afm_722

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Apr 24, 2000
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Suspension Guru's,
I was watching a replay of the Las vegas SX from this year and between qualifiers they we're talking about RC's sag setup on his KX. They said they run it at 120mm of sag!

Now, obviously he's got a works shock, forks, linkage, etc, but sag is sag. Now if I was 18 and didn't know anything about suspension, I'd run out into the garage and loosen up the collar on my KX.

I guess they really want to get that ride height down as far as it will go, but that's seems a bit much. Maybe because his riding style is so aggressive, he doesn't care how the thing turns.

What's your take?
 

mxneagle

Member
Jan 7, 2001
320
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I know a suspension guy at kawi and it's true...Thats how RC likes it. It turns fine for him since he does most of his turning with the rear end.

This drives the engineers back in Japan nuts, but they can't say anything 'cause he's winning races with it. Just goes to show you that you need to set your bike up for how you like it and forget about what people think it's supposed to be.
 

clw

Member
Dec 29, 2000
239
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and ANOTHER one

Yeah, I heard that too and thought it must somehow be related to RC being a wee bit short. But, my July Dirt Bike came yesterday with a write-up on Travis, he sets his sag to 107mm, and he is 6'2".

Are they also changing the linkage curves? If I set my '01 YZ250 at anything over 102 it slams into the stiffer part of the linkage too fast.

What else are they doing to make this work? At 95-97mm am I missing something?
 

marcusgunby

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Jan 9, 2000
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Works bikes have liitle in common than ours(different linkage curves etc) and also i think people are right when they say RC steers from the back so what works for him wont matter to us mortals.:(
 

shaggy829

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May 28, 2001
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clw- There are some linkage pieces out that are rumored to be the same specs
as the factory Yamaha . I think they raise the back of the bike without deacreasing sag . This can help with rear harshness. Stock yz valving is somewhat harsh, a revalve did alot for my bike.
 

Jeremy Wilkey

Owner, MX-Tech
Jan 28, 2000
1,453
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Ricky Looks really werid on the bike. It even looks like a chopper! I have soem photos from MT. Morris.. The real change is his seat foam! WOW!
 

Jeremy Wilkey

Owner, MX-Tech
Jan 28, 2000
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Ricky Looks really werid on the bike. It even looks like a chopper! I have soem photos from MT. Morris.. The real change is his seat foam! WOW!
 
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Jeremy Wilkey

Owner, MX-Tech
Jan 28, 2000
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Picture Test

Check this out!
 

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Buzz Bomb

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May 9, 2000
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What's up with his seat??

I also watched the Las Vegas supercross races and heard what they were saying about Ricky's bike setup. How does his seat absorb anything bumps at all? It's like the plastic base with a seat cover and no foam! It looks hideous.
 

Vic

***** freak.
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May 5, 2000
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Maybe it's just me.

Since RC has been on a 250, it has always looked to me like his rear suspension worked like crap. Maybe the rear end swapping helps to keep him from falling asleep from the boredom of always being so far out in front. I just wonder how fast he would go with suspension that worked RIGHT.:eek:
 

Jeremy Wilkey

Owner, MX-Tech
Jan 28, 2000
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Hideous describes everything about RC and his KX from the seat back. The forks seem good but Vic's opion is very spot on.. I can't beilve that he likes it like that. Jeff Ward used blocks at the starting gate and dealt with a tall bike, Rc's sag, and set-up seem atrioucous, and it's not like he dosent' swap out or anything :)

Anyway I'm not bashing RC or his KAW.. They have a win record that most thought would not be duplicated for a decade. Bill Cureva (SP??) once told me if Steve Lamson went faster with a Beer can for a Silencer then you'd see Factory Honda with a Beer can for a silencer.. Kinda funny but true...
 

clw

Member
Dec 29, 2000
239
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I've heard rumors that RC's bike has only 9" or so of total travel. All of these things (lowered seat, 120mm sag, lowered suspension) point out that what he is doing is making it a cornering monster by lowering the center of gravity! That's why if you ride a TTR125 or XR100 you feel so hero in the turns. He carries a lot of speed into and out of the turns. Surely they have put a stopwatch on him and the trade offs are known.

Looks like it works better indoors than out so far.
 

Jeremy Wilkey

Owner, MX-Tech
Jan 28, 2000
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Ricky has normal travel.. I have so much more to show but I'm stuggling here to get these images compressed.. Sorry for the small veiws.
 

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Vic

***** freak.
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He would be better off if he did run nine inches of travel, but with proper set up, instead of the death trap configuration that he's running now.:silly:
 

Dirteater

Member
Jan 24, 2001
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Looking at the seat foam pics makes me wonder what is so strange about RC's setup. It looks like my RMX's stock seat. While it is hard and unforgiving you can move around enough to shift with your right hand. I'm six feet tall so I don't believe you need a bubble seat to be comfortable.
 
S

Saratoga

A local suspension tuner told me to set my static sag and ignore the normal sag. This is exactly opposite of what I normally do. I wonder if the factory boys worry more about static sag also.
 

Vic

***** freak.
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Originally posted by Buzz Bomb
What is static sag?

It's how much the bike sags without the weight of the rider. If you can ride your bike without actually getting on it, then setting the static sag and ignoring the race sag, might work.:confused: :)
 

Ol'89r

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Jan 27, 2000
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Sag

Jer.

I have been thinking about doing the same thing to my 99 WR400f. Not only the rear end, but, also the forks. I am a vertically challenged spode and I would like to be able to touch the ground once in a while also.

I would think that by doing both ends, it would balance the bike out while steering thru the corners, but, you would still have the travel for jumps.

I've noticed that off road trucks set their suspension like that. They run a tremendous amount of sag which lets them sit low in the corners. When they jump, their suspension drops while in the air which gives them the full range of travel for landing.

What front spring would you recommend for a 140Lb. rider inorder to get about 120mm of sag? The rear spring seems soft enough.

Thank you.
Ol'89r
 

Rooster

Today's Tom Sawyer
Damn Yankees
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Aug 24, 2000
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Bubble seat?

I'm glad someone else said it, I went out to the garage an looked ay my seat, and it is pretty flat, and now that I think about it, it's pretty hard too. No matter, I'm not sitting most of the time anyway.
 
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