dano..........Preload is the most influential adjustment to the bike's ride. The general method of adjustment for a street bike is:
With the bike on the center stand measure the
vertical distance from the rear of the single arm to a place on the rear plastic. The measurement points must remain the same for the exercise to insure accuracy. Say that you measured 17 inches, record. Let's call this measurement the unloaded one.
Then take the bike off the stand, sit on the bike and bounce up and down a couple of times to settle the suspension. With the help of an assistant and the bike balanced measure the distance to the same two vertical points. Let's call this measurement the loaded one.....say the measurement is 15 inches.
You want to keep the difference between the two measurements in the 1" to 1.25", so in this case, the measurement difference is 17"- 15" = 2", you need to add preload by turning the knob in the clockwiise position. I would go 4 clicks at a time and remeasure the loaded dimension until it gets to the desired value. In the opposite case you would remove preload.
The reason for this measurement is that street bikes have approximately between 4 to 4.5 inches of rear suspension travel and you don't want that shock compressed near the bottom of the travel, otherwise when you hit bad pavement or a bump the suspension will bottom out and make the wheel behave like a pogo stick, affecting the control. Also the ride would be extremely soft, uncomfortable and would not inspire rider confidence.
By testing, I have determined that the stock shock preload range is ~ 125 pounds to 325 pounds........anything over the top would require a stronger spring. Based on your weight, I would say that your starting position would be 10 to 12 clicks from the unloaded position. Start counting once the knob feels hard to turn.
Good luck, let me know how you make out
