PDS race sag

Ignore KTM-its stupid to only set the free sag-its the race sag thats important-its the thing that sets the steering angle and thats about the most important setting on any bike.

Setting it and never changing it is the dumbest thing in my opinion. whatever the recommendation is, thats just a starting point. Sag is a tuning parameter like using the clickers. People need to dial that in to their personal tastes too. FWIW, I have never measured my sag. I tune mine by feel. I start with a spring the matches my weight, set it up with a little free sag and go ride. I make my adjustments in 1 turn increment. When I go to far I know it, and back it off. I might then go back the other way and check out how the bike handles with it. When I get it dialed how I want, I measure the spring. Setting your sag and calling it perfect without experimenting is a joke. I've also found that I like to run a stiffer spring with less preload. Where a 5.2 might be whats recommended, I run a 5.4 kg. I'm a little more lucky I guess in that I have plenty of springs to play with, but my point is that sag is adjustable and anybody who never experiments with it could be giving up a small edge to the guy that does. Setting your sag can give you idea of how well the spring suits your weight, but it's not a stamped in stone deal that you have to run what everybody else or the manual says to. I also prefer more sag on sand tracks then I do on hardpack and I adjust it per track.

Shocknut,

That's a great post. I really think that people get too caught up in the numbers. It's almost like they're saying "if I don't have EXACTLY 98mm of sag, I'm going to be the only guy on the track with the wrong suspension set up!". Know what I mean?

Use the numebrs as a base-line, but it all depends on how it works for the INDIVIDUAL on the track, right?

Manufacturers dont always get it right-look at the recent Cr125 engines.Common sence says a bike should be set up for the rider weight-KTMs proceedure doesnt take into account rider weight-if a 250lb rider was to go on a bike set up that way it would never go round corners.

KTM may have a point though. It's possible that without linkage the front and rear suspensions sag more aproximately equal. So if heavy and light riders ride the same bike, the balance will be closer to correct than if you reset the rear sag and left the fron alone.
That being said, I agree that you should set it up per the manual, check the weighted sag just to be sure you are not way off, then start making adjustments untill the bike feels right for your style.

I think KTM isn't clear on one issue-matching springs to rider weight. If your springs are matched to your weight, then setting free sag is the starting point for setting up your suspension. From there-its trial and error like mentioned above.

The KTM system really isnt that different to a normal rising rate until the last 100mm of travel so setting up the sag should be very similar.Maybe its because the PDS range of springs vary so much (ie no two PDS1s are the same)so if you dont measure the sitting sag you will never know the springs havnt got a very good tolerance.