That's a good point, I'm guessing you wouldn't want a downward force or a upper pull on the shock while trying to adjust at least once you get past a few turns anyway, since you certainly can't pull out a floor jack on the side of the road.
I'm still suprised nothing instruction wise in the box, have you guys checked the website for a help/how to file, maybe all part of keeping production costs to a minimum, print it off the website. There would have to be more than just guess work involved in setting these up.

 

No the spring is putting tension on the adjuster nut and the friction makes it hard to turn, I think. So releasing as much tension as possible (wheel bearing no weight) should make the nut easier to turn. I wonder if some lube, perhaps silicon, between the spring and retainer would help. Otherwise its a call to Ricor.

 

With no weight on the shock measure the distance the piston rod sticks out of the shock between the shock body and the bump stop and there is your travel. It may help to loosen the preload adjuster and lube the the threads with some silicon grease. Set the preload to 1/4 of the travel and try it.
CB

 

There is a lot of suspension advise out there on setting up your shocks correctly for your preferences. No one is going to be exaclty the same. I have found XLXR on the Sporty forum to be very helpful in his advise to others. Not the same bike but the method is the same. A cut and paste from his first 7 pages of suspension below that you may find helpful


SHOCK PRELOAD

Setting the shock preload is the next adjustment to work with. The preload adjuster is the collar under the spring that has different notches in it. Turning the collar upward with the special spanner wrench shortens the spring and that makes it stiffer Turning the collar downward lengthens the spring to make it feel softer.

In theory, the standard springs are for a 185 lb rider. If you weigh more than 185 lbs, you need to increase preload to stiffen the spring. If you weigh less than 185 lbs, you need to decrease preload to make the spring softer. If you add a passenger, you will probably need to move the adjuster collar to make the spring as stiff as possible.

If the ride feels harsh and does not use all the shock travel, reduce preload. If the ride feels soft and bottoms out too much, increase preload. Some shocks may have a threaded adjuster, or have the adjuster on top of the shock (like Ricor's)

“Bottoming out” happens when the spring is too weak for the rider’s weight and the shock compresses through all the suspension travel when hitting big bumps in the road. If you have the preload adjuster set to max stiff, and you still bottom out, you need a stiffer spring.

“Topping out” is opposite of bottoming out. Topping out is when the shock fully extends and hits metal to metal when the bike is thrown up into the air over bumps. Topping out can feel as rough as bottoming out. Topping out can be caused by too little rider sag due to too much spring preload and/or too little rebound dampening.

In general, you want the shock to bottom out softly when you hit the biggest bump you ever hit. That way, you know you are using all the shock travel you available. You never want to bottom out so hard you break something or hurt your back.

A plastic tie around the forks or shocks can be an important suspension tool. If you put a plastic tie on a fork or shock, and then observe different kinds of bumps, you can learn a lot about how your suspension reacts to different road conditions. For bikes with gaiters on the forks, you will have to figure out a way to hold them up in order to use a plastic tie on the fork.

RIDER SAG AND PRELOAD of FORKS AND SHOCKS

Setting rider sag in the forks and shocks is one of the first things you must do for proper suspension tuning. Rider sag of the shock is generally measured vertically, from the axle straight up to the fender. Rider sag of the forks is generally measured parallel to the forks, not vertically as with the shocks.

If you jack the bike up so the tires are in the air, the suspension is fully extended. As you lower the bike and put weight on the suspension, the suspension compresses a bit. That is called bike sag. If you then sit on the bike, the suspension compresses even more. That is called rider sag.

Rider sag is the distance the forks or shocks compress when the rider is sitting on the bike. Generally you want the forks and shocks to compress 1/3 to 1/4 total travel when you sit on the bike. Nightsters and Lows with short travel suspensions, need to have rider sag set at the minimum in order to maximize usable travel. Roadsters can usually get away with a little extra rider sag because they have more suspension travel.

Changing spring preload changes rider sag. More preload stiffens the spring and reduces rider sag, less preload softens the spring and increases rider sag. Shock rider sag is set by turning the adjuster. Fork rider sag is set by changing the length of the preload spacer inside the forks.

The absolute minimum fork preload you can use is whatever length is needed to take up the space between the top of the spring and bottom of the fork cap when the fork cap is screwed all the way down and the forks are fully extended. This will keep the spring from bouncing around inside the forks.

Another consideration is after 15,000 miles or so, the springs may lose a bit of tension, which is normal. If that happens, you may have to increase the length of the preload spacer a bit to compensate and get back to the orginal sag you wanted. Eventually, the springs may get so weak, no amount of preload will help. Then you have to get new springs.

http://xlforum.net/vbportal/forums/s...d.php?t=552795

The entire post is here..

 

Hal, are all the Ricor springs on the dyna the same, or do they differ by the weight of the rider and the type of tune we specify?

Thanks

 

They differ in three ways. Weight tune and length. The shorter shocks require a stiffer spring.

 

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here's the way I do the initial sag. real easy..........
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turn the top spring collars to just capture the spring
and be sure you have this equal on each side.
this can be done on the bench.
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first two pix, the machine is in the air, tire hanging, shocks are fully extended.

keep an eyeball peeled and pointed there on the pipe side.

on my machine the lower shock mount is very close to the pipe when extended......
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above and below you see I stand a rule on the swingarm, right above the axle.

piece of tape on the strut, with a witness mark.
the red arrow is pointing at the witness mark.

write down the position of the witness mark. in this case it is at zero.
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now next two pix, the machine is back on the ground with the rider weight on the seat.
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my shocks are thirteen and a half inches.

turn the top spring collar to the sag you want to start with.

in my case I started at about an inch and a quarter. red arrow.

I put a very small peen in one of the spring collar flutes
cause you may be making some adjustments when you ride it.
for example - passenger and/or gear on board.
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I probably left something out. let me know..................
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Ditto on the hard to turn adjusters. A bit of oil or lube will help some but it gets stiff alright.

 

I haven't had any problem turning the adjusters even with the bike just sitting at the curb. I had to crank them down about one third the length of the barrel to get the sag right. I was feeling a little unsure of that, but seeing Mud's picture, he's got the same adjustment in. Once they're adjusted, they're great shocks. I took one of my favorite corners 'way hotter than normal and it felt glued to the road. (Normally, when I get the bike leaned over and put the power to it, the suspension squats a bit. I don't feel that at all with these new ones.)

In asnwer to the questions, no -- there does not seem to be any installation guide or documentation on the web site. At least I couldn't find any. I guess the tech manual is the little blue tags.

You don't have to buy a special spanner to adjust the preload, it's just the machining of the rings that make it look like there ought to be one.

I'll have to ride the shocks for a while before I could give a grade on them, but in terms of out-of-the-box support, I give Ricor a D.

I see "Ricor Shocks" chimed in about the spring types. Any comments on the choice not to provide an instruction sheet? Is one in development or do you think this is something just everyone should know how to do?

 

I was so busy yesterday at work I didn't have time to email Ricor's support. I didn't have time last night to work on trying to get the sag correct either. I am sure I have it adjusted less than the 25% suggested close to 20% with my crude measurement which would give me more travel and should bottom less.

If I have time tonight I will loosen the adjusters all the way try a little silicone oil on the adjusters. I will also remove one and put enough weight on the bike to figure out my bottom measurement and top measurement using Mud's measuring procedure. I should then be able to get an accurate idea of where my 25% really is. I will set it at 25% using that method and give you an update.

I did ride to work yesterday and the 9 full turns instead of 7 on the adjusters felt better on a couple of big bumps that usually cause bottoming on previous rides. Well it also caused the butt to come slightly off the seat on another bump. That bump would usually cause that on my previous shocks.