125-200cc '09 wr125 suspension settings

OK, so we have beat the carb, jetting, and pv to death, what about suspension? I am actually pleased with the way my bike handles stock and I know a suspension specialist can make it much better. But for now I would like to know what I can do to tune what I have. I think the book says compression on bottom, and rebound on top, but I read another thread that says the opposite. I have changed to a lighter weight oil.
Anybody have suggestions? I am 165 lbs and ride rough tight single track.
Thanks, GP

I don't kno about evry WR125 but it WAS supposed to come with the regular single chamber 50mm zokes up front. Every one I have seen has the twin chamber on it (red top) I can only guess the lack of CR prolification we see lateley left alot of these around at the factory. The stock fork springs are .44's.WAAAY to stiff for all but the heavies or guys doing MX. It was way too stiff for me. Lighter oil as well as a switch to .40's helped my 09 (175 lbs). 5.2 on rear was a tad high but I changed to 5.0 as well as changed the huge piston and wide "O" ring in the shock to a bladder system. bladder takes away the stiction of the piston and its "O" ring and more supple on the litle chops and braking bumps for sure. Very happy in the single track and the woods and roots and rocks of the North East. Forks work so damn good I think the otherwise great back end is not a perfect (thats how great the forks feel!) I think I just have to fine the right for the day/track/trail rebound setting. This is not easy to do for me as the ares are so diverse (especially if you throw in some occassional deep sand to really screw with rear settings!)
preload is key with the bike. off just 5 mm on rear sag can make it feel totally bad also.
Am not lsting any setting as My bike has been re valved and the setings compare to stock may not be applicable. Drew Smith of WER did my work and am very happy. Heck, I even had the luxury or riding with him and he rode it, observed me riding it and made a few suggestions and tried some other stuff and am a happy camper. I know this was a luxury but that was above and beyond if you ask me. He also owns an 09 WR125 himself and is farmliar with it as well. Bottom line..Good bike stock but can be oversprung for most...WER gets it down to the front row!

I know that there are several good suspension tuners out there, but I will definately go with Drew(WER) when I am ready. I had communicated with him awhile back and he suggested I ride the bike for awhile to get a better understanding of what I might need. It can be a bit of a jackhammer sometimes if you are sitting, but handles great if you stand, which I am doing more and more. I now have the engine running perfect and am ready to turn attention to suspension.
I have the red top 50mm forks, so is compression on top or bottom?
Thanks, GP

Compression is on the top. If you look carefully by the top adjuster you'll see a "C" with "+" and "-" arrows. When Harvey at ACE did my suspension, he said the valving was pure CR125. If you can afford it, I'd send them to Drew now. It will be well worth it, as Husky suspension can be improved.

Simpler approach.... You can also lower your oil heights.

good topic, and it don't smell like premix.

i'm using the stock fork and shock springs for now. a bit stiff for all the rocks, logs etc. i do. but some of the seat suckers we encounter here are truly thigh-burners and it's nice to have the extra spring up front.

i just backed off my rear spring a little more again last night as this 09 is a stink bug. it's approx 4.25" of sag with me on it, gassed and geared up. gonna try some more maybe see how i like it as we go from clutch frying to wide open in 6th in a few spots. it's hard to strike a perfect balance. i use numbers as a reference ONLY not a rule and see what it likes with me on it. rebound on the shock is quick on the intial, solid on the mid-3/4 and seems to pack on sucessive bumps at full speed.
gonna try 4.25-4.5" sag, with more HS damp, less LS damp and a little less rebound damp. i dont usually run a lot of rebound damping out back. but if it starts popping me in the butt all the time ill slow it down some.

i slowed the fork rebound a tad with an extra shim or two. it let the front wheel come back down a little softer when hammering whoops. is still a little nervous after 20 or so big 6th gear rockers so it might be packing...gotta little more fiddling to do as it might be a tad slow. gonna speed the rebound up 2 clicks and try again and hope it dont surf any worse on shale and baby-heads.

if i rode snot and logs all the time i'd go to down 2 steps in sprgin weight up front and a at least one or two in the rear. might just do same and see what happens as i have a lot of springs at the shop i can sort through that may work. a spring is a spring pretty much so...if the dims and # are right, stuff it in and try it.

here's some quick referances i use to make mental notes:

Fork:
if the bar tugs or pulls on yer arms/shakes it head = rebound is too slow.
if the front wheel pops off stuff = comp too slow, rebound too fast.

Shock:
if the seat pop's you in the butt = rebound too fast
bike tries to swap out in whoops = rebound too slow

try and make one change atta time then re-ride. kinda hard trail riding, but you get the gist. sometimes they just need a service or a complete revalve. personally i prefer a little more spring and a little less damping. ill suffer a tad in the ultra-cobby stuff but it works better when it opens up for speedyer sections and your suspension in the plushest in the first third of the stroke and the bike rides up more with more spring. ya also cant valve/adjust around the wrong spring and vice-versa.

i'll also go to harbor freight and get a bunch of cheap little screw drivers and keep some in my pack and one in each boot if i know i have some fiddling to do because yes, they do fly outta the boot and get lost a lot (or run over *pop! pssssst!*...you owe me a tube dood!).

Now I feel stupid I did not see that before, I bought the bike from John Fero and he had glued tabs on the adjusters so you can make adjustments on the fly, and it blocked the writing on top. It will be handy to have those now that I know what I am adjusting!
PV Duke, that sounds like a lot of good info, I am still working on the Cali to tennessee translation though!
GP

sorry bud...