Quick rear shock adjustment question

[Adame]

Hello,

London roads are just in such bad condition, full of potholes, speed bumps etc and seems like my scooter suspension is taking a hit.

So for a bad road conditions, as mentioned above and to get a smoothest ride, should I adjust the rear shock to position 1 or 5? thank you

[MarJay]

Neither, if only it were that simple.

That adjustment doesn't adjust the 'hardness' of the spring, nor the damping. It merely adjusts the 'preload' which is how much the spring is pre-compressed without being pushed up or down by bumps or the road falling away from the tyre. People say it adjusts ride height but it's a tad more complicated than that.

What you should do is to adjust the preload based on your weight, so that with you on the bike the suspension sits at the top of the bottom 2/3rds of travel, so that the suspension can still go down (the bike go up) a 3rd of the travel if the roadway drops away from you.

Sadly it won't affect ride quality. You need adjustable damping for that, which I don't think they do on scooters in general.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Riejufixing]

[Riejufixing]

[martin734]

If you want a smooth ride, don't ride a scooter. Tiny wheels do not work well on potholed roads. If you tried a bike or moped with 17"-18" wheels you will probably notice a huge difference. What model scooter do you have? On some of the Chinese makes, the rear shock is very cheap and nasty with virtually no damping. You could try changing the shock, but depending on how old the scooter is or how long you intend to keep it that might not be really viable.
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Current bike: ST1100 "Big Red"

[weasley]

[xX-Alex-Xx]

This article explains preload pretty well. Preload isn't for adjusting damping or ride height etc (although it does have an effect on ride height), it's for correctly setting sag.

https://lifeatlean.com/teach-me-suspension-everything-preload/
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DILLIGAF

[Nobby the Bastard]

Why are you riding through the potholes? Stick out nice and wide so you've got the room to avoid them.
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Triumph Sprint ST 1050