2006 YZ250 settings?

[bandityz250]

I was wondering if anyone had some good sand settings for your stock 2006 YZ250? I am an A rider weigh 180lbs and usually ride hard pack. I recently have been riding sand due to the wet weather and can't find a good fork/shock setting. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[NO HAND]

Usually in a sand track, it takes a few clicks in on compression and rebound. Take your time, take a flat blade screwdriver with you on the track and go one click at a time. I usually end up with 2 more clicks on compression and sometimes 1 on rebound.

 

[christopher in tam]

Well I ride mainly MX here in florida (lots of sand). I weigh 170 without gear. I ride clay tracks with lots of jumps and braking bumps and also sand tracks with lots of whoops and large rockers that is very demanding on the suspension. But I do find some time in the woods when possible, although I dont focus my settings to the woods.

All clicker settings are referred to from the fully wound in (clockwise) position. So if its 10 clicks, thats 10 clicks out (counter clockwise) from the fully wound in position.

Forks:

compression, 10 clicks out

rebound, 4 clicks out

Fork oil level (outter chamber), 340 ML (can very depending on your weight)

Forks slide up in the clamps to 8mm (which is 3mm higher than the index line on the forks, as seen in the picture on this link http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b61/itzbouttimefool/Picture229.jpg )


Shock:

Race Sag, 102mm (measured from axle straight up to fender, not the seat bolt)

compression, 8

rebound, 4

High Speed compression, 5/16th of a turn out (from all the way in) which is basicly a hair more than a quarter turn out.

Here are some explanations and notes of why I settled on some of the settings used.....

Rebound at 4 clicks out fork/shock: The bikes fork & shock has a natually fast rebound, so fast that with stock settings it makes the rear feel unstable at times, and the front want to understeer under throttle. Also can seem to feel bouncy on big jump landings. When turning the rebound clickers in better things dont start happening untill around 6 clicks out. I found the fork and shock feel best at 4 clicks out, it feels much more stable and planted.

Fork oil level (outter chamber): The forks have a great feel and nice firm yet smooth ride through most of the stroke but they will still reach bottom reather easy in stock trim. The manual says the minimum fork oil amount is 300ml and the maximum is 380ml, with 340ml being the standard amount. Assuming the bike comes stock with 340ml since the manual claims its the standard amount but I found mine to be right at 300ml (minimum amount). That explains why it bottoms in stock form. I added 5ml at a time per fork leg untill the harsh bottoming was gone, yet still being able to reach the bottom meaning I am using the full stroke. For me (170 pounds) it likes 340ml (surprise, thats the standard amount that the bike should have come with!).

Fork height in clamps : In the stock position (which is with the forks flush with the fork caps mounting flange) the bike corners badly (and the fast stock rebound setting doesnt help any). I first moved the forks up the clamps to the 5mm mark (index mark going around the fork leg) and this helps alot but was still far from being nimble in the corners. It still wanted to stand up and shoot straight as soon as throttle is applyed, and if you laid it lower to battle this trait then the rear would slide out easy. So I moved the forks up further and tried different settings. I found 8mm to give the bike crisp handling that allowed me to get in the throttle hard in mid corner without it standing up or sliding out. And the nice part was it lost almost zero stability.


Shock Race Sag: Mags say to run 105mm and the manual claims 100mm. 105mm is way too low and left the bike jumping front end high too often. I always start at 105mm and work my way up (down in numbers) untill I find the best balance in the chassis. 102mm was the best all around setting, has good stability yet is still agressive in the corners and on the faces of jumps.

High Speed compression: (hex head on the top of the shock) With the stock setting the rear end felt good on little chop but would blow through its stroke on larger hits, hitting the bumper too quickly and then transmitting all that energy to the rider in the form of a kick. At 5/16 of a turn out (from all the way in) the rear end has a smoother transition from low speed to high speed hits, is much more predictable, and feels much more balanced with the forks. Also helps with the problem of the 06 YZ250's jumping front end high.

Low speed compression fork/shock: I look for the setting that gives good feedback to the rider (nice to know what your wheels are doing) without being harsh or too firm.

 

[bandityz250]

Thanks, thats some good info to play with...

 

[DH41]

I wouldn't recomend raising the forks in the tripple clamps for sand riding, it willl make the bike steer sharper, and will have a negative impact on stabilty in sandy conditions.
Dan

 

[christopher in tam]

I wouldn't recomend raising the forks in the tripple clamps for sand riding, it willl make the bike steer sharper, and will have a negative impact on stabilty in sandy conditions.
Dan

That is true in most cases... however the YZ250 strong point is stabilty and its weaker area is cornering. Going 5 to 8mm high on the forks doesnt take much stabilty away from the YZ but it does help the cornering big time.