Elka adjustment? 2013 RT-S

[taxmyzer]

Anyone have a video on how to adjust front Elka shocks. I'm interested in knowing how everyone's been adjusting their shocks.

[900Dave]

I dont have a video, but there is an allen head screw on the adjusting collar. Loosen it up a little and use the tool Elka provided with the shocks to stick in the small holes in the adjusting collar. Turn clockwise or counter clockwise depending on your needs. Just make sure you adjust both sides the same.

[zamfield]

You can jack the front up too... Makes it a little easier turning the adjuster ring.

[taxmyzer]

You can jack the front up too... Makes it a little easier turning the adjuster ring.

Yes! I am wondering how many turns on the collar and how many clicks or turns on the dampening knob. Is it 1 to 1?

[900Dave]

Yes! I am wondering how many turns on the collar and how many clicks or turns on the dampening knob. Is it 1 to 1?

Those are two separate adjustments. I do not have the dampening adjustment on mine. If the ride is to harsh or to soft I would adjust the springs for that and leave the clicker alone until you try it. Make one move at a time. Likewise if you feel the spring adjustment is ok adjust the clickers and just remember how far you went with them so you can go back if you do not like the results.

[zamfield]

Not a lot on you and your riding style.

Start off fully put and back off the dampening know 3 or 4 clicks and go for a ride.
Adjust in or out, up or down until you get good feedback.
There's no particular setting amount. It's all on your style, weight, etc.

It may take a few rides to get it feeling right for you.

[Bob Denman]

As I recall; three turns on the adjusters yielded about a one-quarter inch change in the spring length.
Unless the bike feels as if it's "Bouncy; leave the rebound alone.
After all; do you want to spend all day tinkering with it; or all day RIDING it?

[oldgoat]

Call 1-800-557-0552 ext 257 and ask for John Ilkiw. Tell him what Spyder you ride & Elka shocks you have, your weight, your riding style & he will advise you on the spring length to set it to (turning the large ring adjusts this) and the number of clicks from the fully open or fully closed position for the adjusting knob (rebound) .

[zamfield]

Depends if he wants it right!
... Most important part of a decent ride... Other than a decent road of course!

As I recall; three turns on the adjusters yielded about a one-quarter inch change in the spring length.
Unless the bike feels as if it's "Bouncy; leave the rebound alone.
After all; do you want to spend all day tinkering with it; or all day RIDING it?

[spacetiger]

Yes! I am wondering how many turns on the collar and how many clicks or turns on the dampening knob. Is it 1 to 1?

Taxmyzer,

some comments for you:

1. Get the spring correct set for you/how you ride. This means getting the sag dialed in and checking to see that you don't bottom out.

Sag is making sure you have enough preload dialed in. Easiest way is to push the rubber bumper on the shock shaft to the shock body. Then, sit on the bike carefully, then get off. Look to see how far up the rubber bumper is pushed up. If the bumper is moved up more than 20% of the working range, then you need more preload dialed in. That means you need to compress the spring more. Look at the threads on the body of the shock. Count how many threads there are per inch. As you adjust the spring compression, work in equal amounts (2 complete turns on right, and 2 on left). as you get back on the bike and get off, the rubber bumpers should be the same distance from the shock body. When you get this done, your sag is set.

Bottoming. Here, you will have to keep track of where the rubber bumper is on the shock after riding. You do not want it up at the top. You should have about 15-20% of the working range left at the top. Post back if you are running into this situation.

2. Damping. You did not indicate what shock you have, so I don't know what adjustment capability you have. I'm guessing you have at least rebound damping. Post back what you have.

Compression damping: if you have this ability, look at the adjustment so you see which direction to increase or decrease damping. You need paper and pencil here. Starting with the right shock, turn the screw to reduce compression damping. Count how many turns there are until you bottom. Write down that number (like 1 3/4 turns), If you have clicks, count those too. Then turn the screw all the way to the other stop, Count the total number of turns to get to the other end (and clicks too if you have them). You now know the whole range you have to adjust the compression damping. Now do this to the other side making sure you have everything written down. Now to adjust things. I would say for this type of bike, you want as little compression damping as possible. If you are not bottoming out, set your compression damping on the low side. If you have 3 x 360 turns to go from one side to another, then start with 1 full turn from the low side (1 x 360 degree turn from min compression damping). If you do not have compression damping adjustment, ignore this step and move to rebound damping.

Rebound damping: You do the same thing to this rebound adjustment - write everything down. Now, you will do the opposite as you will dial in more rebound damping, so if you have 3 full 360 turns from min to max, then start with 1 full turn from max rebound.

3. Now you ride; and make adjustments if you feel they are needed. As long as you are not bottoming, as long as the ride doesn't feel hash, you can leave the compression damping alone. If there is a hint of harshness, back down the damping a quarter turn or 1 click at a time. Anytime you make changes, write down what you did so you always know where you are. If the bike feels like it doesn't damp out quick enough, then dial in more rebound damping (not compression damping). Again, write down what you did and keep track of this.

4. Post what you do and how it worked out for you - include your weight. This is the value you can add to the board. Hopefully everyone repeats your technique. not what you did. Making suspension adjustments is a personal thing, not what some other guy did.

Jerry

[taxmyzer]

Taxmyzer,

some comments for you:

1. Get the spring correct set for you/how you ride. This means getting the sag dialed in and checking to see that you don't bottom out.

Sag is making sure you have enough preload dialed in. Easiest way is to push the rubber bumper on the shock shaft to the shock body. Then, sit on the bike carefully, then get off. Look to see how far up the rubber bumper is pushed up. If the bumper is moved up more than 20% of the working range, then you need more preload dialed in. That means you need to compress the spring more. Look at the threads on the body of the shock. Count how many threads there are per inch. As you adjust the spring compression, work in equal amounts (2 complete turns on right, and 2 on left). as you get back on the bike and get off, the rubber bumpers should be the same distance from the shock body. When you get this done, your sag is set.

Bottoming. Here, you will have to keep track of where the rubber bumper is on the shock after riding. You do not want it up at the top. You should have about 15-20% of the working range left at the top. Post back if you are running into this situation.

2. Damping. You did not indicate what shock you have, so I don't know what adjustment capability you have. I'm guessing you have at least rebound damping. Post back what you have.

Compression damping: if you have this ability, look at the adjustment so you see which direction to increase or decrease damping. You need paper and pencil here. Starting with the right shock, turn the screw to reduce compression damping. Count how many turns there are until you bottom. Write down that number (like 1 3/4 turns), If you have clicks, count those too. Then turn the screw all the way to the other stop, Count the total number of turns to get to the other end (and clicks too if you have them). You now know the whole range you have to adjust the compression damping. Now do this to the other side making sure you have everything written down. Now to adjust things. I would say for this type of bike, you want as little compression damping as possible. If you are not bottoming out, set your compression damping on the low side. If you have 3 x 360 turns to go from one side to another, then start with 1 full turn from the low side (1 x 360 degree turn from min compression damping). If you do not have compression damping adjustment, ignore this step and move to rebound damping.

Rebound damping: You do the same thing to this rebound adjustment - write everything down. Now, you will do the opposite as you will dial in more rebound damping, so if you have 3 full 360 turns from min to max, then start with 1 full turn from max rebound.

3. Now you ride; and make adjustments if you feel they are needed. As long as you are not bottoming, as long as the ride doesn't feel hash, you can leave the compression damping alone. If there is a hint of harshness, back down the damping a quarter turn or 1 click at a time. Anytime you make changes, write down what you did so you always know where you are. If the bike feels like it doesn't damp out quick enough, then dial in more rebound damping (not compression damping). Again, write down what you did and keep track of this.

4. Post what you do and how it worked out for you - include your weight. This is the value you can add to the board. Hopefully everyone repeats your technique. not what you did. Making suspension adjustments is a personal thing, not what some other guy did.

Jerry

Thanks for reply! I have stage 1+R shocks in the front. I ordered them from Pit Bull so they came pre-set. Most of the time riding is 2-up though I do push a bit when I'm solo so my interest in adjustment is purely out of curiosity. I just can't see having spent all this money for shocks and not playing with them. So far I've adjusted the preload two full turns. I was hoping to get out on the bike today but winds are gusting between 25 & 30 MPH and have errands to run. Hopefully the winds die by this afternoon. I have not played with the rebound knob yet.

[cuznjohn]

Yes! I am wondering how many turns on the collar and how many clicks or turns on the dampening knob. Is it 1 to 1?

you can call elka and they will tell you, but i think it is one to one

[spacetiger]

I just can't see having spent all this money for shocks and not playing with them.

taxmyzer,

Good on you for seeing it this way, you will be rewarded by your efforts.

Sounds like you should bias the spring to perform when you are 2 up and leave it there. Its a bit of a pain to keep changing them to match up solo or 2 up ridding each time. Someone posted that the 2014 Elka's are using Eibach springs rated for 400 lbs/in. Using that as a guide, look at your Elka shocks and measure how many pitch threads there are per inch on the shock body. They are fine pitch threads, so I'd guess it might be 20 (?). That means a single turn to compress the spring is adding 20 lbs of additional preload (400lbs/in x 1/20 in) per shock, so with 2 shocks, you have added 40 lbs of preload. Now that load is along the shock axis, so the actual amount in the up and down direction is about half (keeping things simple) of the 40 lbs, so call it 20 lbs.

I found based on my test, that about half of the riders weight is on the front suspension. That means the passenger weight will be far less on the front axle, I'd use 35% as a guide. So, if your wife weighs 100 lbs, 35 (100 x 0.35) will be on the front axle. So, you can see if the pitch is 20 threads per inch, you'll need about 2 full turns. This lets you estimate how many turns to try on your first adjustment.

When you set the preload, you should push the rubber bumper down to the shock body, then have your wife get on, then you get on. Try not to bounce the bike getting on. Then you get off followed by your wife. Look at the rubber bumper and see how much it has moved. You will be shooting for about 20% of your working range (by the way, post back what your working range of the shock is - it is equal to the distance from the top of the rubber bumper, when pushed down onto the shock body, to the top of the chrome shaft. I'd guess it is 2" or as much as 2.5"). If you are using more, you will have to compress the spring more. If you want to qualify for nurd status , Collect 2 data points and you can make a graph to project how many turns you need. You data will look like:
current position // sag distance (for 2 people)
First data set = 0 and 0.5"
Then make 2 turns of the preload stopper, so
Second data set = 0.10" and 0.45" (remember 1 turn = 1/20 if you have 20 threads per inch. Also, you should see the initial gap decrease as you add more preload on the springs)
Plot those data points, and you use the slope of a linear curve fit to figure out how many turns to set the sag. If you can't do the plot, post the info and I'll do it for you and give to earned credit for nurd membership.

Do this and I'll help you get this done, then we'll tackle the other settings.

Jerry

[spyderyderjim]

Anyone have a video on how to adjust front Elka shocks. I'm interested in knowing how everyone's been adjusting their shocks.

Your Elka stage 1+ rebound front shocks for 2013 RT-S you bought from Len at Pitbull Powersports, should be set up spot on for your riding; Len is really good at adjusting Elka shocks!!
Elka shocks are simple to adjust for your own riding style.
You have increased 2 turns on spring pre-load, just turn rebound screw in 5 clicks clockwise stiffer dampening to go with increase in spring pre-load).
Go out & ride the curves to see if it feels more planted in corners!!
(The Elka springs are 10" long 325# for your 2013 RT-S that Len probably set with 1/2" pre-load (9 1/2" spring length, 25 clicks rebound dampening).
Ground clearance at front of RT-S is 4.5" to 5".

(Oh, the 2014 Spyder RT-S Elka front shocks have 400# Eibach springs because of 60# heavier front with 1330cc motor).
Enjoy.
Jim