[SDM!]

Can someone please tell me what I need to adjust on my shock? Compression? Rebound? I'm scuffing the tire on the trailing side.

 

[Kiwi Rider]

One of the bonuses of running grooved tyres at the track rather than slicks is that the grooves act as a tell tale indicator of how well your rear shock is performing.

If your getting a raised trailing edge then that means you you dont have enough rebound damping set to slow the action down.

Conversely if you are getting a raised leading edge then you have too much rebound damping applied and the shock cant recover quick enough and it 'packs down'.

It's tempting to wind the adjuster a whole heap one way or the other but two clicks at a time is a better controlled approach and then do a few laps and see how it feels. It may take a few runs before your tyre wears evenly again tho so be patient.

Other than that your tyre looks really good with no tearing.

Have a look at this link on tyre wear: https://lifeatlean.com/motorcycle-tyre-wear-guide/

 

[SDM!]

One of the bonuses of running grooved tyres at the track rather than slicks is that the grooves act as a tell tale indicator of how well your rear shock is performing.

If your getting a raised trailing edge then that means you you dont have enough rebound damping set to slow the action down.

Conversely if you are getting a raised leading edge then you have too much rebound damping applied and the shock cant recover quick enough and it 'packs down'.

It's tempting to wind the adjuster a whole heap one way or the other but two clicks at a time is a better controlled approach and then do a few laps and see how it feels. It may take a few runs before your tyre wears evenly again tho so be patient.

Other than that your tyre looks really good with no tearing.

Have a look at this link on tyre wear: https://lifeatlean.com/motorcycle-tyre-wear-guide/

Thanks brother I will work on it. I have learnt that indeed its just a few clicks at a time. My Ohlins is the cheap one I have to check and see if it has damping on it.

 

[Kiwi Rider]

Thanks brother I will work on it. I have learnt that indeed its just a few clicks at a time. My Ohlins is the cheap one I have to check and see if it has damping on it.

This is what the rebound damping adjuster looks like on my Ohlins shock:



Not to be confused with the compression damping adjuster which looks like this:



Your requiring more rebound damping so that means you need to screw the needle valve in closer to its seat to restrict how fast the oil can flow through.

So if your looking at the adjuster from underneath the bike then you want to screw the black adjuster knob clockwise a couple of clicks.

I think of it the same as turning a sink tap off. The more you turn the tap clock wise the more you restrict the flow of water.

Hope this helps

 

[SDM!]

@Kiwi Rider

Okay when I went to adjust the rebound it was turned all the way up there was no rebound effect at all the rear shock was hard as ****. I think I turned it clockwise all the way down, then turned it counter clockwise 20 clicks and pushed down on the back of the bike, it was rebounding but I think to fast so I went clockwise to turns and left it at 18. Below is the one I turned. I am asking as I really have no clue.



If the bottom one is rebound then this will be my compression?



Thanks for any help your willing to share.

 

[Kiwi Rider]

@Kiwi Rider

Okay when I went to adjust the rebound it was turned all the way up there was no rebound effect at all the rear shock was hard as ****. I think I turned it clockwise all the way down, then turned it counter clockwise 20 clicks and pushed down on the back of the bike, it was rebounding but I think to fast so I went clockwise to turns and left it at 18.

Thanks for any help your willing to share.

Someone who has absolutely no idea what they are doing has been fiddling your knobs! Keep that person away from your bike

Firstly - Yes you were adjusting the right one. But I am now also concerned about what position your compression damping adjuster is in too! Esp as you said it felt really hard to compress when you pushed down on the back of the bike.

The rebound damping is what stops the shock carrying on stroking after it has recovered from a bump. Pogo-ing and wallowing is a classic example of a lack of rebound damping. Typical to bikes built to a price point with cheap suspension. Essentially you are slowing down or controlling the action of the shock.

OK, when you adjust the rebound damping you always start with the adjuster screwed right in (or up in this case)
Then you continue to click it in an anti clockwise direction which is lifting the needle valve off its seat inside the shock and progressively increasing the size of the orifice that the shock oil has to be forced through.

To give you a base figure I've got mine set on 15 clicks out from fully closed. So if your on 18 clicks out then you have less damping than me as your valve is open more letting the oil flow more freely. Does that make sense?

See how that goes for you and adjust from there.

I would be interested to hear what your compression damping adjustment is set to. Count the clicks when screwing it clockwise until it seats. Once you've noted that figure then screw it right out anti clockwise counting the clicks as you go to see what your total amount (range) of adjustment is. Mines 22 clicks. You look to have a different model Ohlins shock though.

Mines set to 11 clicks out so it's in the mid range which I would suggest to you as a good starting point.

Don't do this with the lower rebound adjuster tho as I counted 60 clicks of adjustment on mine! I asked a person in the know about it and he said that probably half of those clicks dont actually make any difference as the valve is fully open after about 25-30 clicks. Hope I haven't confused you!