Originally Posted by
merlot
when you wind the spring up,you are not compressing the spring
what you are doing is elongating the shock so that the bike sits higher
the spring is taking the weight of the bike and this dosent change so spring compression dosent change no matter what you do
to stiffen the front you need heavier spring or take a coil out of the equation(doc humphries insert)
to raise the front(set static sag) simply wind the spring up which makes the shock longer(compressed spring length remains unchanged)
the trade off here is you must be aware of changes to the camber(i aim for 90 degrees)
BUT...if you're a heavy guy using the wrong spring,the the "dynamic sag"(when you sit on the bike) may still set the bike too low,so no ground clearance still
in this case you fit a heavier duty spring then reset static sag(the height of the bike)
to answer the OP original question"does winding shock up affect alignment?
i set alignment for a real man(140kg) and gave his bike 3mm toe in unloaded
when he sat on the bike i took another shot and got 1.5mm toe in
so yes...lowering the bike causes the front wheels to splay out(toe out)
i now only set bikes with the punter on board and aim for around 1.5mm toe in
Ashphalt Eagle
you need to wind your shocks up(noting camber)then take it to someone who knows front ends(Squared Away?) and get a proper alignment
but get the height right first
russ
ADD. i just had a look at my front shocks(only had this bike a week) and there dosent seem to be much adjustment on these shocks(not like the Elkas)
if you cant adjust height enough then i would say the spring is too weak(sagged)and you may need new springs