FE/FC re-springing my FE350

Just got a brand new FE350s and of course I'm STOKED... but I weigh 230 pounds and the manual says the bike is sprung for a rider between 165 and 187 pounds, so it looks like I need to install some new springs.

From reading the manual it appears I need to go to 4.6 N/mm in the forks and 6.0 N/mm on the rear shock.

Any other similiar weight riders out there who can share their experience re-springing their bike? What is your weight, and what spring rates did you use?

Thanks in advance for your help on this.

i'm about the same weight and use .48 and 6.0, i think you will find using .46 the front will be under sprung compared to the rear

Thanks. Would you consider yourself an "A" rider?

nope, medium/fast clubman

You can look up your recommended spring rates on this website http://racetech.com/

Thanks lanky. I went through the calculator and it came up with 0.464 kg/mm for the forks and 6.121 kg/mm for the rear shock, which matches what the OEM manual said. However, both bowser here as well as a local rider recommended going higher on the fork springs. So now I'm confused... from your experience, are these bikes known to need a little more spring up front?

I'm not sure about the FE350 but I weigh 210 lbs and run .48s on my 2011 YZ450 and my 09 Husky WR250 since you are 230 i tend to agree that 4.8s would be better unless for some reason your forks run more spring preload then normal.

My son rides the yz450 most of the time. I should add that he is the same weight as me and he is 6'8" tall and I'm 6'6"

If your 230 i would go with the next size up from the 6.0. The sag number wont come out right with the 6.0.

I'm 225 and run a 6.2 shock and 4.8 forks. Your riding weight is closer to 250 so go up imo. Racetechs scale isn't accurate from my experience. Call slavens for springs

I went with 4.6 front and 5.7 rear based on dealer recommendation, although they had a lot of trouble getting the correct rider sag (lots of preload added) so I think 6.0 rear might have been better. Anyway, first short ride feels like it's a good improvement. I'll post more after I give it a more thorough test.

too light for your weight, I bet you have more than 12mm preload and don't get both sag numbers?

I agree with bowser, .46 and 5.7 is close if you weighed at or less than 200 lbs. The problem with having to use too much preload is that the spring will stack resistance later in the travel and still be harsh in the beginning. Once you ride a bike with good valving and springs for your weight you will realize what you have been missing, not only will you be able to go much faster but you will feel safer at speed and have more confidence.

I've ridden it a couple of times with the new springs. It is definitely much improved over stock, I see what you mean about going faster and feeling safer. But yeah, the 5.7 rear is too light. Back to the dealer!

So I finally realized that the weights quoted in the Husqvarna manual are for rider WITH riding gear... that puts me in the 250 lb range and means I should be using 0.48 fork spring and 6.3 rear spring. Feeling a little sheepish but whatever, I'll get over it once she's dialled in.

Apologies to those who already pointed this out on this thread, I didn't really get what you were saying until I went back and read the manual CAREFULLY.

The thing I don't understand is, the racetech web site asks for rider weight without gear but then gives out spring rates that are the same as the husky manual... maybe a typo on the web site?

I'm 96kg (212 pounds) & was running .48 front & 5.7 rear.
I have just had another revalve done & it was pointed out by the tuner that 4cs spring rates are different to most other forks.
So now I'm running 4.4 front & Std rear spring, the dyno data that the tuner had gave the option to use the 5.7 but I'm trying the std first.
I could only just get the correct sag numbers on the rear & was a bit concerned but after this morning ride I know it's spot on.
I'll post a report in the 4cs thread, but I will just say that the bike has been transformed.

So now I'm on 0.48 front springs and 6.3 rear. Race sag with no gear is 100mm, with full gear it's 107. Feels great bombing down the trails! Thanks all for the education.

See, we do know what we're talking about. Been there, done that. Enjoy it

Never doubted it... it's just that I always learn the hard way...