Hey. I just got a new trx450r and was wondering if anyone out there had some good info on the best set of a arms and shocks available. The companies that am looking at are the Roll Lobo 2 setup with Axis or Elka. Which out of those shocks do you think work the best? The other arms i was looking at was Gibson and Ars-fx. Anyone that knows something about these companies please message me back with some info. Thanks!
Jeff P

 

gibbson would be MY first choice with the axis shocks! but the lobo2 front end is still one of the best.

when it comes to shocks I've been told the axis are a better shock but higher maintince then the elka.
my personal prefrence is PEP. (sorry my spell checkers not home)=wife

 

I talked to Ed today and he has a 450r in the shop and will have arms in a couple weeks. Teixeira Tech

 

Yeah, ive been to that website before and i saw a few decent pictures, but i didnt find enough close up pictures and info about the shocks, and there was no literature on the 450, so i didnt consider them. Also, what shocks do the reccommend you run with their arms. How do their arms compare to, Roll, Gibson, Ars-fx?

 

didnt find enough info about the arms* not the shocks, my bad

 

I own two fully built race quads and a new stock TRX450R. On my Kawi, I have Laeger +3 with PEP shocks. It handles pretty good. I am going to run Denton Arms with Elka shocks on my TRX450. If I had the money I would go with gibson. With what you (Hon450r) have listed, you can't go wrong with any of those choices. The only problem that those front end set ups cost a pretty penny. Good luck in choosing.

 

I will be using Custom Axis shocks with my Teixeira Tech arms.

 

My personal opinion is that you should stay away from Elka. I know a lot of people like them, but I own a set, and I'll tell you that I'm never gambling another cent of my money on Elka shocks.

 

Hey 98recon, elaborate a littl emore on your experience with elka. Im interested in seeing what you have to say about them. I have heard diff reactions to them. Duncan sells both axis and elka and they said that both the shocks are about equal, but the elka service is better. Tell me about your experience please!

 

I've had several problems with them.
1) The preload adjuster keeps freezing up. I've tried using anti seize, but no luck. The only way to change the preload is with a pipe wrench and that leaves some pretty bad gouges, and, if I try to adjust the preload down, it will unscrew the shock body from the head.
2) Some of the chrome has chipped off the shaft. Fortunately, though, it was at the bottom.
3) The hoses are so short and stiff that the reservoirs can only be mounted in one place.
4) The springs that came on the shocks were WAY to soft. I really had to fight how much they wanted to roll in turns. I ordered new springs from elka and they were stiffer, but still too soft.
5) I don't know what's up with the valving. On small bumps the shocks are too stiff while on bigger bumps and jumps they are too soft and easily bottom out.

The gripes I mentioned in 4 and 5 are not just small, barely noticable, problems. I've had people who don't race notice that something wasn't right. I can actually ride faster on stock shocks. My Elkas are two years old, and I've heard that Elka has made some changes since then, but I'm not paying $800 (or whatever it is they cost now) to find out if they are any better.