Do you need to put the zip tie on both shocks or is one ok? Im going to go try it and see how it goes before it starts raining

 

One will serve to demonstate how much they compress.

 

I checked and I have approximately 1/4 inch between the bump stop and the zip tie. I have ohlin 6's (HD 927) and the ride is very bumpy. I have the rebound dampening set at the factory setting of 14 clicks and I believe I need to reduce the amount to 12 clicks and see. should I also reduce the compression adjuster a click or two?

 

I am really confused. The Unofficial instructions indicate that the zip tie is an easy way to adjust the dampening. If the zip tie is at 1/4 inch from the bump stop isnt that pretty good and the instructions indicate you want it to be close. the dampening is the only place you wil get your ride quality. I need to adjust something cause the shocks only feel a little better than the stock sg shocks so far.

 

Sorry Bro, I don't know anything about the 6s, other than the additional adjustments make them a superrior technology shock, but also a little more challenging to fine tune. As I understand the zip tie is used to adjust the preload, with the damper set at about midway, after you get the preload close, you have to play with the damper adjustments and maybe the preload some more, they kinda work together. It was my experience that after getting the 3-3s set up for myself, I can simply adjust the sweep valve a couple clicks when I run 2 up, but everyone has a little different results, some require different preload for 2up. After the 1000 mile break-in it took me several months to find the sweet spot, after getting roughed in, my techniqe was small adjustments followed by a lot of ride time on each adjustment.

 

Careful......Howard does not like hearing anything but positive comments.

 

That’s because he knows that anyone who says they perform anything less than stellar is because they are not set up correctly, and he offers his individual attention to every customer to help them get set up correctly, when they elect to do their own thing and get marginal results and post it, I'm sure he gets irritated, and I can empathize because I've experienced some similar issues helping folks with Intiminator modifications. For the folks that can’t tolerate Howard's methodology, just consider the broad spectrum of folks he has worked with over the years and their different levels of mechanical understanding, he has to approach everyone in the same elementary manner to ensure his product gets installed and set up properly. I'm guilty; I took issue with it also until I realized the situation for what it is.

 

I will say a few things that may or may not apply to hog's situation. Pre-load only effects ride height. It does not effect spring rate. If your ride height is set correctly and the free sag indicates that you have the correct spring rate, and you feel the ride is too harsh, leave the rebound alone and lessen the compression damping.

 

Correct, preload does not effect spring rate, the rate is what it is, as the spring was oreded based on a rate that best matches the weight of the rider/platform combination. Preload indirectly effects the height but it has a greater purpose; preload is how much the spring is compressed as mounted on the shock, by adding or subtracting preload to get the spring to match the rider/platform requirement, the goal is to compress it to the point where its resistance matches the rider/platform weight and provides a neutral load condition on the suspension at rest at a predetermined "desireable" sag. I originally set up the "mechanically" correct preload of 1/3 travel and I felt it was too harsh, and I was convinced my springs were too firm, but they weren't, I was getting into the bumpstops because the technically correct preload was "actually" too soft, lacking a little preload. Howard coached me through the zip tie techniqe of adjustment, and I ended up adding a couple turns on the preload collar in order to get me out of the bumpstops. When all was said and done, the ride was right, but the preload ended up being closer to 1/4 travel. I guess the take away is there is no real formula to figure out what the perfect adjustment is, you can get real close with the guidelines available but the final tune comes down to trial and error based on how it feels to the individual.

 

Thanks for the help fabrik8r and qtrracer. I understand that I have not adjusted the shocks properly.