Shock adjustment from side to side

[canamjhb]

I'm looking for confirmation from those who have shock adjustment expertise. My Elka shocks were sent to me needed adjustment. My only concern is making sure that the shocks are preloaded the same from side to side. What I have done is measured the distance from the top of the threads to the top of the adjustment collar with a caliper and adjusted the shocks to be the same. Is this the correct way to do this?

[4 MARIE]

short of having a spring compression tester, you are going to be pretty close.
People also count threads.
Why are your shocks at different preload in the first place ? If you don't mind me asking.

[Chupaca]

Well one really. If they were both preset the same (and you trust them) the count the turns on the adjusters. But you already did the second way and best way. Your probably more accurate as many just use a tape measure. Close works here...

[papanorm]

I have counted the turns on my Elkas to adjust and they are spot on using this method.

[oldguyinTX]

This seems to be a fairly common problem with Elkaa, that is when you receive them they are not set up correctly even though Elka asks you about your riding style, how much you weigh, and if you ride two up, how much your passenger weighs. Yet they still sometimes come set up incorrectly.

[canamjhb]

Thank you all for the responses. When I got my shocks back from being rebuilt (a long story) they were not preloaded the same. One side was obviously stiffer than the other. Using a measuring tape, I found there was about 3/8 inch difference in preload. I adjusted as close as could using the tape measure. Got a set of calipers to check and found I was one turn off from being the same distance on both shocks. After getting the preloads set the same, then I plan to complete the shock set up. Just wanted to make sure I was going about this in the correct way.

[Bob Denman]

Counting the visible threads is about the most accurate way to set the preloads to the same amount.

[canamjhb]

Counting the visible threads is about the most accurate way to set the preloads to the same amount.

Thanks Bob. I tried that using a sharp pointed instrument. There are, like, 100 threads and my pointy thing just kept skipping a thread or two making it difficult to get an exact count. So, what I did is locked in the distance of the most preloaded spring on a set of precise calipers. Then going to the other side, the caliper was just a tad too wide. So I added one turn of preload and obtained a perfect fit. Since day one I have been fighting the steering, especially in higher speed sweepers. I was getting a lot of lateral instability. Went for a good ride today. The bike is now a stable as I can ever imagine. I guess little things like having unequal spring preload can have big effects..... I like my spyder a lot more today.