09yz450 suspension

[2biker]

reading post and noticed many settings checked sag on bike stock setup and manual said 2.5-2.9 in. is this a good setup for woods riding and also read many have raised forks 5 mm in front .i raised fork up and tightend just got bike and have been getting ready new guards,skid plate, bark busters,trying to get fww now just don't have extra cash for suspension mods. just trying to setup the best i can with stock for woods riding any help would be appreciated p.s. 5'10 185 with gear on thanks

[2biker]

my bad the race sag was 3.5-3.9 in. i double checked on my setup also right at 3.9-4.1 measuring by myself thanks

[dvn]

Springs should be good for your weight. Just go a couple clicks softer than stock on compression and you should be pretty close. The 09's are light on rebound damping in the rear. You may have to slow it down a bit.

[2biker]

thanks dvn there is so much imfo on this subject it seems overwhelming i am trying to do it slow and easy that way the money will be where it can do the best the stalling is my next issue it will knock off (Stall) if you lock it up hot in a turn or in the sand hills where i live, i hope the FWW will help that and a 51 or 52t sprocket how many links will I need for that mod bike has 4hrs.on it, don't need a new chain yet .The rekluse pro looks good,that seems to be the best choice for woods and tight trails to out of reach for now.The adjustments you spoke of are for the rear shock correct.Forks I have not touched any setting there either not up on where to start just been riding and trying to get some help on numbers on clicks That seems to work for my wieght. Thanks Again

[colson973]

I had a 08 yz450 and I ran my race sage at 4 inches or a little more and it worked great. also the yz's tend to push in the corners so for woods you deffenently want to move the forks up a little. I ran close to stock height because I race moto and needed the straight line stability.

[YamaLink]

Sounds like you know how to set sag but just in case here is a good simple tutorial: http://www.tootechracing.com/suspension_tips.htm

Other than making small changes to the comp and rebound for both front and rear - and making sure your tire psi is not too high or low - your settings right now sound pretty darn good for your weight.

I like to run a tad less sag taking into account the mud I may accumulate in a long race and the shock oil getting hot.

[2biker]

Thanks Yamalink ,I have two adjustments and one on the bottom of the front fork i studied your web page and trying to make sure i understand which one is which before i adjust. I printed the sheets and will look more any help on that would be apprecated i do know i will right everything down as to the as found settings, just in case i get my adjustments hosed up.

[davcon]

Had similar stalling issues on tight single tracks. Put a 52T on at about 30 hours on the stock chain ie stretched a bit. The stock chain length was fine. Also installed the heaviest (9.21 oz) flywheel. No stalling issues to speak of but still tall geared in some slow sections.

[grayracer513]

If you weigh 185 in your riding gear, you are on the cusp of being too light for the stock springs, but if you are also pretty fast, and ride mostly MX, they could work OK for you.

Regarding adjusting the suspension, first understand that on the fork, you can independently adjust the rebound (adjuster on the bottom of the fork) and the compression (adjuster on top of the fork). On the shock, you have the rebound, again located on the bottom of the shock, right side, but the compression is separated into high speed (the 17mm blue hex; it does not "click"), and low speed (the screw in the center of the hex adjuster). The manual shows these in section 3 under chassis adjustments. If you don't have a manual, download one here:

http://www.yamahaownershandbook.com.au/?r=0

"High speed/low speed" refers to the speed of the suspension stroke, not the bike. The book also lists the basic stock settings, which are as good place to start from as any.

Then read over this page:

http://motoman393.thumpertalk.com/tech/suspension.html

It's a good guide to help understand what you're trying to accomplish.

The YZ450 in stock form has a bit too much initial rebound response in the fork, and is a whole lot too light on initial rebound in the back. "Initial" means the speed and the degree to which the suspension responds to the first bit of movement in the suspension. In the front, this is not a real big deal, but it cuts into the plushness over the little stuff slightly.

In the rear, however, it's a different matter, and it makes the bike difficult if not impossible to tune really well. If you graph the damping resistance of the shock as a curve, with the increase in resistance along the X axis (horizontal) and the increase in stroke speed along the Y, the stock curve is too flat for the first half of the speed range. Tightening the rebound adjuster fixes that, but then the curve is too vertical in the upper half of the range. You can usually get a stock shock tuned pretty well for one specific situation, but not for a broad range of conditions such as the real world is so full of. When I install Dave Johnson's DDT kits, the shock rebound stack gets a considerable beefing up, and the difference in stability over the rough is quite impressive.