suspension balance - is this bad?

RM250boy

Member
Mar 7, 2001
92
0
when i stand up on my pegs while at a standstill and bounce up and down, the rear goes up and down about 4 inches or so (i weigh about 240lb) but the front shocks dont compress AT ALL unless i hold the front brake on, and then it is still a good bit less than the rear... '99 RM 250 - should i make any adjustments? i do only woods riding and have had problems with the front wheel washing out on me (but i know this could be from any number of things)

thanks in advance!
 

mxneagle

Member
Jan 7, 2001
320
0
Sounds bad to me. Normally you will notice behavior like that if you just sit on the seat and bounce, but standing on the pegs you should get about the same amount from each end.

Check your lower triple clamp bolts for over tightening (I'm assuming that you have inverted forks) If the lower pinch bolts are too tight they will actually compress the fork tube and cause binding. We tighten to about 12 ft/lb on the lower and 18 on the upper.
 

mxneagle

Member
Jan 7, 2001
320
0
Second thoughts (I'm not sure what year Suzuki went back to inverted forks).

I also ran into a problem where someone put the wrong year upper clamp on (for pro taper bars) and the fork tube offset was incorrect. This caused the forks not to be parallel and they would bind as started to compress them. Check the axle pinch bolts by loosening them, compressing the forks (by bouncing them with the front brake on) and then re-tightening them.
 

Jeff Howe

Member
Apr 19, 2000
456
1
If I'm not mistaken that shock spring is also a progressive rate spring and if it's the stocker on there your a bit heavy for it. A better way to check balance is to stand to the left side of the bike, grab the front brake and push down (hard) on the left foot peg with your right foot. Check to see if it looks balanced in it's movement. The 49mm Showa forks are very stiction free and should exhibit good initial movement. I check this by pushing on the front fender right below the front number plate. If it takes alot of force to get them to move you either have too much spring preload or stiction from some other element. You might try realigning the forks too before the axle pinch bolts are tightened. There have been recent posts on this subject I believe.
 

shockdoc

Member
May 3, 2001
327
0
RM250boy At 240 lbs you do need to spring your bike. This is why your frt end is washing out on you. Your bike is riding like a chopper. You will need to go up a couple sizes at which time you will also need to stiffen the fork springs. Once the rear is stiff enough it will transfer weight to the frt better. Also you will want to raise the forks in the clamps a little to balance the bike out and you will be able to manuver through the woods a lot better.

This is assuming that your oils & bushings are all good.



doc
 
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