Honda ADV 150 Custom Rear Shock Spring

[Meteorpx]

Hello all

I have a Honda ADV 150 with a stock Showa rear twin shocks with piggyback reservoirs and triple-rate springs with advertised travel of 11.94cm.

The rear shock is really stiff, the actual max travel I get is around 1.50cm with me riding the bike solo (I weight around 75kg).

I started wondering why they put such a stiff spring on this bike (I suppose that's the culprit), limiting the travel like that making it impossible to absorb properly even minor road imperfections.

My idea is to custom order 2 soft springs and swap the springs in the Showa shock (the shock is serviceable like that), with that some concerns come to mind:

- This would increase the movement of the swing arm on the bike, would that be ok or I would be hitting something on the frame or other part? What I should verify first?

- How I would go about determining the spring rate in a way that I have a plush mounted rear shock?

- Is this idea valid or I'm missing something here?

- What are your general ideas on this?

Thanks!

[tereit]

The stock springs sound way too stiff for solo riding. Honda probably did that to handle extra weight when fully loaded, but it ruins the ride when you're alone. Swapping in softer springs makes sense, but you gotta check a few things first. More swingarm movement could mean clearance issues, so make sure nothing hits the frame or fender when the suspension compresses. Also, figuring out the right spring rate is key too soft and you'll bottom out all the time. Your Showa shocks are tuned for the stiff springs, so if there's no damping adjustment, the ride might feel off with softer ones. Best approach is to go slightly softer first and test how it feels before making big changes.