Author Topic: Suspension mods or replacement  (Read 796 times)

Guymcfly

  • Guest
Re: Suspension mods or replacement
« on: April 22, 2015, 08:53:29 am »
It's all Very Good!.... ;D

If you order an Ohlins unit...or any decent shock upgrade, the company making the shock should ask you questions about your bike (naturally), your weight, geared up. Type of riding; how much on/off road the percentages run too. Type of off-road...desert, enduro, mx, trail etc ...single or two up etc...easy for me as I pretty much only go on tar maybe 5 miles a ride.
If I remember I told them it was a 690 mx bike! Not sure the humor translated quite right tho. I did get an extra 10mm of stroke built into the shock for the fact it's only really used in rough terrain and wanted a little extra stroke.

They should then tailor the spring rate and valving to suit. Short of bolting it on the bike, checking the sag, away you go! But I'd suggest a re check of sag rates about 6-12 months down the track, depending on how much riding you, once the initial settling happens. I cranked the spring down a bit as it was bottoming a bit too much.
I run the shock pretty hard...a friend said he needed a hip replacement after trying my bike over big whoops. I like the back tire to act like a 4wd over rough stuff and I soak up the bumps with legs a lot.

I have to say, I like the look of the Tractive shock, but they know how to charge for it. I don't have a clue what the unit rides like either.

With my forks...a little different because I bought a set off a 350 SXF. With the extra pounds on the 690, I got some heavier springs, I think 52's and also went with a heavy weight oil. I was very lucky because the forks I got had already been re valved by factory connection. It was all set pretty nicely for me. I changed the oil out and set everything right to mids on settings. Because they have a longer stroke (300 mm forks instead off 275 mm) I dropped them 15-16 mm thru the clamps. I also changed the clamp to 22 mm offset so had to go back and recheck everything yet again! :o

After some riding with them I made those minor hi speed adjustments and clicker changes we all do. It's nice and plush, and doesn't deflect off trail junk and soaks up the crap nicely.  Again, I think new springs take a little to get to a sweet spot in terms of action. A little harsh when new.

I'm happy with it for sure. The bike rides fast, straight and steers good. I ran the bike around some tight single track and an mx track as well last weekend. It's a lot of bike, and I can't push it like a 2 stroke but it does it all really pretty well. And I'm well over servicing my bikes every 8 hours or so!