My son rides a Yamaha TTR-90 when we trailride. He is a solid intermediate level rider. He can make it through almost all intermediate level trials and some expert level trails. Stock the rear suspension is lame - way oversprung and underdamped for his 80 lb weight. The rear wheel would hop all over the place make for ill handling and a harsh ride.
I consulted numerous motorcycle dealers and suspension shops. The answer was the same, there is nothing available. I even looked at numerous spring manufacturers to at least get a lighter spring. A custom spring looked like the only option. I kept looking and gave Works Performance a try. It turns out they make shocks for just about any little motorcycle on the market. The shock is the base model with preload adjustment, without a reservoir. The spring they initially sent was too stiff. They were kind enough to send me another spring at no charge as part of their guarantee that the spring and damping will meet our satisfaction. The 215 lb/in spring worked best. Overall, the performance is very good. The rear wheel tracks very well. My son can now ride the trails faster and with more confidence with a much smoother, controlled ride. Best of all he can go faster up the tough hills – that means less I have to do less pushing him up tough hills.
If you have a small trailbike, this is an outstanding improvement for ride and handling. How much do you spend to fix up your machine? If you spend any money fixing up your machine, you can probably afford to buy a shock for your son/daughter. They will go faster, feel more confident and get less beat up.
Eric K
’01 GasGas300XC
’00 Yamaha TTR-90 (son’s)
I consulted numerous motorcycle dealers and suspension shops. The answer was the same, there is nothing available. I even looked at numerous spring manufacturers to at least get a lighter spring. A custom spring looked like the only option. I kept looking and gave Works Performance a try. It turns out they make shocks for just about any little motorcycle on the market. The shock is the base model with preload adjustment, without a reservoir. The spring they initially sent was too stiff. They were kind enough to send me another spring at no charge as part of their guarantee that the spring and damping will meet our satisfaction. The 215 lb/in spring worked best. Overall, the performance is very good. The rear wheel tracks very well. My son can now ride the trails faster and with more confidence with a much smoother, controlled ride. Best of all he can go faster up the tough hills – that means less I have to do less pushing him up tough hills.
If you have a small trailbike, this is an outstanding improvement for ride and handling. How much do you spend to fix up your machine? If you spend any money fixing up your machine, you can probably afford to buy a shock for your son/daughter. They will go faster, feel more confident and get less beat up.
Eric K
’01 GasGas300XC
’00 Yamaha TTR-90 (son’s)
