sag and ride height

[big_poppa_pump]

Hello, I am just getting into tweaking my suspension after having ridden my 97 KX250 for about 6 months now.

I have finally got the clickers where I want them and now I have been reading about race sag and static sag.

I measured race sag at 114 mm and static at 38 mm which seem to be a little high. So it seems I need to tighten the rings and increase preload. right??

My biggest question is what is this going to do to my ride height? Will my bike sit higher or lower with me on it with more preload?

I would think it would be lower but I have read some conflicting reports such as "Decreasing the Race Sag measurement (tightening the spring preload) will raise the rear of your bike and help with cornering."

My bike is too tall for me as is so I don't want to increase the ride height at all.

If adding preload will make my bike taller, then I will probably leave it where it is and shave some foam off the seat.

btw, if it makes any difference I am 5' 7" and 185 lbs

 

[KSHAFFER]

when you decrease sag, you will be raising the rear of the bike. you should have a difference of 95mm to 100mm. it will perform better if your between those 2 numbers.

 

[big_poppa_pump]

So one other question about this. I dropped my forks about 6 mm lower than what the manual reccomends?

Should I perhaps be adding that 6 mm to my sag to compensate for the now *lower* front end to balance? Or should I still try to stay between 95mm and 100mm of sag.

So with the lower front end would it make sense to have my race sag at between 101 and 106 mm? Or is this not really logical thinking on my end.

I'm pretty new to all this and just trying to keep as much clearance as I can and still be able to touch the ground solid but do want to lower the bike a little.

btw, I will be cutting my seat foam down but I would like to keep some cushion on there. ;)

 

[tx246]

do a search on "lowering" in this forum. im exactly your height/weight. on the mx track it is not as big of a deal because pretty much everywhere you want to put your feet down the ground is level. off road is another story. the terrain is usually anything but level and at least 50% of the time, the ground on the left is lower than the right which makes for big time fun trying to kickstart the bike.

do searches for both seatfoam modification. i used an electric knife to get it close, then sand to smooth the finish. also do the subframe modification. i lowered my cr over an inch and a half and still had plenty of foam on the seat. beware of lowering seat/subframe too much because your sitting to standing position will be increased and you will feel the extra effort required to stand up.

 

[Anssi]

So with the lower front end would it make sense to have my race sag at between 101 and 106 mm? Or is this not really logical thinking on my end.

You should not use preload/sag to change your seat height. Lowering the forks too much is not a good idea either. Both affect your handling (adversely).

If you really want to have a low bike you should consult a suspension shop. With the supermoto craze there's lots of stuff on offer.

 

[renes]

I moved my forks up in the triple clamps to see the difference. I only went 5 mms and I found I went into speed wables on a regular basis. It was very scary and very unstable. Not worth the benefits in my oppinion.