Clicker settings

[Luke Ballard]

Hey guys.

So I got and installed the correct springs for my weight 6.7 eibach rear and .54 racetech in the forks.

Much better straight up, but now I need to dial the clickers in. Now I have the workshop manual and have just gone and reset the clickers all back to the standard factory settings so I can play with them from there. This was easy with the forks but I'm confused with the shock.

The manual says to "reset the standard setting, turn upper adjusters clockwise until reach- ing fully closed position. Then turn them back to the above-mentioned positions" (16 +1/-2 clicks shock low damp speed and 1 ± 1/2 turns for shock high damp speed, 16 +1/-2 click for rebound).

As I said the forks were easy as they say the same as above but the recommended clicks make more sense...
-10 clicks compression and-14 clicks rebound.

Can someone please explain exactly what the +\- and 1/2 clicks are all about?

In all, I'm looking for a smoother feeling fork at high speed desert type riding, on hard rocky stuff with deep sand sections with good smooth action on the drops and table tops. With the rear, I want it to be firm but not so harsh that it kicks my feet off the pegs or springs and pops up under me when it hits unexpected rough stuff. As I said though, I'm just trying to get the clickers back to the standard factory settings and work from there, just can't work out the shocks standard settings.

Any help appreciated!

Also, whilst I'm here, I must give a huge thumbs up to the P3 carbon heat shield I put in the header pipe... Awesome!

The Force radiator braces / guards have paid for themselves twice already after 2 decent " get offs" that should have caused some sort of radiator damage, but are still 100%!

Not so impressed with the ego bark busters as they are impossible to fit with the bar mounts as the clutch line gets in the way. I moved the line up and the bark busters sort of mounted below the line, then first ride, a little
get off and the guards spun up and sheared the clutch line off! New clutch line installed and bled and now looking for a solution to the mount the bark busters. Can't seem to get the clutch line out of the way, doesn't look like the triple clamp mounts will work, bar clamp mounts seem very pricey and not 100% sure they work with the strange standard husky bar clamp setup... What to do?

 

[Husq-a-daygo]

This

Cycra probends

 

[Luke Ballard]

Nice. Wondering if the Cycra Pro Bend u clamps mount system would work with my current ego bark buster setup?

Anyone got any advice for the CLICKERS???

 

[Luke Ballard]

Still not happy with my front end. Going for a new tyre, going to play with the settings but my problem is when going at low speeds the front end seems to dive in and wash out when hitting patches of sand, slippery hard pack and rocks and ruts. Everything seems good when riding hard and attacking obstacles and drops and jumps. Any ideas? I've had 4 good offs in the past 4 months, 2 ending in hospital! All 4 crashes have been slow speed affairs. 2 in patches of soft sand when the front has just dived in and I ended up going over the bars and 2 on really hard pack stuff where the front has washed out when cruising around smooth corners at sensible speeds.

 

[Nick Noodles]

Have you had much time riding in deep sand?.

 

[Husq-a-daygo]

If your in San Diego give George at Suspension 101 a call.

 

[Luke Ballard]

Yeah, a fair bit now, but still not great at it.

 

[Nick Noodles]

It just takes time getting the hang of it, I run my tyres at 10psi rear and 14psi front in the dunes as well as making the front end harder but slowing it down a few clickers compared to my other settings works for me.
Practice,practice and more practice.

 

[Luke Ballard]

Still really unhappy with the suspension on my bike. Can not get it to feel right, despite the right springs for my weight, playing with the clickers, playing with the fork position / height, etc.. Great bike in every department except the handling, so frustrated that I am seriously considering selling it. Front continues to feel harsh on choppy stuff, hates ruts, washes out, ducks and dives, feels reeling unpredictable and unbalanced.

 

[teuchter]

Have you changed the geometry of the bike at all (i.e. the shock stroke length)? If not, you should.

Between 2011 and 2012 the 449 shock was shortened from the factory since it was recognized the front end was too twitchy.

Your issues sound geometry related, I'm not sure you'll resolve them with compression and rebound adjustments.

2 weeks ago I put the spacer in my rear shock to lower the back end, it's made a huge difference to the front end twitchiness, especially in sand. I also lowered my forks in the triple clamps as far as they'd go.

Race Tech sells the spacer kit for $30 if you're capable of installing yourself, or send the shock to them or ZipTy. You can insert 4-8mm of spacers depending on preference. Note that because of the swingarm angle and linkage design, 4mm spacer results in lowering the rear end of the bike by about 12mm.

The Race Tech spacer kit comes with installation instructions but a fair degree of mechanical precision is required to install. You need to disassemble the shock, grind off the peening on top of the rebound needle, then reassemble and re-pressure with nitrogen.

After you've changed the shock stroke length, I'd consider revalving the forks. This can also be done at home with racetech components. My TXC has the closed cartridge forks, they're great for big hits but deflect like crazy off the little stuff. My next job will be to revalve the forks. I live in the high desert in NM and my bike rides great in sand washes.

 

[Luke Ballard]

Thank

Have you changed the geometry of the bike at all (i.e. the shock stroke length)? If not, you should.

Between 2011 and 2012 the 449 shock was shortened from the factory since it was recognized the front end was too twitchy.

Your issues sound geometry related, I'm not sure you'll resolve them with compression and rebound adjustments.

2 weeks ago I put the spacer in my rear shock to lower the back end, it's made a huge difference to the front end twitchiness, especially in sand. I also lowered my forks in the triple clamps as far as they'd go.

Race Tech sells the spacer kit for $30 if you're capable of installing yourself, or send the shock to them or ZipTy. You can insert 4-8mm of spacers depending on preference. Note that because of the swingarm angle and linkage design, 4mm spacer results in lowering the rear end of the bike by about 12mm.

The Race Tech spacer kit comes with installation instructions but a fair degree of mechanical precision is required to install. You need to disassemble the shock, grind off the peening on top of the rebound needle, then reassemble and re-pressure with nitrogen.

After you've changed the shock stroke length, I'd consider revalving the forks. This can also be done at home with racetech components. My TXC has the closed cartridge forks, they're great for big hits but deflect like crazy off the little stuff. My next job will be to revalve the forks. I live in the high desert in NM and my bike rides great in sand washes.

Thanks mate!