I have Ohlin shocks on my Banshee.

The rear seems to have about 1 inch of sag in it. When I pick the rear end up off the ground, the swingarm seems to sag an extra inch or so after the spring is fully un-coiled.

In other words, when I put the rear back down on the ground, it sinks about one inch before the shock begins to take effect.

Do I need to loosen (de-compress) the spring coil?

There are three thin lock nuts on the top of the shock. Each has a series of grooves in it. How do I adjust the shock so it un-coils the spring, thereby, taking the slack out of the rear?

Can I do this while the shock is mounted on the bike, or do I have to remove it?

Below is a photograph of the shock. Could someone please take a look at it and tell me how to adjust it?

http://www.off-road.com/atv/features..._0011.jpg.html

Thanks!

 

Help!

 

Shocks should have sag unless they are zero-preload shocks, which I believe Ohlin does not make.

1 to 2" is normal.

 

I pulled this of a website awhile ago, and I thought it would come in handy some day.
Hope this helps:

Preload
By turning the large nut at the bottom of the spring you can adjust the springs tension to suit your body weight. To properly make this adjustment you will need to .measure the "ride height sag"....
REAR SHOCK
1) lift the rear wheels up off the ground.
2) With the wheels off the ground, measure the distance from the top center of the rear axle to some point straight above it on the ATVs frame. Write this dimension down.
3) With all your riding gear on plop your butt on the seat with your feet on the pegs in your normal riding position. Then have someone measure the distance again in the same place as the first measurement. The difference between the 2 measurements is called the "ride height sag".
4) Adjust your preload so that your "ride height sag" is about 30% of your total suspension travel. Example: If you have 9" of total travel you should have about 3" of ride height sag.
FRONT SHOCK
Use the same procedure EXCEPT your "ride height sag" should be about 20% of your total shock travel.


Compression
Adjusting the compression of the shock determines how fast the shock "compresses" together. This adjustment should be made according to the type of riding you plan on doing. The real trick here is set the suspension at the point where you use all the travel of the shock without bottoming out hard .
With the setting too soft the suspension will feel "mushy" and you feel like it's "floating".
With the setting too hard, You'll feel every little bump you hit because the shock isn't absorbing the bumps like it should.
You can start by setting the compression at full soft. Ride the ATV for a short while .Then begin to ride over small bumps. Begin to adjust the shocks to absorb the bumps without feeling mushy. As you adjust the compression on the shocks, gradually begin moving up to bigger bumps and jumps. Every time you progress to larger jumps and bumps readjust the shocks. Keep doing this until you reach the point where you have reached YOUR personal limit of bumps or jumping safely while using all the travel in the shocks. (It's even ok if you allow the shocks to bottom out)


Rebound
The rebound adjustment is the setting that determines how fast the shock returns to its normal position.
Setting the rebound at full soft allows the shock to return to full extension more quickly. At this setting the ATV may begin to experience a pogo effect. As the rider speeds over bumps, a shock that returns too quickly may rebound right back up and smack you right in the Butt, sending you right over the handle bars.
Setting the rebound at full hard slows the return of the shock to its normal position. At this setting as a rider speeds over bumps the shocks may not return to position fast enough causing the shocks "pack up". The more the shocks "pack up" The less travel they have until they have a chance to return to their normal position.
The best way to set the rebound on your shocks is to find a set of “whoops”. A series of rolling hills two feet high and six feet apart.
With the setting at full soft, ride through the whoops at a slow pace at first. Then each time you ride through the whoops go through a little faster adjusting the rebound until you reach your fastest comfortable speed and the ATV is returning to its correct position without bucking you off.

 

Barlett Racing and Twinshot:

Thank you very much for the info!!!

I will attempt to make the adjustments as you advised.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond!