I have a second hand tiger sport 2016 model. The adjusting screw for the rear preload was initially stuck but managed to eventually free it with WD40. There appears to be 2 complete turns from the hardest to the softest setting with a click after each complete turn. However the Handbook says the factory setting is 28 clicks back from from the hardest setting - is this correct ? I presume that the correct setting for rider only is a middle setting of just one turn from fully adjusted ?
Follow litteade's advice. Don't forget, pre-load has nothing to do with suspension "hardness" or "softness", that is the job of damping. Preload is to set the suspension somewhere around 30% of its full travel when you are sat on the bike. The heavier you are the more preload you want. If you travel with luggage and two up a lot find out your loaded setting for preload too. You only have to carry out this exercise once for the rest of your ownership and it is so worth doing. If you have too little preload on the rear you may find you are fighting the bike around faster sweeping corners because the bike is raked out and you have too much trail. Find out the suspension travel, it will be in the spec of the bike, e.g. 130mm rear travel (my complete guess, this is just an example, find out for sure). Aim for a SAG of 30% so go for around 39mm. You don't have to exact to the last mm, just aim for that or thereabouts and you at least have a great starting point for preload. Your user manual states: The settings are measured by the number of adjuster 'clicks' out from the fully screwed in position. • The motorcycle is delivered from the factory with the spring pre-load set to 28 'clicks' back from the fully screwed in position. While that doesn't tell you how many clicks in total you will know you should achieve at least 28 from fully screwed in assuming you can tell you are fully screwed in of course!
Thanks for info. After more WD40 managed to turn adjusting screw 5 turns and have set pre-load initially at 2 turns in from fully screwed position. This seems to have improved the ride as it was previously at max pre-load. The rear suspension travel is 155mm giving a sag value of 46mm which I will get someone to help me check when possible. Main issue was freeing up the adjusting mechanism which appears to be cheap and not very cheerful !
My buddy took delivery on a brand new 2019 Tiger Sport, it was locked solid too. I was afraid to turn anymore with my spanner for fear of breaking the flat tab off it was so tight.
