2010 Wide Glide Shock Adjustment

[lhgdale]

Hello, I was out riding my wide glide this afternoon with my girlfriend. The bike rides great solo but really comfy with a passenger. It gets real cushy when riding a passenger. Anyway, we hit a large hump in the road and the shocks bottomed out. I was reading through my owners manual about adjusting the shocks and it said to get a spanner wrench and turn the shocks counter clock-wise to soften the ride and clock-wise to stiffen. It also had a diagram of a 1-5 settings, 1 being soft and 5 being hard, but I did not see any numbers on the shocks. I also do not have a spanner wrench or know what size to get. I would appreciate some help with this... I tried turning the base of the shocks with my hands but no luck.. Thanks again.

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[2007fxdc]

The stock shocks on a lowrider are the only ones I've seen that are numbered (no idea why). Anyway, you can look up underneath the shocks and see the "steps" for each setting. What you are setting is called the preload. The tighter the spring, the more preload you have and the stiffer the ride. A spanner wrench is a spanner wrench. Do a search on this forum and you'll find pictures of them and more explanations about adjusting your shocks. Most dealers and bike shops carry them. Should cost you less than 20 bucks. I've heard of people being able to change the settings with a strap wrench as well but a spanner wrench is the proper method with the proper tool.

[rounder]

Spanner can be found at dealer. I would go to dealer, get spanner, ask the service dept. to show you what to do. I am sure with you just buying the bike they will help out and familiarize you with the process. It is very easy to do. clockwise to increase preload(make firmer). Make sure to adjust each shock the same.

[joe1984]

When i got my bike i wanted to up the shock to a preload of 3 or 4 and i have the harley spanner wrench. Now im not sure if i did this right of not but i made sense to me. i used the dots at the bottom of the cup and as i tried to turn it counter clockwise it seemed like it was goin to bend the cup???

any help of suggestions would be greatly appreciated

[lhgdale]

Thanks guys, I looked under the shocks last night and it looks like it is on level 1, because it can not go any further counter clock-wise.

I ordered the spanner wrench through harley and I guess I will try a 2 or 3 level settin on the shocks.

Thanks for the help.

[HDDyna2006]

Cost $ 11, the higher the number the stiffer the shocks, had mine at 5 when riding 2 up, 2 when riding solo, heard that tire wears out faster when suspension is stiffer.

[sniper77]

As you are tightening you won't have to worry about getting them too tight, they will jump off the 5 setting down to the 1 setting if you lose count.....lol.