Can anyone advise me on the correct settings for an AST shock fitted to my S1 Lightning Strike fitted with an X1 swinging arm. With my bike gear I weigh 12 stone, mainly do A roads at a fair lick.

_________________
Thread Killer

Lamb built FXR
Lamb Honda XL600 street scrambler
1998 S1 Lightning Strike
KTM 690 Duke
Moulinex Kitchen Mistress blender

The easiest thing to do is identify what is wrong with it first.

_________________
08 Specialized Langster

standard settings for the AST rear shock as fitted to my 2001 M2 are as follows-

15-20 mm preload ____compression of spring wound on by adjustable platform.
Compression 4 clicks from softest(-) of 15___adjuster behind spring platform.

on the remote oil canister
High speed rebound 5 clicks from soft(-) of 11____the larger adjuster.
Low speed rebound 4 clicks from soft (-) of 14___ the small adjuster.


This shock may be the same as yours, my later M2 uses the same swingarm as the X1.
Also, make sure the adjusters on the canister are not fouling/touching the end of the shock body, the standard clamp can twist and allow this to happen.

Although not much use for you as i'm around 17 1/2 stone kitted up (plus i have a tank bag), i have the settings-

18mm preload ( amount of threaded shock body exposed behind spring platform).
Compression 6 from soft.
High speed rebound 7 from soft
Low speed rebound 7 from soft

After a little fiddling with settings, this is a good compromise for the roads i like to play on.

Most importent bit is the spring itself .....AST do tend to fit too hard a spring as standard .....have my preload wound right off and compression damping on minimum and it is still too hard on normal roads solo............even with Harry on the back (he's 13 ) it is still too hard. And yes i know I need to change the spring

_________________
2001 X1 2009 1125CR 2006 Uly X3 2010 Uly a fully Maz'd S1 and a 1991 RS1200 Westwind.

Well said Kev, find the weight of your spring you have fitted first then sort your preload out. On the damping side only one of the two rebound knobs work(the small one) the large makes no difference("just looks cool" in Ronnies words). Most AST shocks are over sprung and over damped, I`ve spoken to Ronnie about this on numerous occasions but as he`s drunk most of the time it`s a waste of time I`m hoping he takes his van with his bench and tools etc to Croix so he can do some re-valving but thats unlikely if you weigh 12 stone kitted up,you`ll need around a 65-70kg spring, anymore than that and it will be too hard, doesn`t matter what knobs you twiddle you`ll be wasting your time and confusing you brain.
Happy to help if you are in the Norfolk area.

_________________
I don't own a car.

Guys,
Thanks for taking the trouble to reply, valuable advice I can use!

_________________
Thread Killer

Lamb built FXR
Lamb Honda XL600 street scrambler
1998 S1 Lightning Strike
KTM 690 Duke
Moulinex Kitchen Mistress blender

You are a real friend,watch your brake lever when I overtake you in a LH corner @ croix

_________________
www.RocketRon.nl

See you tomorrow mate

_________________
I don't own a car.