How Much Does RaceTech Suspension Cost?

[twenty34]

anyone give me an idea of what it might cost to work front and back on my 06 WR 450F? Also, since I have little time to remove it all myself, do you think it would be possible to drop off my bike and have them do the work all inclusive?

Thanks!

[clark4131]

$110 for front springs, $110 for rear spring, $320 for front and rear gold valves, $50 for RaceTech oil, $160 for seals and bushings if needed, then tack on about 4 hours of labor and an additional $150 for incidentals. That will get you in the ballpark ..SC

[twenty34]

Thanks!...I'm just wondering if springs are really even needed, or if just valiving work would suffice?

The rear seems a little soft, but soaks up everything fine and is plush. The front bottoms harshly but only on a few occassions while at the motocross track hitting a particular jump hard. For off-road, suspension isn't bad at all, but I ride both moto-X tracks and off-road with my 06 WR 450f, so felt the revalve work, etc would be justified.

Can you give me some insight into how the suspension worked after you had it done? Also, what was your main reason for having work done?

thanks!

$110 for front springs, $110 for rear spring, $320 for front and rear gold valves, $50 for RaceTech oil, $160 for seals and bushings if needed, then tack on about 4 hours of labor and an additional $150 for incidentals. That will get you in the ballpark ..SC

[clark4131]

I know there's a lot of people who've had the whole enchilada done to their forks/shock via RaceTech or some other suspension shop. I just replaced the oil and springs in my forks and just the spring in my shock and it made a helluva big improvement for around $210. I also did all the work myself 'cuz it's easy and I didn't need to tear anything down. Maybe I'll have the forks revalved in the future if I blow a seal, but until then I'm quite happy with the results...SC

[pjriss]

I had my 426 done at Nor-Cal Motorsports in south Sacramento. Here's the breakdown:

Fork valves $160

Shock valve $160

Fork springs $110

Shock spring $110

Race Tech oil (shock) $18

PJ1 oil (forks) $13

Fork seals $21

Labor $260

I had mine done because I weigh in at 240 lbs and the valves on an '02 just plain suck. I'm told the valves on newer models are vastly improved and are comperable to Race Tech but they're still sprung for a 150 lb rider.

[jerryls]

I bought the front and rear springs ($90 & $100) and installed them myself. Had Dick's do the fork and spring revalve for around $400. Worth every penny. Best mod you can do .

I upgraded after I rode a couple bikes with a good suspension and realized how crappy my WR was.

Jerry

[Matty05]

Gold valves are a waste of time on new bikes.

It is the shim stack that is wrong and needs changing. The gold valves just put more emphisis on the shim stack.

Finally something that is just as cheap as the USA! I wonder why suspension tuning is so expensive over there???

[Asgeir]

Matty05

Please explain shim stack ?

I am 96KG/212Lbs and I have a WR450 04 and would like to know more about how to improve my suspension.

Someone told me to exchange my springs to progressive.

[BIGBLUEKNIGHT]

i had the gold valve revalve and race tech springs put in and it was 700 including labor

[SJMC_DON]

I know there's a lot of people who've had the whole enchilada done to their forks/shock via RaceTech or some other suspension shop. I just replaced the oil and springs in my forks and just the spring in my shock and it made a helluva big improvement for around $210. I also did all the work myself 'cuz it's easy and I didn't need to tear anything down. Maybe I'll have the forks revalved in the future if I blow a seal, but until then I'm quite happy with the results...SC

Clark, how did you make your spring selection? Someone told me that there is a web site that has a chart of sorts that considers rider weight, bike type, and riding style. Do you know of such a thing.

I really like your approach, springs are easy and I think it would be the biggest bang for my buck

Thanks Clark

[Matty05]

The only bike to need a progressive spring (only on shock) is the KTM and Hugaberg linkless design. Racetech are the ones using this.

Easiest way to explain shims:

Shims are like washers. They go on top of the valve (or piston). Shims control dampening by adding resistance to the oil going through the valve/piston. The shims bend when oil is pushed past them, the more they bend, the softer the dampening. You can change the way that they are stacked to make them bend more or less, depending on what you want. This is also why heavier oil is a "fix" as it adds more resistance, but light weight oil will give exellent feel.

Easiest way to get free gold valves, drill bigger holes in the stock piston! This just puts more emphisis on the shim stack to control dampening.

With you being 92 kg Asgeir, you can get away with just getting 5.6kg/mm rear spring.

the stock fork springs are fine according to the racetech calculator.

Fork spring calculator:

http://www.racetech.com/evalving/SpringRateCalculation/dirtspring.asp?brand=Yamaha&yr=2004&ml=WR450F&formuse=form1&SpringType=Fork

Shock spring calculator:

http://www.racetech.com/evalving/SpringRateCalculation/dirtspring.asp?brand=Yamaha&yr=2004&ml=WR450F&formuse=form1&SpringType=Shock

[Matty05]

Someone told me that there is a web site that has a chart of sorts that considers rider weight, bike type, and riding style. Do you know of such a thing.

racetech:

http://www.racetech.com/evalving/menu/searchdirt.asp

plug in your bike and you get whats available. In the list there is fork and shock calculation.

[Asgeir]

Matty05

Have you done this ? (drill bigger holes and reshimming ?)

I think the stock spring for the canadian is 5,5kg/mm

The shock link you gave did not work but this one does :

http://www.racetech.com/evalving/SpringRateCalculation/dirtspring.asp?brand=Yamaha&yr=2004&ml=WR450F&formuse=form1&SpringType=Shock

Would it be much change going to 5,6kg/mm from the std ?

[Matty05]

No, I think you could get away with using standard shock spring too, if it is 5.5kg/mm.

We got 5.5kg/mm here is Aust for '05, I think USA model only got 5.3kg/mm for '05.

The '04's might be the same? As long as you can set the sag properly, It doesn't matter.

I got a suspension tuner to do my suspension, I don't feel I would be up to the task, nor do I have the tools and knoweledge to do it.

He didn't drill the valve/piston, he said they are good enough stock but it is just the shims that made the dampening too soft. He is a racetech dealer too, so at least he is honest!

Have you got any suspension tuner's in Iceland??? If not, maybe buying the gold valve kit might be good for you?

[twenty34]

Excellent feedback...thanks much!!!!

I bought the front and rear springs ($90 & $100) and installed them myself. Had Dick's do the fork and spring revalve for around $400. Worth every penny. Best mod you can do .

I upgraded after I rode a couple bikes with a good suspension and realized how crappy my WR was.

Jerry

[adrianlomas]

Matty,

I have already re-sprung my forks and the rear according to my body weight (245 pounds) and the forks still bottom out sometimes on bigger jumps off-roading, are saying that I dont need new valves?? I thought that would be my next step.?? I am also going to try new oil.

thanx,

adrian

[Matty05]

Matty,

I have already re-sprung my forks and the rear according to my body weight (245 pounds) and the forks still bottom out sometimes on bigger jumps off-roading, are saying that I dont need new valves?? I thought that would be my next step.?? I am also going to try new oil.

thanx,

adrian

Just shim stack adjusted. This is referred to as a "revalve" which can include new valve (also called piston) like if you got the recetech kit. The actual valves are good enough on new bikes. Nothing wrong with changing them either. The more emphasis you put on the shim stacks, the better. If you just use heavier oil, you can get hydro lock, this is where the oil won't go through the valve and your suspension won't work. I used to get hydrolock a bit, I just couldn't get the forks to work.

I am 240 pounds, I got .50kg/mm fork springs and 6kg/mm shock. I tried everything to get the forks right, heavier oil, etc. It didn't work for me. They felt too springy, dampening way too soft for such a jump in spring tention. I didn't do anything to the shock, I found that it did work a bit (at least 10x better than forks) and wasn't too worried because the forks were just so bad.

I bit the bullet and got my suspension serviced and "revalved" which made it a zillion times better! I can't explain how much better than standard it really is. The lighter the oil used, the plusher the suspension. Heavier oil is just compensation for incorrect shim stacks.

[clark4131]

Clark, how did you make your spring selection? Someone told me that there is a web site that has a chart of sorts that considers rider weight, bike type, and riding style. Do you know of such a thing.

I really like your approach, springs are easy and I think it would be the biggest bang for my buck

Thanks Clark

Like Matty says, go to the Racetech site and use their spring rate calculator. I got the .48's for the front as they were the heaviest offered and I got a 5.8 for the rear, though the calculator recommended a 5.6. I just swapped out the rear spring and added one click on everthing for the shock. For the forks, I raised by level 5mm and combined 5wt and 10wt oil for around a 7wt and it worked great. BTW, I'm 6'0", 225 lbs (post holiday weight)...SC

[SJMC_DON]

Like Matty says, go to the Racetech site and use their spring rate calculator. I got the .48's for the front as they were the heaviest offered and I got a 5.8 for the rear, though the calculator recommended a 5.6. I just swapped out the rear spring and added one click on everthing for the shock. For the forks, I raised by level 5mm and combined 5wt and 10wt oil for around a 7wt and it worked great. BTW, I'm 6'0", 225 lbs (post holiday weight)...SC

I ordered my Race Tech springs 2 days ago, I'm 6'3" 225, I got the .48 springs for the front and the 5.8 for the rear (this was per the calculator). I already run at the top of the oil level range with 5wt. I was actually thinking of going to a 2.5 weight, I'm looking to find a more supple front end with less rebound...... I hope this works, I know the rear spring is going to make a huge difference all on it's own

Can't wait

[Matty05]

I ordered my Race Tech springs 2 days ago, I'm 6'3" 225, I got the .48 springs for the front and the 5.8 for the rear (this was per the calculator). I already run at the top of the oil level range with 5wt. I was actually thinking of going to a 2.5 weight, I'm looking to find a more supple front end with less rebound...... I hope this works, I know the rear spring is going to make a huge difference all on it's own

Can't wait

It will be more supple with 2.5W but have more rebound (less resistance = more "springy").