Rebound Damping Adjustment?

[SSchultz]

Spent half an hour trying to figure it up,I admit I have to give up.Maybe I'm lost somewhere in translation.
In the owner's handbook says that settings are made by turns out from the fully screwed in position.All clear so far.Rider only-6 ,rider+pillion-5 ,then rider passenger and luggage-3.
Well,the problem is:what ''turns out'' stands for?Complete turns out,360 degrees I thought.But it cannot be because it only fully turns 4 and a half times.And it should be at least 6 times.
Well, 180 degrees?The book doesn't say anything about settings going up to 9.
Again,there are some clicks.20-21 of them total.Couldn't figure it out,nothing seems to make sense...british engineering
Bike is a '03 Girly.The owners handbook is 2001.Is it here where the problem is?Any help appreciated

[Chris Canning]

Forget the handbook all that will tell you is it's a triumph Tiger and how not to set the chain tension.

Whats the difference between the two extremes on the settings??,walk round to the back of the bike,lift it off it's side stand,balance the bike and press down on the rack,minimum it'll spring back like a kids pogo stick maximum it will need more effort,the more preload(setting 5 or in your case 41/2) you put on the shock the more compression/Rebound you need to control it(ie slow it down),thats the ajuster at the bottom of the shock with the arrow over the top of the slotted screw.

Just determine what the ajustments do(if any).

What I forgot to say!!,with the number of clicks you discribe it's kaput.

[SSchultz]

I'm afraid you're right..There is no difference between settings,max or min is the same thing.Can easily push it down,not much resistance.
I wanted to adjust it cause I've thought it wasn't set to pillion and luggage.We'we been for a week to Wales early this month.Fully luggage,pillion..noticed significant lowering of the bike.Now...tomorrow morning we're setting off to Scotland for 10days.Again full lugage,pillion.Will it affect in any way the ride?Safety I mean not comfort,have ridden some awful things before.
Thank you

[metalguru]

If it is significant lowering then that points to spring pre-load.
Try winding the pre-load up with the 10mm hexagon adjuster under the saddle.(scale on side of adjuster 1=softest 5=hardest)
If the damping has gone wrong then wind the adjuster screw all the way IN and try it out.
If the damping is shot then caution on bumpy bends as it may get a bit exciting, straight line should be ok to 100 mph!!!

[Chris Canning]

All depends on what you mean by safety,is anything going to break?,that'll be a no,but with a shock pogoing at the slightest bump and with rear of the bike being well down it'll steer like a chopper,ie very slowly,the big plus ignorance is bliss so if you've ridden the bike a distance like it is you'll be non the wiser,when you change the shock you certainley will be.

[SSchultz]

I played with the preload,was already at 5,put it to 1,checked,back to 5,checked.A little difference,but very very little.
Seat moved to highest setting,Scotland here we come!Once back I'll watch the ebay for a second hand suspension .I will need the entire assembly,not just the spring,right?
Thanks again!

[John Stenhouse]

No what you need is an aftermarket shock, oem stuff is crap get something decent and you'll be 10 to 15 mph faster everywhere.

Mine is a White Power, Chris has an Ohlins, if you can get either your laughing.

As far as I'm aware the bike isn't listed in either catalogue anymore, shame! I can't remember what mine was and I tried before to find the receipt, no luck.

[gilly527]

Ok, so let me get this straight...

The rear shock adjustment at the bottom (right below the spring) is preload, right? And the adjustment at the top (under the seat) is the compression?

Stiff for road, i.e. spirited rides... and a little softer for off-road etc?

[iansoady]

No.

The one under the seat is preload ie affects the ride height.

The one at the bottom of the shock is rebound damping (AFAIK there is no adjustment for compression damping). So what that does is control how fast the back end comes up after the suspension has been compressed. Hence Chris's pogo stick description.

BTW I once followed (only for a few miles as it was terrifying) a boxer BMW that must have had no rear damping at all. He was doing 70 on the M42 and the back end was bouncing at least 10 cm up and down. I don't know how he "controlled" it.....

[Chris Canning]

This is were having an older bike is a problem with the fact of who wants to spend big bucks on an aftermarket shock with a bike value of not alot,and why when Tim sold his Wilbers was a true rarity.

There's a Hagon on ebay,but they have had their problems with the bottom bearing seizing.

Their are 3 Shock options Hagon/Hyperpro/Wilbers

Never judge them by price,judge them by spec ie,separate compression and rebound and a remote preload ajuster,yea sure you can buy e'm cheaper with a lower spec,but they'll have liitle resale value,particularly when someone has attacked the ajuster rings with a C spanner!!!.

Alternatively just buy a secondhand unit from a breakers,the problem being early shocks will probably be knackered anyway,and of course the 99/04 units are different from the mag wheel ones.

[Chris Canning]

No what you need is an aftermarket shock, oem stuff is crap get something decent and you'll be 10 to 15 mph faster everywhere.

Sadly I've yet to find a way to get that fact over short of folks buying one,and then it's Eureka!!

[Cos]

This is were having an older bike is a problem with the fact of who wants to spend big bucks on an aftermarket shock with a bike value of not alot,and why when Tim sold his Wilbers was a true rarity.

Meh...i have no plans on selling the big beast, it suits me well. Therefore...buying Tim's shock is the best money i have ever spent on the Tiger. End of story.