I am what you would say a heavier rider.....I weigh about 265 and need to know how to adjust the suspension for whoops and jumps for best performance ....Right now my rear kicks up to much on the whoops.....And let me tell you the local Dealer was of no help.....Anyone that can instruct on how to get optimal performance from stock shocks PLEASE let me know......

Thanx a bunch

 

Me too...same weight range and I ride the DS because it has the BEST ride on any sport bike out there. It doesn't ride like the Arctic Cat but it sure beats the Blaster!!!

 

Front race sag should be set at 3 1/2" with you seated on the quad. In other words, lift up on the front of the quad so that the suspension is fully extended, and measure from the ground to one of the front bumper bolts. Then sit on the quad, jump up and down, roll the quad back and forth, and make sure the suspension is settled to the height it will be at with you sitting on the quad in your normal riding position. Then have someone measure from the ground to the same bumper bolt; the measurement should be 3 1/2" less than the unloaded measurement. Make the same adjustment for the rear suspension, except race sag should be set at 4" - 4 1/2".

Be sure to adjust the race sag first, being as the amount of sag will affect the toe setting. And set the toe with the ATV at ride height. If you set the toe with the suspension fully drooped, and the ATV sitting on a floor jack, you will have too much toe-out at ride height.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]ffice[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]ffice" Toe should be set at 1/8" toe out, with you seated on the quad As far as the adjustable dampening goes, the best way is to put a screwdriver in your pocket and go for a ride. You'll feel it when the shock is too stiff on compression, and too loose, rebound is a little harder. You want the rebound to be loose enough to rebound on quick repeated hits, but not bounce back and hit you in the butt. Mine are set very loose, with just about 5 clicks, I think, from minimum.

Remember that the basic shock valving is only changed by rebuilding. The adjustments on all rezzies are a fine tuning that is in addition to the shocks regular valving, which is speed sensitive and more, and quite sophisticated. In contrast, the adjustments you make at the rezzy and the shock base control fluid to and from the rezzy in a very simple incremental way. So the very best setup is for the shocks to be just a little light, dampening wise, both compression and rebound, so the rezzy adjustments can add just that little bit to make them dead-on.Steering dampers are a great item, but they are built for all bikes for a purpose - to reduce "bump steer" - which is what happens when you hit an obstacle. They are great to have, but only a bandaid to the DS steering issue. The DS's sensitive steering is from too little caster, as Tech Editor says. Too little caster makes the steering more sensitive, and is compounded by improper suspension and toe settings, as well as tires that suck. First you must set up the front and rear shocks for your weight, then correctly set the toe-out, and then if the budget allows get rid of the Dominators - all four - and get some real tires. Ohtsus, Holeshots, Razors, Bandits, etc. Suspension -
REAR SAG should be 30% of shock travel (3.5"-4"). Lift rear bumper up until shock is fully extended, measure to floor, YOU get on the bike and measure again. Difference should be no more than 4", I like 3.5". Adjust preload on spring to achieve this. This will also keep the chain off the chain roller more often.FRONT SAG should be about 20% of travel (2.5"-3"). Stretch out the shocks, measure from bumper to floor. YOU get on the bike, jump up and down and rock her back and forth a bit, sit down and have somebody measure again. Difference should be around 2.5"-3". TOE - After the suspension is set, its time for toe. Toe must be measured with YOU on the seat. Have somebody measure across the front of the tires - center to center, then across the back of the tires - center to center. Measurements should be taken level with the spindles front and back. The difference is toe. Tie rods should adjusted to achieve TOE-OUT of no more than 1/8" (front measurement 1/8" more than rear measurement), and no less than neutral (equal). After doing these things, you will feel a great improvement. Keep in mind that toe changes as suspension travels, so if you change the suspension set-up at any time, toe will need re-addressed. This is why you set up the suspension first. Getting new tires will help even more - a rounder and softer front tire will improve things, and the larger the diameter of the front tire, the greater the increase in caster. At the same time, the larger the rear tire, the less caster you'll have. The guys that go with 22" rears are probably in more need of the a-arm fix, but definitely try the above set-up before you drop the dough. After all the above you will undoubtedly love your bike much more. If its not quite enough for you taste or rider weight, then you'll need upper A-Arms. Stock caster is 5 degrees, ideally you would set the new arms from 7-9 degrees, but after doing the above steps for free, you may decide its good enough.

 

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or look here:

00,01 suspension info..

 

Great info guys, now can somebody please tell us how to do evrything that was said in here? i now have a prety good idea of what to set my bike to, but have no idea how to do it............[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img] thanks

 

 

Front pre-load adjustment: Grab spring with both hands and turn. Adjustment ring will turn with the spring, it's threaded so it will move up and down on the shock body. Move the adjustment ring like this until you get the ride height you want, then remove the C-clip by pulling on it and move in close to the adjustment ring. Turn the spring to tighten the adjustment ring onto the C-Clip to keep it from coming off.

Rear shock pre-load adjustment. Loosen upper ring with hammer and screwdriver. Turn spring (lower adjustment collar will turn with it.) Set ride height, spin upper ring down and tighen with hammer and screwdriver.

 

Sweet now just explain what pre-load and compresion is and what they do........Thanx

 

Pre-load is the pressure on the spring that sets the ride height. The more pre-load, the tall the quad sits. Moving the collar up (on the front) will put more pressure on the spring and make the quad sit higher. It also makes the shock stiffer. More pre-load is a way to compensate for a too soft shock (if you bottom the front on jumps) since it's not rebuildable. Move the ring down in the back will put more pressure on the spring (you'll notice that it's harder to turn the springs for adjustment) and make the back sit higher.

The measurement previously described work well with the stock suspension. I put on aftermarket upper a-arms and set the caster back to around 10 degrees. I run 5-inches of sag in the front and 7-inches in the back.

The compression setting is the little screw on the reservoir under the battery. turn is clockwise and it makes the shock stiffer, counter-clockwise is softer. It clicks into place when you turn it. Be sure it's in a click or you can ruin your shock. Personally I run mine as soft as possible with the shock bottoming out every now and then. If the course is really rough and it's bottoming out all the time I turn the screw clockwise 1 or 2 turns. For MX, I had to crank in 8 clicks to get it to stop bottoming on the big jumps.

Rebound, the screw on the bottom of the rear shock is harder to set up. Whoops are about the only place you can really test it.