How do you tune the dampening on the rear shocks to make it softer? Mine are apparently very stiff and i want to soften them up some.

 

The stock units are sealed unless you have fancy adjustable ones. That usually means no damping force adjustments. You can adjust the spring preload if that would help

 

Well that's mildly disappointing.

What will the spring preload do? and how do i adjust that?

 

You spin the adjuster (if equipped) with a spanner.

 

Adjust your SAG. There is a vid on youtube. Check it out.

 

can you link it? I couldn't find it.

 

The owner's manual should cover most, if not all, of the info you're looking for.

 

here ya go. I just went to youtube and searched "adjusting sag on a harley"

 

Chris, very few Harleys ever came with adjustable damping of their suspension, but spring pre-load is adjustable on some if not all models. They should soften up the ride, assuming you have stock shocks. Consult your owners manual, but if you don't have one you can either get one from your local dealer, or download one from the H-D website, go to the Owners tab. If you bought your bike secondhand it may have aftermarket shocks, something that is very common.

 

Thanks for the advice guys!
It does seem that in 2016 of course they changed the rear shocks to newer updated nicer ones.. so i'll keep my eyes peeled for a set, they apparently much nice, i rode a used 2016 and the difference was night and day.