Ok well a few of you may remember a while back I went riding and got stuck in the snow. This caused my shocks to act very different and I loved it. Well I then went and adjusted my pre-load to 0 sag with no rider and about 3.5 with rider. I also at that time adjusted the preloads on my front to stiffer and adjusted my toe to "0" with the rider on.

Well I am happy to report that the adjustments worked very well. Although it didn't feel like my cold shocks did, it did feel much better in the sand. The thing I noticed most was the front end felt much much lighter. It still had a very nice ride and was far better to jump, FAR BETTER. The one thing I noticed as well was hookup. Before I could do a 2nd gear start and it would lift a bit but not bad and then go. I tried a 2nd gear start this time and it put me on my A$$!!(Not Kidden) So I did all 1st gear starts and all was great. Waisted a few Shee's and Raptors and also finally got to line up to a new Cannible. The Cannible is fast, very fast, but I still took him 3 out of 3. I have a new respect for the quad for sure. The guy was a very good rider and smaller than me, so I know the quad was performing at its best. I was also able to find some whoops to run it through and I could fly over them, way cool. The other best thing I noticed was the new handleing. I have Razorback fronts and at first hated them, now I love them!!, They bounced alot before and the quad darted something feirce but now it was all gone. No doubt due to the toe adjustment. It tracked streight, went where I wanted it to, and the boucing was gone, nice and smooth. I was going to sell them before but not on your life now!!

I have a very good freind before that lives for riding dunes. He has a very trick Shee the hauls major butt!! My DS doesn't even come close, but anyway he likes to ride other quads and see how they are and just have fun. I let him ride my DS last year a few times before I perfected the jetting and did any of these adjustments. Saturday he rode it again, several times, and this was his reaction,"I have to be honest, I didn't really care for the Bomber last year when I rode it. Now though it feels like a different machine. Torquey very torquey(sp?) there are no more misses and man does it fly!! Now that it rides like it does and being built as bullet proof as it is, this thing is one of the best all around quads I have ever seen, period!!" After that he was telling everyone about how awesome the quad was and I could hardly keep people from asking to ride it to see what he was talking about. Yes I was loving it LOL. This man is very respected for his opinion around our dunes. He is one of the best riders and mechanics I know. The thing tht sucks is I bet there will be a few more DS's around, oh wait thats a good thing, cept I will have to spend more money to keep ahead of them LOL.

Well now for my question. Altough others didn't notice, and before alot of the others riding it, I noticed it to be running sluggish, just didn't seam to have that hard hit I was used to. I was like ahh its just from being in the sand. Then we went to the trucks and got some grubb and rehydrated with some bottled water(NO I don't drink and ride)When we set out agian my machine came to life. Hit hard, revd higher, ran smoother, the exaust was even louder. It wasnt over heated previously, nothing was different. I was just wondering if any of you had any ideas as to why it all of a sudden ran better? I didn't add new gas either. I wonder if possibly the choke wasn't all the way in and finaly slipped in or something. Can the CDI recalibrate or something? It was just odd. The day though I think was one of the best days I have ever had riding, cept for being put on my back!! OHHHH and NO damage to the pipe either.

Shhheeewww, now I have to go get some ice for my fingers!!
Demon

 

Could it be that your clutch was be slipping? My ds felt like it did the samething till i put in the pami springs.

 

That's how mine acts sometimes. But I can tell it's the clutch because it doesn't have that "jump" after a gear shift.

 

Demon, or somebody, im trying to compress the rear coil on the shock to tighten the 2 rings on the top. how do i do it?

 

Ugly~
First thing, spray some WD-40 on the threads so the nuts will turn easily. You should be able to break loose the top nut with a hammer and a screwdriver. Be sure you are hitting the right way to loosen it! Once that's loose, lift the back of the DS by the grab bar so the suspension is fully extended. Now you should be able to just turn the spring and the lower nut should turn with it. Be sure to tighten the top nut when your done with adjustments.

 

DemonDS, how do you adjust the toe?

 

Kodiak~
I'm not demon, but I can address your question about adjusting toe. First, take measurements at teh front and back of the tires. Measure from center to center of tire. Subtract the back measurement from the front to get your current measurement. Next thing I did was loosen the nuts on both tie rods so they could be adjusted evenly. I did one turn of the tie rods at a time and then took measurements until the toe was where I wanted it. I then tightened the tie rod nuts and enjoyed the test ride.

 

WI, was doing everything but the WD..... what a diffrence, thanx

 

I am not sure about the clutch slipping, I would think that it would still run about the same but not be putting the power down, it wasnt running the same, gutless. Dunno, I am going to pull the carb and give it a good cleaning, maybe it was a bit plugged or summ'n.

As for the rear shock, try to follow me on this one. I first took a HEAVY DUTY tie down with hooks and hooked one end on the top of the spring and then went around the swingarm and hooked the other to the bottom of the machine frame, causing it to compress the spring when tightening. To make it easier I stood on the very back of it to compress it as much as possible before ratcheting. once it was as tight as I could get it, I then took a handyman jack and put the base on the swing arm and the hook on the grab bar. Jacked it to full extension of the shock. the strap held the spring and I could tighten it with ease. I was able to tell how much adjustment much easier than turning the spring. I tried to turn the spring actually first and it wouldn't even with a large punch and a hammer on the nut. Hope you followed me there!!

As for the toe, I will give you my method. First you need two people, because you need to be on the quad. Pick up the front, drop it, then get on and bounce a few times. This puts the front where it will be most of the time when you are riding. Then measure each tires rear to the frame. Make sure bothe measurements are even. This makes sure that not just one of the tires is off while the other is streight( I know not necassary but it can show you if you need to check a side for anything bent)then as said before take center to center measurements, front and rear, and adjust bothe sides until they are how you want them. Mine are dead even, or 0 toe. That meanes the both tires run perfectly parallel. Some like it with possitive toe and some with neg. 0 toe gives the least amount of drag but quick steering. try it unitl you like it. Adjust your shocks as well before doing the adjustment as machine height will affect it. Hope this helps.

Demon

 

Ok now for the rear to frame measurement, would that be the back of the tire to the Main section of the frame? And the Center you mean from the front hub to the rear hub? How would I go about making these adjustments? What tools and other stuff would I need? If they are set at 0 would that the tires run straight up & down instead of the bottoms leaning out?

Thanx