Adjusting Hagon Mono-shock?

[Grendel]

Silly question but how do you soften the hagon mono shock. The previous owner had it turned up so tight that there is very little damping affect so it’s almost like riding a hard tail bike. I have just ordered a spanner off Hagon I presume I just find what ever bolt the spanner goes around and turn it to the left until everything loosens up?

Basically I have no idea how to do it to be honest so any advice of settings for a 17 stone fella would be great. Failing that anyone near Southampton that could show me would be even better.

[Lutin]

I could be wrong, but I think that you will find that there are two nuts on the shock. One is a lock nut that you should undo first and tighten last. The second nut is the one that the spring butts against, and is the one that you'll want to wind up or down depending.

Make sense???

[Whealie]

Lutin has it about right.
One tightens up once you have the adjustment where you want it.

[piguglyshandydrinker]

You mention that there is very little damping effect.
The damping adjuster is an allen socket sunk within the lower Aluminium mount. Screw in for more damping & out for less about 1/4 turn at a time.

The only other adjustment is spring preload, this effectively adjusts the ride height of the rear of the bike. Adjust so there is a little sag (from fully extended) with only the weight of the bike & about 1 1/2 to 2 inches of sag with rider/loaded & you'll be somewhere near.
I think that the Hagon shock has a little allen grub screw which needs slackening before adjusting the preload.

Phil

[Lumiya]

This is getting confuddled...

Dampening is what stops the bike from and initial forceful rebound and then continualy bouncing once it hits a bump,

Spring preload is how much it forces against the initial bump. (might not be a spring adjustment, could be air on some shocks)

If the bike has no initial give or to much give on the back end then you need to adjust the spring preload,

but if the bike likes to bounce you up and down a lot after bumps and you know that the preload is set right then the dampening needs setting up properly.

[Grendel]

The rear has very little bounce and you tend to feel most bumps you go over so I presume that’s more dampening then?
Put it this way I have to stand up on speed bumps if I want to go over them comfortably otherwise it bounces me upward.

[KirriePete]

The rear has very little bounce and you tend to feel most bumps you go over so I presume that’s more dampening then?
Put it this way I have to stand up on speed bumps if I want to go over them comfortably otherwise it bounces me upward.

Could be:

1. Too much spring preload so it's way too stiff - the bike sits high at the back and barely drops when you sit on it.

2. Too little preload so there's no spring movement left to soak up bumps - bike sits low and sags like an old mattress when you sit on it.

3. Too much damping stops the shock from moving quickly enough to absorb bumps - pressing the back end down gently gives movement, a sudden push is resisted.

From what you say, I'd reckon on 1 - if it's a threaded preload adjuster you should see lots of thread showing opposite the spring - unwind some and see if that helps.

[Lumiya]

I agree with KP, lower the spring tension first so that if you bounce yourself hard on the bike it does give way about 60-70% of the suspension travel.

If the dampening was too low then the back end would feel like you were on a springboard...it would keep going up/down a few times before settling.. To hard and as KP states it would resist a sharp push but allow a slow push.

Normally I'd drop off the dampening and pre-load to minimal, then adjust the spring first and only then adjust the dampening.

[Grendel]

Well just had a go at adjusting the mono-shock i thought just take battery off then found the battery holder seems to also be part of the air box. So i thought I'd try the long bit of metal then hit it routine. The bugger didn't move but after you see the pics you can see it needs A LOT of loosening and explains why it has hard rear suspension. Problem being it's been set like that for years. If there an easy option to loosen it off?

[piguglyshandydrinker]

Look at my previous post above, I mention that there is a grub screw on the collar, that will need to be slackened before braying it with a hammer/bar.
You'll bollox the threads up otherwise.

Look at the shock on the right.

http://www.hagon-shocks.co.uk/images/bigmono.jpg

Phil