Rear shock, front fork race sag?

[Bigbill]

What really brought the suspension setting was on my 84 husky 250wr I purchased. The suspension was already adjusted with the rider and PO being a big guy. It's a sweet ride for me. Not so spongy on the front fork. This really got my attention that the older suspension can be tweaked to a point.

Thanks for the awesome info presented here.

 

[Bigbill]

Go to,, www.husqvarna-parts.com. Look at the engine parts. There is a listing for piston sizes.

 

[Bigbill]

To check to see if the compression on the front fork is even to the rear shocks/swing arm. I stand on a milk crate and hold the bike and with my right foot on the left peg compress the suspension. This puts the down forces exactly as if the rider weight is standing up while riding on the pegs.

 

[Kartwheel68]

That was sort of my point with my setup, I intentionally unbalance it and make the rear stiffer relative to the front to put more weight on the front wheel, collapse the fork more to tighten the rake and improve steering. On my 92 Honda CR500 I do the opposite to stop it from head shaking. Balanced front to rear is rarely the ideal setup but it all depends on the bike and rider.

 

[justintendo]

To check to see if the compression on the front fork is even to the rear shocks/swing arm. I stand on a milk crate and hold the bike and with my right foot on the left peg compress the suspension. This puts the down forces exactly as if the rider weight is standing up while riding on the pegs.

you want to test this in the "rider attack" postion, sitting, somewhat towards the tank with as much weight as possible on the bike and not your feet. this is how you check sag. why test it in an artificial position standing next to it? makes no sense. you wouldnt check sag sitting way off the back or completely on the tank either.

 

[DaveM]

Hi,

The standing test is to test to see if front and rear suspension is working together, evenly, nothing else.

No good having one end rock hard and the other end too soft.

Sag is set by having all your riding gear on, normal sitting position, feet on the pegs.

Normally a 2 person job.

Don't forget you need to lift the back of the bike up to the top of the shock stroke to get the starting measurement.

Then climb on and measure the compressed measurement.

I normally measure from the ground to a side cover bolt or maybe the rear seat bolt.

I set the sag to 90mm, mono shock, others say 80mm or 100mm.

But I was told 90mm.

People with twin shocks are saying 1/3 of the travel for sag.

I have to bow to them, because I don't know.

 

[Kartwheel68]

Again, that is my point, I intentionally set up one end softer than the other, I don't want them to work evenly. I do set up some bikes evenly but most I don't. When people ride my twin shock Huskys they always comment on how good they turn, and that is because of how I set up the suspension stiffer in the rear relative to the front.

 

[ct cr430]

If you're measuring from the ground you're adding more variables . Tire flex , sag will change with tire and or tire pressure . And also it would depend if you have the bike perfectly straight up and down , not leaning to one side or the other . Better of using the rear axle as a reference point . As a follow up on my previous post I took a look at a manual from a 1979 yz 400 , still nothing about setting sag , just an fyi .

 

[DaveM]

Kartwheel68,

Sounds like a good setup for racing, on a circuit with tight corners?

My setup is for the average person trail riding, riding long distances, hours in the saddle, a full days riding.

ct cr430, you can measure from wherever you want, I normally have to drag a non motorcycle person to help me,

and I have found it easier for them to just measure from the ground to a side cover bolt, and even then it can still

be difficult for them to work out.

 

[Kartwheel68]

Nope, it works everywhere, tight woods, MX, open fast trail riding. Here is the way I look at it, since Huskys have a surplus of stability, I try to trade some of that for turning. What I end up with is a bike that nearly turns as good as a Maico or a Japanese bike and is still more stable than all of those other bikes. Everyone is skeptical of the setup until they ride it an they are convinced. Also, I am not talking about a drastic difference in front/rear balance, it does not take a lot to shift the weight balance towards the front more. On the WRs, which are mainly woods bikes obviously, I take it a step farther and take out the travel limiting spacer in the shocks making them the same length as a CR/XC shock. This increases rear travel from 10.6" to 11" and raises the rear end to shift even more weight bias to the front. With this setup the WR has razor sharp turning, and if you are in just the right circumstances the bike will ever so slightly shake its head, but for the purpose I use the WRs the improvement in turning is worth the tradeoff. Again, all of this is subtle, if you look at my 430WR which is set up like this, it does not look different than a stock WR, its not something that is so drastic the bike looks odd, but it works.

 

[Bigbill]

The Husqvarna suspension is plush to me. Each year feels close to each other. I could hop on any husky from the mid 70's to mid 80's and ride it. They feel almost the same. I think the thicker seat from the mid to late 70's seems to hold the rider better because of the thicker foam. The 40mm front forks and the twin olins on the rear is about as good as it gets. On my 70's bikes I used the 17" progressive gas shocks with the highest spring rate they offer. I purchased one bike were the PO must have ruptured ever disc in his back. He put the 17" springs on the 15" progressive shocks. No suspension at all.

I notice you shifter is even with the peg. I adjust the shifter lever one knotch lower on the spline. This was with boots I'm ok. Nice bike.

Ever notice on the bigger bores when standing up wot the bike tends to try to leave you? I need to pull myself up on the bike while flying down the straights.

 

[justintendo]

The Husqvarna suspension is plush to me. Each year feels close to each other. I could hop on any husky from the mid 70's to mid 80's and ride it. They feel almost the same. I think the thicker seat from the mid to late 70's seems to hold the rider better because of the thicker foam. The 40mm front forks and the twin olins on the rear is about as good as it gets. On my 70's bikes I used the 17" progressive gas shocks with the highest spring rate they offer. I purchased one bike were the PO must have ruptured ever disc in his back. He put the 17" springs on the 15" progressive shocks. No suspension at all.

I notice you shifter is even with the peg. I adjust the shifter lever one knotch lower on the spline. This was with boots I'm ok. Nice bike.

Ever notice on the bigger bores when standing up wot the bike tends to try to leave you? I need to pull myself up on the bike while flying down the straights.

how do you up-shift when standing up with the shifter pointing down?
sounds like you may need to sit further forward on the tank if the bike is trying to leave you, or go to a smaller displacement

 

[justintendo]

Nope, it works everywhere, tight woods, MX, open fast trail riding. Here is the way I look at it, since Huskys have a surplus of stability, I try to trade some of that for turning. What I end up with is a bike that nearly turns as good as a Maico or a Japanese bike and is still more stable than all of those other bikes. Everyone is skeptical of the setup until they ride it an they are convinced. Also, I am not talking about a drastic difference in front/rear balance, it does not take a lot to shift the weight balance towards the front more. On the WRs, which are mainly woods bikes obviously, I take it a step farther and take out the travel limiting spacer in the shocks making them the same length as a CR/XC shock. This increases rear travel from 10.6" to 11" and raises the rear end to shift even more weight bias to the front. With this setup the WR has razor sharp turning, and if you are in just the right circumstances the bike will ever so slightly shake its head, but for the purpose I use the WRs the improvement in turning is worth the tradeoff. Again, all of this is subtle, if you look at my 430WR which is set up like this, it does not look an different than a stock WR, its not something that is so drastic the bike looks odd, but it works.

nice setup, the swedes have a bit of stability to give up for sure.

 

[DaveM]

You are right about Husqvarnas having plenty of stability!

Years ago I was out riding with my mate Mike,

We were riding along a beach near Millicent, South Australia.

The beach above the water line was quite firm.

It had a very long flowing l/h curve, I was in a high gear, moving fast, hanging the ass end out, throwing sand.

While looking over my shoulder to see where my mate was!

That's stability!

Good days!

 

[Kartwheel68]

I notice you shifter is even with the peg. I adjust the shifter lever one knotch lower on the spline. This was with boots I'm ok. Nice bike.

I stand 80% of the time I'm riding so I have my shifters set to work best while standing.

 

[Bigbill]

That's another thing about the husky stability. We can be hanging off to one side like side saddle on a horse and it will still track straight. Once you leave the centerline on a newer bike it's all over. I went down a few times on my 98 250wr husky. Two different rides.

 

[justintendo]

That's another thing about the husky stability. We can be hanging off to one side like side saddle on a horse and it will still track straight. Once you leave the centerline on a newer bike it's all over. I went down a few times on my 98 250wr husky. Two different rides.

all over? my 95 360 wxc is way different than a swede but handles great. its turning ability is in a different league than my older swedes but its a bit less stable.
it "leaves centerline" just fine..i run it all winter with studs in the snow and it runs in the drifts and hardpack great. i do have it sprung and adjusted correctly, which makes more of a difference on single shock.

 

[Bigbill]

The twin olins make the older Husqvarnas more stable. Plus there's a swing arm flex on the newer single shock bikes my 98 250wr had it. Yet my single shock 86/400 didn't. The 86 had the retangular swing arm not the fancy triangles. Your strength is in the vertical. When I see the fancy wedges on the side rails on the swing arm there goes the strength. The lighter weight riders won't notice it. I was 300lbs and could feel the flex in a turn.

 

[suprize]

Ive rode the beach at milicent...magnificent!

 

[86 400 XC]

300lbs makes it flex, OMG how strange is that.
I bet the wheels flex too....