[TW_in_BC]

Is there any way of adjusting the rear pre-load? I don't see the threaded collar and locknuts that are on most larger bikes...

 

[crjanow]

no unfortunately the tw doesnt have the spanner nuts like on many other shocks.

 

[rm_hm]

Info taken from the TW Wiki Site

http://tw200.wiki-si....php/Suspension



Rear shock adjustment. The stock rear shock affords you 3 pre-load settings. The bottom 'disc' which the shock spring sits upon is held at one of three height positions by a springwire clip. This wire locks into one of three grooves near the shocks base and fixes the bottom disc in that position. The wire is concealed under the lip on the base disc, but you should be able to see the shallow lower groove at the very bottom of the disc.



I believe the factory setting for this springclip is the middle groove. This being the case, if need be you can go to a 'stiffer' setting by repositioning the springclip the one groove highter. Now you will have a shock with a tighter spring and a firmer (rear) ride, but since the spring is compressed more, the bike (rear) will sit slightly lower.



Should you move the springclip to the bottom groove, you reduce the tension on the shock spring and make for a softer ride. A secondary result of a soft adjustment is a relaxed/longer spring (JVT). Since this will raise the rear abit, it may create a new problem for a light person that is just barely able to touch the ground. The above are the factory adjustments.



Should you want to see, and adjust the spring setting on the rear shock, you will want some sort of device/tool to pull 'up' and hold the tension of the shock spring while you remove the bottom springclip and base plate. Springs are under a great deal of tension; USE EXTREME CAUTION AS SERIOUS INJURY IS A REAL POSSIBILITY..





Here is a picture of the preload clip posted by (davedyno) on the old TW site. The clip grooves are about 1/2" apart

 

[lizrdbrth]

Actually it does. But it's hidden, and the adjustments are fairly minimal There are 3 grooves and a clip under the spring collar. If you compress the spring wit a spring compressor you can move the clip to one of 3 positions.



Oops. Happy Holidays from the Dept. of Redundancy Dept.

 

[jbtardy]

I wondered about that myself. I was getting ready to remove the shock on mine and try to lower the seat height a little but it seemed to me that unless eye to eye length is shortened
the seat will not be any lower. Has anyone done this change and actually documented a difference in seat height?

 

[jb882]

I wondered about that myself. I was getting ready to remove the shock on mine and try to lower the seat height a little but it seemed to me that unless eye to eye length is shortened
the seat will not be any lower. Has anyone done this change and actually documented a difference in seat height?

There will not be any static change in seat height with the bike unloaded with a preload adjustment. Any change would be once you are on the bike and it's weighted down a change if any will totally depend on rider weight.

I experimented with this on the tw I own that my girl rides. It made zero difference.

 

[jbtardy]

There will not be any static change in seat height with the bike unloaded with a preload adjustment. Any change would be once you are on the bike and it's weighted down a change if any will totally depend on rider weight.

I experimented with this on the tw I own that my girl rides. It made zero difference.

Thank you, saves me some work.

 

[Yan]

It made zero difference.

one size fits most in other words

 

[jbtardy]

There will not be any static change in seat height with the bike unloaded with a preload adjustment. Any change would be once you are on the bike and it's weighted down a change if any will totally depend on rider weight.

I experimented with this on the tw I own that my girl rides. It made zero difference.

After thinking about this a little bit more it seems to me that there could be a change in seat height when the bike is loaded, as with rider weight. In contrast to the previous information it
would seem that by lengthing the spring by lowering the bottom perch and reducing the preload that maybe the 1/2" between the clip grooves could result in 1/2" lower seat height
when loaded with rider weight. If the static height is unchanged the spring should compress 1/2" before reaching the degree of compression with the clip in the original middle groove.
Then assuming it compresses the original distance from there that would result in 1/2" greater overall compression and 1/2" less distance eye to eye and 1/2" lower seat when loaded.
At least it sounds reasonable to me but it only considers the spring. Did you by any chance measure the seat height when your girl was on the bike?

 

[Joemama]

There is no where near 1/2" between the adjustment grooves, more like 3/8" total from the first to the third. The only way this would change the seat height would be with a VERY heavy rider. You will notice a slightly softer or slightly stiffer ride when adjusting one way or the other from the middle position. To change the ride height you will need to either reposition the lower mount of the shock, or change the shock. I believe the v-star shock has been used as a donor for this. If it were me, I would look for a v-star shock. They seam to be available on e-bay reasonably.
Good luck
Joemama

 

[jb882]

I sure did and the difference in loaded sag was barely different than it was in the original position with her on it, she is ~125lbs. For her the factory springs work pretty well both front and rear.

If you have a spring compressor it's something that's easy enough to try and free to do, I just don't think it will make much difference if any. I have also tried the other way on my bike and same thing. Loaded sag about the same and while it feels a little stiffer on bumps it's still not enough for me. I weigh 225 and just simply need more spring both front and rear.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[jbtardy]

Ok, thanks for the very useful information. I don't have a spring compressor so I think I will just forget it. I already repositioned the lower shock mounting position and am able to be flat footed
with the bike and that's good enough. Since I only weigh about 130 lbs soaking wet i'm not likely to see much change from moving the clip.

 

[Trail Woman]

I've been considering this as an option for more aggressive riding to avoid bottoming out , but then I wonder if more fork oil in the front might take some of the load from the rear shock.

Could front fork oil make the rear shock less likely to bottom out? Standing up certainly helped my suspension performance balance out better but I still get the occasional bottom out which leads me to think one will effect the other somewhat.

 

[old w/??]

Changes to the front or rear will have an effect on the other end. It may or may not be enough to improve or deteriorate ride quality depending how the bike was originally.

Also; on my CB500X - the seat height was higher than I wanted, both when throwing a leg over and putting my feet down when stopped.
I softened the pre-load from stock 3 down to 1 (road riding only).
The seat IS now lower in both static sag (easier to throw my leg over) and rider sag (both feet better planted at a stop).

 

[Trail Woman]

On top of stiffening the suspension a little, I'm also trying to raise it up ~2" with a 2.75" extended swing arm and spacer to extend the shock length 1".

It's my hope that the leverage of the longer swing arm will balance a stiffer spring as to not appear much stiffer as an end result.

 

[Ken]

The blaster shock raises the TW way up in the rear? I have one I bought but decided not to do the mod. Check out the blaster shock mod. Someone can have it for shipping and handling.

 

[Trail Woman]

I read Gerry's thread in the customization section on "rear shocks". I'd consider a Banshee if I could find the right one and spring I need but the Blaster is too tall for me. Great deal though!

 

[admiral]

On top of stiffening the suspension a little, I'm also trying to raise it up ~2" with a 2.75" extended swing arm and spacer to extend the shock length 1".

It's my hope that the leverage of the longer swing arm will balance a stiffer spring as to not appear much stiffer as an end result.

I have the procycle stiffer spring on my TW. I think the rear spring and/or spacer only raises the seat height if you will but not actual ground clearance. Adding the stiffer front spring added some height but not much. Comparing the height of mine at Mrs. Admirals TW's at the seat height and mirrors, mine looks several inches taller. Helps me with more leg room. However, the actual overall ground clearance when measured from the same spot on the front of our skid plates was something like 1/4 to 1/2 inch at best. Not really a ground clearance gain in my opinion.

I thought adding an extended swing arm made the sag in the rear of the TW more but I see your thinking of adding 1" to the shock and this may equalize the extended swing-arm though admittedly I have no experience with these mods.