2014 yz450f stock suspension

[hostile silence]

Looking for any good info for where I should have my suspension clickers set.

Ive been riding alot of track lately but usually harescrambling... I have sag set, im 6 foot 235 pounds.

[Piney Woods]

Looking for any good info for where I should have my suspension clickers set.

Ive been riding alot of track lately but usually harescrambling... I have sag set, im 6 foot 235 pounds.

I would think your owners manual would have suggestions. But you may be a little heavy for the stock springs, ck your sag numbers first.  Everything depends on having the correct springs.

[grayracer513]

At 235 (assuming street clothes), you are well beyond the weight range of the stock springs.  All bets are off as far as being able to get your suspension working right until that's corrected. 

[hostile silence]

I have sag set at 4". Yes 235 street clothes...

Edited September 3, 2013 by hostile silence

[grayracer513]

That's the "race" sag, with you seated on the bike, correct?  What is the "free" sag (the bike sitting on the floor supporting no weight other than its own)?  Should be around an inch.  Less than that, and it means the spring is too soft.

[MXKyle]

I've been struggling with setting up my new bike too and hope someone, besides me, figures this thing out.  Personally, I think the bikes may be a little over sprung from the factory.  This is the first Yamaha I've ever owned (and I've owned a dozen) that I feel might need softer fork springs. It is also the first one I've had that I had to take tension off the shock spring to get the correct sag.  I weigh 185 myself and race vet expert (motocross) and that used to be the perfect weight for owning a Yamaha.  Who knows, 235 might not be way too heavy for those forks after all.

 

I couldn't get mine to track around corners without pushing until I softened up the compression by 4 clicks and slowed the rebound by 1 click.  That made a world of difference for me but I'm still not all that happy with how it turns.  Now the bike feels like it is on the verge of greatness but that it's not quite there.  If I do everything just right I can kill a turn but the next lap I might feel like I on the verge of losing it in that same spot.  I'm hoping someone that really knows suspension will get some time on the bike and will tell some secrets. 

 

At any rate, clicking is easy and you can always put it back the way it was if you don't like it.

 

--KT--

[MXKyle]

That's the "race" sag, with you seated on the bike, correct?  What is the "free" sag (the bike sitting on the floor supporting no weight other than its own)?  Should be around an inch.  Less than that, and it means the spring is too soft.

 

Gray,

 

Do you know any magic numbers like that for fork sag.  I've looked and have found so many conflicting opinions that the information becomes useless.  I've rarely needed to change springs and when I did it was always obvious that I needed stiffer springs.  How can you tell if you need softer fork springs?

 

--KT--

Edited September 4, 2013 by MXKyle

[grayracer513]

The most consistent information I see posted is from Dwight Rudder.  He's a pro and all that, but you know that people like to argue.  I should note that his opinion on rear sag varies a bit from what most guys run on YZ's.  He runs more, but he also doesn't ride Yamahas that I know of.  Then again, that doesn't necessarily make him wrong, either.

 

Fork static sag should be 43mm and rider sag 77mm (+-2mm). Properly lowering your seat height with proper sag will allow you to keep the longer travel of the suspension and allow for a plusher ride. If you are running deep sand and a lot of whoops then you might want to run a bit less fork sags but I set my bike up for a wide range of terrian and riding. I mostly run H/S and Enduro myself.

[MXKyle]

Thanks.  I'll check mine tonight and see how it measures up.

 

--KT--

[corndogg]

Looking for any good info for where I should have my suspension clickers set.

Ive been riding alot of track lately but usually harescrambling... I have sag set, im 6 foot 235 pounds.

let me know what you end up doing as im right around the same weight and height and been trying to dial my suspension in.

[Itsbroken]

235 might be a bit much but it wont be off by far. At least not as far as usual.  I am about 210-215 bare and the stock springs are working great for me.  I probably will check the sag tonight because I have 20 hours on it, if its going to settle I think it would have by now.  I have overshot a couple big tabletops and landed flat, sucked it right up.  I have not been using the full stroke as measured on the front shock with a zip tie. Anything less than a near disaster leaves me about 1" of unused fork.   I went 3 out on the clickers and that helped noticeably in soft/sandy corners.

  I was planning on swapping the springs first thing but after riding it a bunch I'm pretty happy for now.

[grayracer513]

235 might be a bit much but it wont be off by far.

 

I beg to differ.  235 pounds is 23% heavier than the top of the recommended rider weight range 170-190.  Add gear to that, and you're looking at 260. 

 

Springs are the first, and single most important adjustment you will make to your suspension.

[Itsbroken]

I agree with you 99% of the time. The 2014 comes with stiffer than normal springs. From memory 49 front and 58 rear. Don't you think that's a bit stiffer than most factory bikes right?

I agree on this also just saying its not as far off as most bikes.

Edited September 4, 2013 by Itsbroken

[grayracer513]

It's a little heavier than some, and you're not accounting for linkage differences when considering the rear.

 

Race Tech calls for .51/60 on that bike with that kind of weight for enduro use.

[Itsbroken]

I just did the checking. With full gear I weigh in at 228. I lost some weight !!! Sag is set at 31/106 so looking at racetech mx ama pro rates would be .52/ .602 at my weight. I ha e some training to do before I respring. Maybe Yamaha figured out who is buying these things and is setting them up a little better for guys like me.

[motoscotty]

I am 206lbs.Vet INT rider w/o gear and had a hard time making the stock shock spring work for me. I couldn't make the numbers work or get a good feel. The shock would blow thru stuff so fast on braking bumps, chop and steep take offs it was getting scary.

I ended up at a 6.1 spring to get to 103mm of sag with about 28 of free. The shock works good now but fades pretty quick, still has stock fluid at about 11 hrs.The shock is 8 ish out on comp and 13 out on reb, hs is in I think about a half from stock.

The forks started out great but at about 9 hrs it was like a fuse blew as it has become much softer and kinda spongy. I have added 10 ml in each for now an still have stock springs.

 

I run my forks flush or in the stock position and at 6 clicks out on comp and 11 out on reb. in the first 15 min of riding I can go anywhere or turn on a dime, hit anything with ease but when it heats up it gets scary. The forks are stock fluid still also.

 

I ride only mx on this bike in a fairgrounds setting, not much high speed but steep faces, big landings, whoops and rhythms. There are some sand sections that get chopped out pretty bad.

Ultimately for stock stuff it dos its job well, cant wait to get SMART Dave to do his magic on it.

 

Hopefully someone find this useful

 

[SAthump]

On a 12' but maybe it will help

I'm 215 6'2" B-ish level, 230 geared up

I was running .50 & 5.9 sag at 38/106 but felt like the forks were being over powered

I keep the .50's and went back to the stock 5.7 28/108 and the bike feels very well balanced to me now and turns better! ( subjectively of course) I'm running the bars all the way forward with a tall flat bend too. Revavled as well with Smart

[Itsbroken]

Grayracer,

  In your opinion at what point would you make a spring change.  Playing with Racetech's calculator for my height /weight and skill level its telling me to bump up from a .49 to .509 front and stay with 5.9 on rear.   What I am asking I guess,  is that change in spring rate going to be a  little noticeable, or really noticeable ??  

 

  Thanks  

[motoscotty]

After riding this coming weekend I am dropping it of at Dave's (SMART) house, he wants to do some more prototype/testing stuff like we had on my Honda.

My forks did feel overtaken by the shock like you mentioned but taking some high speed out helped that.

 

All in all I'm very happy with this bike, it is a great platform to build from and I think this will be an amazing bike once it is detailed.

[corndogg]

a guy on this forum sent me some aluminum bar mounts rather than the rubber ones, and that actually made a big difference on how the front end felt. got rid of high speed wobble, and feels more controlable in the corners.