We would also advise that once you start making changes it would be smart to take notes as you make a change.  And make these changes one at a time, making adjustments to your shock and fork settings at the same time may lead you to confusion and then the task becomes down right difficult. If you do find yourself in this place of frustration just relax and reset everything back to default and begin again.  You only have a limited amount of range with the adjusters so even if you get far off track don’t worry about totally messing up your bike, its virtually impossible to do through tinkering with your suspension adjusters.

Now with dealing with adjusters you are actually trying to modify the damping effect on your motorcycle. You have two areas of damping.  Your compression damping supports the spring in responding to bumps and loads placed on the bike, actually visible in the upward wheel motion.  Simply put, it manages the rate in which the wheel is able to move upward in relation to the chassis.  On the other end you have rebound damping which is just the opposite, where it controls how far the wheel is able to extend.  It is also good to understand that when making changes to your adjusters you are changing the low speed damping, which affects the control exerted inside your shock or fork over large bumps and during acceleration and braking.  Only a few of your high end shocks will allow you to control high speed damping on your suspension.

The four adjusters that you will be making changes to are called your shock rebound, shock compression, fork rebound and fork compression.  Your owners manual will point you right to where each of these is located on your bike.  From here it is all in your hands to one by one start making adjustment to each individually until collectively you have reached the overall best suspension setting for your desired ride. If you want additional help in getting the setting that is right for you then try searching for suggested suspension settings or a suspension tuning guide for your motorcycle manufacturer.  These types of guides are fairly easy to find on the net and can help you speed up the process of getting to the right amount of turns and clicks that should be made on the adjusters to achieve your optimum ride.