2008 M50 rear shock adjustment

Check the rear shock absorber and spring. Some bikes have preset 'notches' to raise and lower the ride height. You will need to raise the bike on a SAFE centre lift to take the weight off the rear suspension arm to adjust it. Most bikes have it set to the middle notch as standard. If the shock assembly is still too high you might need to replace the shock And spring to a shorter, stiffer set.

Could have I guess.

Replace the spring with a heavier duty should do the job.
Have you tried adjustments in the spring load to stiffen it up.
The rear shock on your Yamaha V-Star 1100 motorcycle assures that the rear wheel is always in contact with the ground and makes your ride much more comfortable by absorbing road vibration and shock while you ride.

But your shock needs to be adjusted for different riding styles, so depending on whether you ride fast or cruise slowly and how quickly you take turns, you may want to adjust the shock to get the most out of your ride.

1

Remove the passenger seat by loosening and removing the rear passenger seat mounting bolt with a socket wrench.
With the passenger seat removed, you should see two larger rider's seat mounting bolts.
Remove these bolts and pull the rider's seat off of the bike to expose the internals of the motorcycle. 2

Detach the quick-release clips of the ignitor unit found just beneath the seat using a screwdriver. Pull the ignitor unit up and to the right of the bike to move it out of your way.

Remove the mudguard quick-release clips in the same fashion, then pull the mudguard out of the bike to expose the rear shock adjuster. 3

Look for the small numbers on the rear shock adjuster.
On most 2002 V-Stars you should see the numbers 1 to 9 printed on the shock adjuster.

These numbers give you an idea of the current setting of the shock.
The higher the number, the stiffer the adjustment. 4

Loosen the shock by turning the shock adjuster counterclockwise to a smaller number using a spanner wrench.

This makes the shock softer and more forgiving when riding over bumps and uneven pavement, but will feel slower in turns and accelerations.

Tighten the shock by turning it clockwise to a higher number.
This makes the shock stiffer, increasing road response in turns and giving you a better feel of road conditions at the expense of comfort. 5

Replace the mudguard, ignitor unit, rider's seat and mounting bolts, and the passenger seat and mounting bolts.

Take your bike for a ride to feel the difference a turn of the shock adjuster makes.

Your bike has a mono shock. It does have adjustments but it is for ride stiffness not necessarily ride height. But adjusting the rear shock will lower and or raise the seat a small amount. But at the lowest setting the seat height is still 792mm or 31.2 inchs. You may find a shorter shock but it would have to be from a parts search to match.

under seat in front of battery box is your adjustable shock. You can adjust height a lil from there. If your looking for more of a adjustment you can get lowering kit which is pritty much different wishbone on the shock

There is no single "best setting". It depends on you and your riding style. Heavier riders sometimes need a stiffer suspension. Same goes with those that do a lot of "Two Up" riding. Some riders seem to prefer a stiffer suspension because of their riding style. While others want the nice soft ride. The adjustment of the shocks is a personal type adjustment. Just try different positions under different conditions until you find the best for you.

Good Luck
steve

you want to set you SAG which should be around 100 to 110 mm

to check.....with a friend
with bike upright on it on it wheels........no stands or straps take a measurement from the rear axle straight up to the fender and make a mark on the fender so you use the same exact spot, record this measurement.

put on all you riding gear, all of it!!!!!! and sit in your riding position with your feet on the pegs or as mush of your weight as possible on the bike......buddy needed.........take and record measurement from same location

now whats the difference between these 2 measurements....this is your sag, convert inches to mm by multiplying # with 25.4
1.25 inches = 31.75mm

now loosen and adjust your spring preload to achieve that measurement.
YOU MAY ALSO NEED STIFFER OF SOFTER SPRING BASED ON YOU WEIGHT AND RIDING STYLE

There is too much involved to include everything, but I can describe to you what everything does.

You have compression dampening which slows the rate at which the shock or forks can compress. Then you have rebound dampening which slows the rate at which the shock or forks can extend.

The compression adjuster on the rear shock is toward the top, sticking out sideways where the resivoir mounts to the side of the shock. The rebound adjuster can be seen below the swing arm on the side of the shock.

The compression adjusters on the front forks can be seen from the top. (its the one in the center, the other is an air bleed) The rebound adjuster is in the center of the lower fork leg, and can be seen from below the fork.



The settings are measured in the number of "clicks" from seated. More clicks from seated will be softer, and less clicks from seated will be stiffer. The best thing to do is to see where you are now and adjusting from there. I like to write them down as I go. Turn the adjuster clockwise untill it stops and take note of the number of clicks. DO NOT FORCE IT! You should also check your service manual and take note of the standard setting, and also take note of the maximum number of clicks you can go from seated. You dont want to screw the adjusters out farther than the max, shock damage can result.

You might try changing to the standard settings and try adjusting from there. If the bike doesnt ride at least moderately decent at the standard settings, your shock and/or forks may need a rebuild.


Generally speaking more compression dampening in the rear will result in less bottoming but a harsher ride. Less would result in the oppisite.

More rebound dampening in the rear will result in too slow of extension and packing up which will make the bike swap in the whoops, but it will not tend to buck you or throw you into a nose dive over a jump. Less would result in the oppisite.

In the front, more compression dampening will be about the same situation as described above with the shock.

More rebound dampening in the front forks can tend to take pressure off of the front wheel in corners causing washout, but too little can make the bike want to loop out over jumps.