I FINALLY got to ride my bike in real dirt with no snow so that I could let 'er rip and check out the rebound dampening, hard anodized shock body and midvalves installed by Jeremy at MX Tech. The trail conditions today were moist sandy single track- well wide enough for a quad so not real tight. Plenty of whoops and braking bumps, roots, stumps and mud. I must say I got the bike working pretty well. I took off and had some front end washout problems so I (heh heh) turned the front dampening firmer about a quarter turn. ( it didn't seem to click) and viola the front set up real nice in the corners and the wash out went away. I clicked the rear firmer once more on rebound adn the bike still tracked true in the whoops and allowed me to really hammer them and into the braking bumps with speed and confidence. I'm no Mike Lafferty but for me it was confidence inspiring and I think I was moving faster today than ever before. It was real nice to have the tunability in the forks, and set firm then still sucked up ruts, stumps, roots and hammered the whoops. I know this is not a real thorough report but some have been asking me how I liked the job Jer did and until today I've not been able to ride with any speed. I know I was much faster than my ride 2 weeks ago thats for sure. Recommended but not cheap.
MX TECH Bumpstick report
- Thread starter Fred T
- Start date
Jim Crenca
LIFETIME SPONSOR
- Mar 18, 2001
- 509
- 0
Fred,
My Forks ship from Jeremy in 2 more days, & I've been wondereing about a dial in proceudre. I'm assuming that they will be in the ball park out of the box but am unsure where to go regading fine tuning & shock adjustment. Any quick & dirty suggestions? I'm looking for the basic set up ideas as you would explain to a novice on jetting.
My Forks ship from Jeremy in 2 more days, & I've been wondereing about a dial in proceudre. I'm assuming that they will be in the ball park out of the box but am unsure where to go regading fine tuning & shock adjustment. Any quick & dirty suggestions? I'm looking for the basic set up ideas as you would explain to a novice on jetting.
- Thread starter
- #4
Jim
Jer sends them pretty close, but in my case I ended up clicking them firmer. I've read his Off Road Tuning Guide so many times I think I can recite it by memory. It's good to remember the things he says as you get a feel for the bike and think about what it is telling you as you ride. I suggest you go as firm as you can before the bike bucks in the rear and feels harsh in front. This is my preference because if you hit something ugly at speed you have a chance of surviving it and the MI whoops are something special. I ended up 1 click firmer on shock compression and 2 clicks frimer on shock rebound. I just added another click to rebound this past ride and the rear end hopping in the breaking bumps went away and I'm not having any trouble getting the rear wheel to stay connected as I exit the corners either. I ended up 1 click firmer on fork compression and 1 click firmer on rebound. (I may end up with another click firmer on rebound yet on the forks) This is due to me still trying to get the front end to track true in sandy big bermed corners while on the pegs through the turn, and adding rebound to the front keeps it from washing our but it might be a wheel base problem instead. I still can feel the shock bottom occasionally so I know I'm good on stock spring size and I run a .44 on the front which may be firm for some rocky rooty riding but Iv'e been surprised when I intentionally hit roots to see what happens and it kinda gives you a slight and gentle jolt through the bars but really just floats right over top of them with no deflection. (I have a WER too though) I want my nose to stay up so I can rip through the whooped our trails we have here. I rode 52 miles on Saturday with zero arm pump so I know I'm not too firm up front, which was a concern after my last ride when I was in survival mode for the first 12 miles-thank god for an early lunch break that day! Arm pump went away after lunch. I hope this is what you were looking for, but keep in mind I've really only had the bike out once where I could even try to go fast and this was what I ended up after the first ride, I may find out more the next time out. Did you get the rebound adjustment and midvalves too?
Jer sends them pretty close, but in my case I ended up clicking them firmer. I've read his Off Road Tuning Guide so many times I think I can recite it by memory. It's good to remember the things he says as you get a feel for the bike and think about what it is telling you as you ride. I suggest you go as firm as you can before the bike bucks in the rear and feels harsh in front. This is my preference because if you hit something ugly at speed you have a chance of surviving it and the MI whoops are something special. I ended up 1 click firmer on shock compression and 2 clicks frimer on shock rebound. I just added another click to rebound this past ride and the rear end hopping in the breaking bumps went away and I'm not having any trouble getting the rear wheel to stay connected as I exit the corners either. I ended up 1 click firmer on fork compression and 1 click firmer on rebound. (I may end up with another click firmer on rebound yet on the forks) This is due to me still trying to get the front end to track true in sandy big bermed corners while on the pegs through the turn, and adding rebound to the front keeps it from washing our but it might be a wheel base problem instead. I still can feel the shock bottom occasionally so I know I'm good on stock spring size and I run a .44 on the front which may be firm for some rocky rooty riding but Iv'e been surprised when I intentionally hit roots to see what happens and it kinda gives you a slight and gentle jolt through the bars but really just floats right over top of them with no deflection. (I have a WER too though) I want my nose to stay up so I can rip through the whooped our trails we have here. I rode 52 miles on Saturday with zero arm pump so I know I'm not too firm up front, which was a concern after my last ride when I was in survival mode for the first 12 miles-thank god for an early lunch break that day! Arm pump went away after lunch. I hope this is what you were looking for, but keep in mind I've really only had the bike out once where I could even try to go fast and this was what I ended up after the first ride, I may find out more the next time out. Did you get the rebound adjustment and midvalves too?
Jim Crenca
LIFETIME SPONSOR
- Mar 18, 2001
- 509
- 0
Thanks Fred,
When you say 1 click firmer, is this from stock or from your previous setting? I just have a re-valve & spring change coming as I don't want to put too much cash in a 1994 (old frame) model. I'll have to brush up on the Tuning Guide and maybe tape some notes to the gas tank! I'll let you know the results in a couple weeks.
When you say 1 click firmer, is this from stock or from your previous setting? I just have a re-valve & spring change coming as I don't want to put too much cash in a 1994 (old frame) model. I'll have to brush up on the Tuning Guide and maybe tape some notes to the gas tank! I'll let you know the results in a couple weeks.
- Thread starter
- #7
Jim
I went 1 click firmer from where Jer set them. I don't know where they are from stock. Jer sets them according to what you tell him about your size, style, skill level and what you ride it on. He makes it set up to a great starting point. I just tweak it from there. You are going to love your forks but don't expect to get on the bike and be immediately impressed in 2 minutes. What you will notice over time as you ride is that bike will not do as many nasty things and will just feel smoother up front. You will get less deflection and feel better about being in control. Good Luck!
I went 1 click firmer from where Jer set them. I don't know where they are from stock. Jer sets them according to what you tell him about your size, style, skill level and what you ride it on. He makes it set up to a great starting point. I just tweak it from there. You are going to love your forks but don't expect to get on the bike and be immediately impressed in 2 minutes. What you will notice over time as you ride is that bike will not do as many nasty things and will just feel smoother up front. You will get less deflection and feel better about being in control. Good Luck!
If your frontend is washing out, or if it bounces up to quick after hittig a bump,then your reb is to quick. Slow it down 1 or 2 clicks at a time till it quits, then stop. Rearend kicking up over a bump, jump or wiggling in a turn as you lay it over, reb is to quick also. turn in reb clickers 1 to 2 clicks till it quits kicking you. Once you have the front and rear settled down then you can fine tune it to your likeing
- Thread starter
- #10
A couple suggestions
That can be one of 2 things. Either too much compression damping or not enough rebound. Try adding a click or 2 of rebound and if it stops hopping then great. If not then take the rebound back out and and try 2 clicks less on compression.
That can be one of 2 things. Either too much compression damping or not enough rebound. Try adding a click or 2 of rebound and if it stops hopping then great. If not then take the rebound back out and and try 2 clicks less on compression.
- Thread starter
- #12
Hard to answer
because anyone that has had their suspension done by Fredette will probably not want to spend the money for MX Tech so I doubt anyone can answer your question. I guess if you are unhappy with your bike then you may want to try it but if you are happy leave it alone. You may also want to just call Jeremy and ask him about the differences he sees and he will probably be honest and tell you if it's worth it. I can tell you I am very pleased with all the work Jer has done for me.
because anyone that has had their suspension done by Fredette will probably not want to spend the money for MX Tech so I doubt anyone can answer your question. I guess if you are unhappy with your bike then you may want to try it but if you are happy leave it alone. You may also want to just call Jeremy and ask him about the differences he sees and he will probably be honest and tell you if it's worth it. I can tell you I am very pleased with all the work Jer has done for me.
