Stock Suspenison Set=up for Moto X
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i would put the preload ring at the top of the shock front and rear (i.e. making the preload softer)... u want to sit as low as possible for MX........ im sure u knew that but just wanted to get the reason through of raising the proload ring
........ as for compression/rebound...... not sure exactly because i havnt seen ur track or seen how hard you ride...... just go to ur track and mess w/ it..... my advice is to bring sumone w/ u (or if u know sumone at the track)....... and give them a stopwatch.... run like 5-10 laps on each set-up and keep messing w/ the compression and rebound until u hav recorded ur fastest series of lap times.... just my $.02 I posted this on here before but couldn't find the thread. This was posted by someone on a thread on Exriders and is pretty helpful:
For a basic shock setup you want to start with ride height. First start out by putting your quad on a stand and measuring the distance from the axle to a fixed place on the frame ( like the grab bar). Then take the quad off the stand, put on all your gear and sit on the bike in a natural riding position and take another measurement. You should use up about 30% of your travel in this sag. If after you set this up and you get off the bike and the spring tops with no sag that means you are going to have to change springs to a stiffer one bc you were running to much preload to compensate for the soft spring. Your sag with no rider should be only about 5% of your travel. A stock 400EX has 9.1" of rear travel. Your ride sag with rider should be around 2.73in more or less depending on setup. ( on MX you may want more sag for handleing were as GNCC may want less sag for clearance).
Now to set up front suspension sag. You want to do the same thing with the bike off the ground and then when you sit on it. The only difference is now you want to have 20% of the travel for sag. A stock 400ex has 8.2" of front travel so sag should be 2.46". Depending on how much travel you get with your a arms and shocks will determine the sag. Shocks with more travel can have more sag. So aftermarket shocks will run more sag and have more travel.
Next is setting up compression. Compression controls how much force it takes to compress the shocks.Compression depends on what type of riding you do. Motocross and supercross may require stiffer suspension while harescrambles, trails and GNCC will require a softer more plush ride. What you want to do is set up the compression so you use all the travel of the shock without bottoming out hard or just barely bottoming. With the setting too soft the suspension will feel mushy and setting it to hard the shocks will feel harsh and you will feel every little bump you hit because the shock isn't absorbing anything. To get a proper compression setting put the shocks on full soft. Gradually ride faster and adjust the shocks so they are not mushy and absorb the bumps. Keep going untill you nake several adjustments and reach your riding level and have the proper compression. it is okay if you bottom on the biggest jumps you do. You want to use all of your travel for the best ride, but dont let the shocks get beat up or damaged.
After you do compression you can adjust the rebound. Rebound controls how fast the shock returns after being compressed. A soft rebound means faster and hard rebound dampning rebounds slower. There are 2 ways to set up the rebound. First find a nice set of whoops. You can either start on full soft or full hard and go through the whoops at a slow pace. Gradually go faster and then adjust the rebound untill you dont get bucked or the shock doesnt pack up. Then go faster and faster while making adjustments untill you reach your riding speed through the whoops with the correct rebound where you dont get bucked or the shock doesnt pack up. Packing up is when the shock hits a bump compresses and then doesnt get to rebound before hitting the next bump and eventually you have no more travel.
That is a basic way to set up your shocks but specific applications will need different tuning.Big indoor Supercross tracks or freestyle riders will need much stiffer shocks from the big jumps and perfectly groomed non rutted tracks and smooth ramps but would not be good on the out door mx tracks because they can not handle the ruts and little bumps with out being very harsh. GNCC quads will need softer compression to soak up the rocks and roots and be plush.
For a basic shock setup you want to start with ride height. First start out by putting your quad on a stand and measuring the distance from the axle to a fixed place on the frame ( like the grab bar). Then take the quad off the stand, put on all your gear and sit on the bike in a natural riding position and take another measurement. You should use up about 30% of your travel in this sag. If after you set this up and you get off the bike and the spring tops with no sag that means you are going to have to change springs to a stiffer one bc you were running to much preload to compensate for the soft spring. Your sag with no rider should be only about 5% of your travel. A stock 400EX has 9.1" of rear travel. Your ride sag with rider should be around 2.73in more or less depending on setup. ( on MX you may want more sag for handleing were as GNCC may want less sag for clearance).
Now to set up front suspension sag. You want to do the same thing with the bike off the ground and then when you sit on it. The only difference is now you want to have 20% of the travel for sag. A stock 400ex has 8.2" of front travel so sag should be 2.46". Depending on how much travel you get with your a arms and shocks will determine the sag. Shocks with more travel can have more sag. So aftermarket shocks will run more sag and have more travel.
Next is setting up compression. Compression controls how much force it takes to compress the shocks.Compression depends on what type of riding you do. Motocross and supercross may require stiffer suspension while harescrambles, trails and GNCC will require a softer more plush ride. What you want to do is set up the compression so you use all the travel of the shock without bottoming out hard or just barely bottoming. With the setting too soft the suspension will feel mushy and setting it to hard the shocks will feel harsh and you will feel every little bump you hit because the shock isn't absorbing anything. To get a proper compression setting put the shocks on full soft. Gradually ride faster and adjust the shocks so they are not mushy and absorb the bumps. Keep going untill you nake several adjustments and reach your riding level and have the proper compression. it is okay if you bottom on the biggest jumps you do. You want to use all of your travel for the best ride, but dont let the shocks get beat up or damaged.
After you do compression you can adjust the rebound. Rebound controls how fast the shock returns after being compressed. A soft rebound means faster and hard rebound dampning rebounds slower. There are 2 ways to set up the rebound. First find a nice set of whoops. You can either start on full soft or full hard and go through the whoops at a slow pace. Gradually go faster and then adjust the rebound untill you dont get bucked or the shock doesnt pack up. Then go faster and faster while making adjustments untill you reach your riding speed through the whoops with the correct rebound where you dont get bucked or the shock doesnt pack up. Packing up is when the shock hits a bump compresses and then doesnt get to rebound before hitting the next bump and eventually you have no more travel.
That is a basic way to set up your shocks but specific applications will need different tuning.Big indoor Supercross tracks or freestyle riders will need much stiffer shocks from the big jumps and perfectly groomed non rutted tracks and smooth ramps but would not be good on the out door mx tracks because they can not handle the ruts and little bumps with out being very harsh. GNCC quads will need softer compression to soak up the rocks and roots and be plush.
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English is not my first language, so can you help me some ? What is "sag" ?
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sag= droop, slump, sink, drop,
the amount the bike drops (sags) down
When your woman satisfier points to the ground after pointing to the sky, it has sagged
Geoff.
the amount the bike drops (sags) down
When your woman satisfier points to the ground after pointing to the sky, it has sagged
Geoff.
cjpoole1,
I took your notes and tried it out on my 04 YFZ'. My type of riding is aggresive trail/Hare Scramble stuff. I'm coming over to ATV's from Racing MX bikes. BTW: nice machine
First the sag. I weigh 180 wet. I start by loosing up the rear shock until I could achieve the proper sag. Couldn't get to 30% with the spring retainers at full up. I got 25% with about 5% sag under no rider. Next I went to the front and also full soft on the springs got me to 15% with about 3% sag.
I went out riding and it was much nicer for GNCC type hare scramble riding. However whenever I hit whoops the rear of the machine BUCKS like a rodeo horse. I tried going both ways on the compression but didn't notice much. Now the whoops are rather large and I am going faster that just a normal cruise. However, I used to run them on my MX bike. But not a chance in heck with the YFZ. I also messed with rebound but "no" luck either.
I would like to know if I need to go even softer on the springs ? And what have other riders experienced ? I put the compression and rebound back to stock and its really nice until you hit whoops. I feels as if the front end falls into the whoops then the rear on the second whoop hits and "bucks" up. I can't keep the front end up. I think the reason the front end is falling into the whoops is because the rear end kicks so hi that the front naturally falls. I know the right feeling. (from racing MX). I have yet to hit any large jumps (none around) but I have not been able to bottom out the suspension on anything.
Do you have any thoughts or known settings ?
I took your notes and tried it out on my 04 YFZ'. My type of riding is aggresive trail/Hare Scramble stuff. I'm coming over to ATV's from Racing MX bikes. BTW: nice machine
First the sag. I weigh 180 wet. I start by loosing up the rear shock until I could achieve the proper sag. Couldn't get to 30% with the spring retainers at full up. I got 25% with about 5% sag under no rider. Next I went to the front and also full soft on the springs got me to 15% with about 3% sag.
I went out riding and it was much nicer for GNCC type hare scramble riding. However whenever I hit whoops the rear of the machine BUCKS like a rodeo horse. I tried going both ways on the compression but didn't notice much. Now the whoops are rather large and I am going faster that just a normal cruise. However, I used to run them on my MX bike. But not a chance in heck with the YFZ. I also messed with rebound but "no" luck either.
I would like to know if I need to go even softer on the springs ? And what have other riders experienced ? I put the compression and rebound back to stock and its really nice until you hit whoops. I feels as if the front end falls into the whoops then the rear on the second whoop hits and "bucks" up. I can't keep the front end up. I think the reason the front end is falling into the whoops is because the rear end kicks so hi that the front naturally falls. I know the right feeling. (from racing MX). I have yet to hit any large jumps (none around) but I have not been able to bottom out the suspension on anything.
Do you have any thoughts or known settings ?
Your not really going to be able to achieve the exact settings with the stock shocks because they probably are valved and sprung for a heavier rider. All oyu can do is get close. I weigh about 150 with gear and can't get ride of the bucking at all with everything turned down so I'm sending my shocks to Derisi to rebuilt.
Cjpoole1,
Thank you, Yes I will probably go with the Derisi revalve.
I'm going to wait until spring/summer when more development has been done. I'm not going to go with aftermarket stuff,. I know these stock shocks are of excellent quality and can be revalved to most anyones needs.
Again, Thanks.
Thank you, Yes I will probably go with the Derisi revalve.
I'm going to wait until spring/summer when more development has been done. I'm not going to go with aftermarket stuff,. I know these stock shocks are of excellent quality and can be revalved to most anyones needs.
Again, Thanks.
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