rebuild. good luck.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted May 17, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted May 17, 2007 Okay, believe it or not, I am fairly techinically literate. But these shocks, just don't compute for me. As far as the fronts, I have a lot of dive. If I turn the adjusters clockwise, this will harden the dampening? As far as the rear shock, I have read the manual, I have looked at the tools, I have stared at the shock, and I just can't figure out what's what. I don't know what # it's on, I don't know which way to turn it to make it stiffer. My main problems are that I have a "do it yourself" rear fender eliminator and my tag is hitting the tire, even when I'm riding solo and hit bumps. My first order of business then, is to tighten up that rear shock. If anyone can tell this dummy how to do it, I would be greatly appreciative....Thanks, JB JB, Own a 97 myself, but the principles are the same. On the front are the prelaod adjustors, turn clockwise = harder anti-clockwise = softer. Turn the adjuster in fully, count the clicks on both legs. now turn anti clockwise fully, count the clicks. So now you know the full range and the relave position you were in. So now you can set harder/softer as you like. Find a stretch of road with various conditions and ride up and down to feel the effect of any changes. My 97 OEM shock has two settings to change. One at the top for preload (right side of the shock in the picture), turn clockwise is stiffer and vise versa at the bottom the is the dampening (cannot see it in the picture because it is loacted on the other side...); clockwise is harder. I replaced my OEM with a Wilbers. The OEM is now doing sevice in another VFR750. I never throw anything away and three month after I did the change, a college complained that his suspension was too soft. Looked at his shock and the damping rod was not shiney chromy but really filthy ie the oil had leaked.... Should you still have the original rear fender, try and estimate if your DIY job is the culprit. If not and you have all screwed to the max there are 2 options shock is shot you are one big fat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baileyrock Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 How much do you weigh? Our VFR's are set-up for a 160 lb rider and are under sprung and over dampened to provide the widest range of acceptable compliance through this wide range. We only have spring pre-load adjustment on the front, you can NOT adjust out having a too soft spring which is what most of use have to deal with! There's a spanner wrench in the tool kit that allows you to adjust rear spring pre-load, do a search in the "how too" section for "Setting Sag", start there. The only dampening adjustment we have is on the rear shock at the left side bottom, screw driver slot. All the way in clockwise is firmest/hardest. Set pre-load before messing with this adjust. Note: even if the rear shock was completely Blown it would not cause the suspension to bottom, only too much weight for the spring will cause this. The dampening mostly prevents the shock from rebounding to quick(pogo). :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jovinski Posted May 17, 2007 Author Share Posted May 17, 2007 I weigh in at about 250. So, yep, I'm a big boy. But tall, so it almost evens out. I've seen the setting the sag stuff. I actualy understand that, but with the rear shock, it's a little confusing. So, you turn that thing that is above the shock coil which looks like it was cut with an unsteady hand? That pushes down the shock and tightens the rebound? I wish I had the original fender, I'd just replace it. This "fender kit" doesn't even light, so I'm waiting to get pulled over. The guy I bought the bike from was bigger than me, so maybe the shocks are shot.... And my tool kit doesn't have the spanner wrench, all I have is the extension. Guess that would help, huh? Probably make the task more comprehensible to me as well. :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer skuuter Posted May 17, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted May 17, 2007 I don't think I would pre-load my rear shock just to clear a license plate either.....sounds like a different license mount needs to be in your future and a stiffer rear spring. Even at it's lowest ride height, a license should never touch. Adjust your sag, pre-load, and ride height for the rider, not to clear add-ons..........after you get the bike set good for you, then "adjust" the farkles locations to prevent their interference with working parts of the bike................. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baileyrock Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 The springs are way to light for your weight!!! Stock is .740kg front & 15.3 kg rear, I run .95kg ft & 19 kg rear and only weight 200 lbs. You should be running a 1.0 kg front springs and at least a 20 kg rear Min. As ST mentioned the stock set-up should never hit anything unless your hitting a big "selfislhy wasting bandwidth" even with your weight! Maybe the thing was lowered too and you've lost some travel ? :rolleyes: Check the triangle plates on the bottom of the shock to see which way the arrow points on the side plate. Ideally you need much stiffer springs as a min. to have even a halfway decent set-up for your weight! Again I doubt your rear shock is blown unless it just bounces/slams back up super fast from compression. the shock with the red spring is a stock Vtec shock, the adjuster is at the top of the spring and has stepped notches cut in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum CEO HispanicSlammer Posted May 17, 2007 Forum CEO Share Posted May 17, 2007 I dont know why manufacturers tell people in the manuals and such that adjusting spring preload makes the ride harder or softer - thats nonsense! All it does is jackthe bike up or down! Its the see saw effect and the way weight transfers from the front end to the back end that makes preload adjustments difficult to deal with, hence why we always tell folks to adjust the preload by using the SAG method. Its fool proof, it accounts for all shapes and sizes of rider cause it takes into account how much wieght your carrying. All sag does is this: I it is the measurement of how much the bike sags from where it is not loaded down to where it is loaded down! Thats it, very very simple, no hard or soft vagueness to contend with, no turn the dial this many turns, no this many lines showing, no click this many clicks mumbo jumbo - that is all relative to how much weight you carry, sag skips all that. Its all about makeing the front and back sag an even amount like the bike was designed to do! you just turn the preload adjusters till the bike sags so much and thats it, no guessing! read about how to do it by yourself here http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.p...;showarticle=30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baileyrock Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Like HS says, but I doubt you will ever attain the proper SAG w/o changing to much heavier springs! :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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