another susp question

[stlyamadude]

.2008 yz450.....i bought used,i believe the guy rode and raced the crap out of it...i had the front forks serviced by my local shop and he put seals and bushings in it...i was riding this past weekend and rode with a few guys and we got talking about susp....one guy with an 07 the other with 09..yz's ofcourse....the 09 rear susp would completly rebound to full hieght/stroke when u would un mount...like sitting there by itself u could not pull the a$$ end up at all....mine wouls sag about inch n half maybe 2 and the 07 was about the same as mine....the guy with 09 rode mine and said that my bike didnt ride level.......well after he said this then the rest of the day i noticed it as well...my front site higher than my rear when a rider is mounted...my race sag is set correctly...ive checked it since...rear susp seems ok to me..maybe a little soft..i dont seem to have a problem with it..but the guy told me that would cause the bike to push in the corners and make the front seem wishy washy....i have this problem..is this the cause of my problem???? my rear is sagging to much...i have my front comp turned all the way out...soft.....rebound about 8 clicks out....rear shock i have set at factory specs....do u think that #1 my front is to stiff..possibly first owner had stiffer springs put in....or there is to much oil...or fork valves not working properly.....front does seem kinda stiff......or #2 my rear spring is worn out???or maybe the rear shock is worn out itself....if anyone can give me some answers that would be great...probly the first question i need answered is if when i am on the bike,should the bike sit relitevly level from front to back obviously.....then if it is....do u think it is the front thats to stiff..or the rear is sagging to much and i need a new spring and or shock rebiuld...i am a c woods only rider and wiegh about 165-170 lbs...any help would be greatly appreciated...thanks to all....

[stlyamadude]

maybe i should add this to be completly clear...lol....... if i have my bike standing alone no rider on and no stand under......i push down on the rear shock...it moves down smoothly and rebounds good as well....but after the rebound....i can pull up on the rear fender and get about another 1 -2 inches out of the travel....maybe not a full 2 inches but u no what i mean rite...??? ok....is that normal???? or should the shock fully rebound to the top of its stroke and have no movement at all........maybe the guy with the 09 had his rebound set way high???? is that possible...??? or as i said is my spring worn out..??

[2grimjim]

Your buddy with the '09 has one of two problems with his rear suspension setup;

A) Assuming he has the race sag set correctly @3.5-4", he either weighs too much for the spring installed on the shock and has too much preload dialed in.

The race sag (rider sitting on the bike) is incorrectly set less than 3"

In either case, the '09 rider doesn't know what he's talking about and any advice from him should be sumarrily ignored.

[stlyamadude]

laughing out loud......well 09er guy wasnt a buddy but even so.....thank you...so none of the above is correct??? what about the level riding position theory???? i would assume that your saying that is incorrect as well???? i think the fully extended rear shock deal is odd but as far as the...... my bike pushing in the corners n having slight handeling problems, its kind of makes since to me...if the front sits higher than the rear..wouldnt that cause for a "lite" front end leading to poor handeling??? while on the subject....if i have my compression all the way out...soft...and i still feel to stiff,how do i get softer???i read some postes by grayracer that said that rebound adgustments can actually affect comp in some instances...i have backed those off slightly but have not riden it yet...i would say next step is lower my fork oil??? or would that only affect half to full stroke ie high speed comp will say....?? sorry for so many questions just trying to figure this whole thing out and i would really like to know how to CORRECTLY adjust suspesion...lol any help as i said will be greatly appriciated...

[BBrown626]

As said above, your buddy doesn't know how to setup his suspension. check tootech.com or racetech or the TT How-To section to find out how to set up your suspension. use the racetech calculator to find out what spring rates you need for your weight and riding. The back of your manual has a section on chasis tuning that covers the same information, but with less instruction and detail. You need the right spring rates in the forks and shock and you need your sag set properly and forks adjusted properly to begin tuning the system.

[grayracer513]

The bike that rebounds to the limit of extension is definitely set up wrong, either with the wrong spring, or just misadjusted.

Read:

http://www.tootechracing.com/suspension_tips.htm

Then:

http://www.tootechracing.com/Static%20Sag%20Suspension%20Tip.htm

[stlyamadude]

ok so i have read some other things online about rear susp and im in agreeancewith everyone about the guy with the 09 having his susp set wrong...so enough of that...i havnt had alot of time to work on the bike but decided its been about 4 months since i greased my shock linkage so thats what i did last night....also installed my new cycra triple clamp side mounts for my hand gaurds....wayyyy better than the wrap around bar clamps thats for sure.....anyway finished up torque on the linkage today and after while going to try and get my sub frame and all back together so i can re check my sag and static sag....thank you grayracer for the link to his website!!! found some pretty good info on there!!!!! the static sag is a measurement that i have been looking for but couldnt figure out how to do it...so thanks to all for the help this far....i hope to get the correct measurements set by friday..i am heading down to a new place to ride week after next called chadwick,mo and want /need any help i can get from the bike...i hear its pretty knarly single track.....

my only concern is that my front may still be to stiff...i hope that my race sag if off since the last time i checked..{relized its been about 2 months} i thought i had just checked it but it was on a friends bike not mine...so to summerize...i am going to redo that and hope for the best...one thing i havnt found is,may sound stupid but a so called race sag for the front forks....when i sit on my bike my front hardly moves quarter of an inch..i think the springs r stifffer than stock or i have somthing internal wrong...if i push down on them they feel smooth and work ok when riding just seems a bit stiff for my liking is all...ok i will epost with results...merry xmas to all.....