PreLoad Adjuster Confusion

Hi everybody! It's a beautiful Superbowl Day here in Northern California. The title of this thread refers to confusion in my head. I've had the St 18 months now. I love it. The suspension has always seemed ....Off.....to me. For example, the front bottoms out and didn't seem to do its part working. Second, the PreLoad Adjuster took 16 clicks to begin engaging. I read thru so many comments regarding PreLoad, yet, something was bothering me in my thoughts. It seemed that for so many that serviced their PreLoad system (some did it quickly, some took longer). Nobody really addressed bleeding thoroughly (probably I missed the comment)........Very important. IMO, if you don't bleed properly, you'll still get immediate clicks when turning knob (1-3) to begin actuating, however, air can be present which is like having air in a brake line, no bueno. I noticed when I removed the adjuster and raised it above the shock, disconnected the fluid line to the adjuster, that when I dropped the line down, there was no fluid in the line......I know that the entire line and adjuster should be filled with fluid......so....let's begin. I poured the fluid out of the adjuster, depressed the piston, filled with 10 wt fork oil. Took the bike off the center stand to force some air out of the line. Cleaned brass line washers (yes, I will look for new ones), and attached the banjo line to the adjuster. Turned knob on the adjuster about Six clicks. Suspended adjuster above shock (I know that you know the air will rise). Waited. Guess what? The adjuster knob rod grew to max extension (air came to the top). Cracked banjo bolt (to bleed air), tightened, and repeated 3x. It takes 2 clicks to obtain pressure. A big surprise was that.......remember my front forks being low/bottoming out? Well the forks grew (extended,rides higher than ever before) and my front end feels so much better. I just wanted to contribute something meaningful to this site which has shared so much to me (being a newbie at owning an ST. Having a PreLoad Adjuster with no air in the system is my maddening goal, lol. Gearing up for a Colorado 2500 mile ride (RT).

Sounds to me like you have this problem licked. Using the preload will raise the rear of the bike and transfer some weight to the front forks. I don't understand why your 'front bottomed out' with the rear sagging too much (i.e. no preload and a heavy rider). No doubt someone else will chime in with an explanation. If you have never changed the fork oil and/or don't know if the previous owner did, you probably should consider doing this - your bike is 12 years old and like most of us out here, not getting a lot younger. IIRC, the stock bike is set up for a 150 lb rider (+gear) and relatively few of us meet that number. Many have had to adjust front sag by installing a longer spacer in the forks to add preload to the springs.

Yeah I went through the same exercise awhile back. Getting the air out is more important than some think.

Now if you want to really improve the ride, correct the front fork sag. Aim for a rider sag of 36-38mm.

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All I know is that the prior owner had new fork seals installed and mechanic used 5 wt fork oil (per receipt)

Terminator2 said:

All I know is that the prior owner had new fork seals installed and mechanic used 5 wt fork oil (per receipt)

Click to expand...

Then you're half way there. There are several postings on setting sag here. The average ST has about 45mm of rider sag which lets the front end compress to much. Getting it up in the 36-38mm range gives you more travel and better control.

Do a little research on suspension sag and you'll understand.

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