Need help on suspension setup for the woods.

[KawiRider]

Hi,
I have a question about the compression and decomression settings. I ride in the sandy trails in southern New Jersey. I have the stock springs in my 1998 YZ 125. I weight 155 with all my gear on. I know that I should ride and adjust while riding, but I would like to know what settings I should start out. I am looking for it to be a bit softer in the woods. I know that without revalving it, it won't be extremely plush. I do not have money for new springs or revalving, so your inputs are very appreciative. I am a faster rider, and I am very aggressive.
-Thank you

 

[dell30rb]

soften up on the compresson clickers, and lower the fork oil level.

Set sag.

 

[KTM Mike]

dell...while what you suggested would soften things up a bit...I think that is exactly opposite what would be best for sand (I am far from an expert on this topic though) Wait a while...soon a real expert (unlike me!) on this stuff will reply!

 

[KawiRider]

Thanks for the replies. I hope someone that is an expert can tell me what to do. I need to get ready to set my suspension up for the hare scrambles. If you can help, I would really appreciate it.
-Thanks

 

[John Curea]

Kawi

For aggresive sand riding I would reccomend stiffen up all clickers on the fork and shock except for the rebound on the fork, that I would back out and speeed up the rebound action on the fork.

We want to quicken up the fork rebound to prevent a diving situation in between the tops of the whoops. When we have the rebound set up fast, we get the fork extended quickly to just touch the tops of the whoops. If the rebound is too slow the bike will have a tendancy to drop in between the whoops requiring the rider to keep pulling back on the bars to prevent the front end from dropping.

We want a lot of fork compression to prevent the fork from going to far into the travel to begin with.

In my opinion, watching a good sand rider handle the whoops is way cool.

Take Care, John

 

[KTM Mike]

Excellent Description of Sand Set up

John

Great, concise explantion of set up for sand and whoops! It took me forever to figure that out...and I never figured out how to describe it!:)

 

[KawiRider]

Thanks John for the excellent reply. I really appreciate it. So you are saying, to put my clickers all the way to Stiff? Also, the rebound is on the bottom of the fork? Sorry about all of the questions, but I am not used to suspension. Will this make my ride in the tight stuff harder because it is more stiff or will it be better? Are you a woods rider or a mxer?
-Thanks again

 

[dirt bike dave]

John's explanation for sandy whoops is exactly right. However, sandy whoops require a different set-up than rocks, ruts, and roots that you find in most woods areas. On rocks and roots, you want the suspension to compress fast or you will get beat up and worn out. For a plush ride in tight technical terrain, you want less high speed compression damping.

Sounds like your riding area has a little bit of everything, so you are going to have to experiment with what compromise works best for you. IMO most MX bikes work best with less compression damping and more rebound damping in the woods, but sand whoops are a different story.

 

[Offroadr]

Go to Jer's website, he has a great offroad setup section, sand is included

 

[ktmracer]

You could always try and revalve the forks yourself. i purchased a shim kit and instructions for a little less than 40 bucks, and have been very happy with the results. Is your suspension harsh on the small stuff or in the mid-stroke??? A common problem i see is people running a softer spring for plushness, but then raise the oil height alot to get bottoming resistance. which usually makes the forks harsh in the mid-stroke. just a thought

will

 

[KawiRider]

Offroadr,
What is the link to Jer's website?

Dirt Bike Dave,
Thanks for the info on the rocks, ruts, and roots. I will be racing in some of these conditions.

KTMracer,
Thanks for the reply. I don't even have $40 to spare :scream: I only spend my money on things that I need.

 

[dirt bike dave]

Jeremy moderate this forum and runs MX-tech; there is a link on the left hand side of this page, but here is a short-cut to his offroad suspension tuning tips:

http://www.mx-tech.com/tuning_offroad.asp