What aftermarket shocks are the best for the money? Works seam to work good for me, but are the PEP, or Ohlins that much better? Would a recreation type rider really be able to tell the difference?

 

I personally like the Works Performance shocks I've got on my R. They do everything I need them to do for a lot less money than say PEP, Axis.... For the money, unless you are racing professionally, id go with Works.

Tim Thibodaux ('86 TRX250R Bad to the bone)
http://members.xoom.com/TheATVPit

 

Rex, what makes you think you need new shocks if your just a Rec. rider? It's really not to to important now is it? Should you spend you money else where on your ATV? I think so, but... your not me. I personally like Works performance, but I hear Ohlins has a mean pair of front shocks. WHat type of ATV is this going on?

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Evan Johnson 88 LT250R 98 Blaster

 

Tim250R,
Do the works shocks help the bottoming factor? I bottom the front shocks on my 400EX a lot every time I go riding. Something is gonna break pretty soon I fear... I want something that trail rides really nice and cushy, but has the power to withstand some jumping too. Dual rate maybe??
Thanks
phil

 

Philzie,
I have the triple rate front steelers with out resevoirs and the Ultracross rear with triple rate springs and res. I have yet to bottom the front or rear. They are really smooth on the jumps and whoops but just a tad harsh on trails. I think that's because my weight was in between spring rates so I opted to go with the stiffer ones. They really work good for the money though. Besides I could get the softer springs for about $20 if I wanted.

Tim Thibodaux ('86 TRX250R Bad to the Bone!)
http://members.xoom.com/TheATVPit





[This message has been edited by Tim250R (edited 07-15-1999).]

 

Thanks Tim.
My rear shock is doing pretty well. It is the fronts that bother me so. We need a button to change the spring rates while we ride!! Yeah thats the ticket!
Thanks again,
phil

 

I used to have the Work triple rate's up front but swtiched to PEP's. I notice a big difference! The works seemed to get hot quick and would tend to bottom more than they are suspose to. A good shock "should" bottom on the hardest of hits. My new PEP's are great. I also had the rear shock rebuilt for my weight and riding style from PEP. It also works great! When I first got the rear back from PEP the spring was rubbing on the shaft housing and scuffing it. I sent it back to them and they put a new spring on for me and I had it back in 4 days! It did however take about 2 1/2 months to get my new fronts, but it was well worth the wait. I agree that the Works shocks work great and are a much better shock than the stockers, but i like the PEP's much better than the Works. Someone once said to me that "PEP shocks are Works shocks with valving" hehe
Thats my 3 cents,
Mike330R

 

I am going to go against what a lot of people think. I personnally think shocks are one of the first things a person should look at as far as aftermarket products. You can have all the power in the world but if the bike is beating you to death all that power doesn't do you much good. As for myself, I currntly race the GNCC series in the 250A class aboard a Roll chassis with Axis suspension. I have had the opportunity to own and use basically all the shocks out there(Works, WP, PEP, Axis, Ohlins) and have come to believe that shock performance does somewhat relate directly to price. I would agree with Tim on what he said about looking at what you are really going to be doing on the bike. It is hard to justify a $1300 per of shocks for weekend trail riding. Then again, you can't take a stock shock and go race a national in the Pro class. The Axis and PEP shocks are what I would consider the pick of the litter but they are not cheap. When you look at these to shocks, take a look at where they tend to excel. Go to a MX race and you will see a whole slew of PEP whereas a cross country race will show you a lot of AXIS. This is all based on where the owners of these companies tend to focus their attention and development. It is a lot easier for the manufacturing to provide you a shock that does what you want it to do if the manufacturer is heavily involved in that end of the sport. As far as the others go, they are all good shocks, but from my experience they tend to offer a more standardize product. After all, how often do you see the owners of these companies at the track doing testing to improve their product. Another thing to look at is the adjustability of the shocks. Take for example the rebound of a shock. On my AXIS shocks, at the fastest setting you would think the back wheels are going to come off the gound when it rebounds. At the slowest setting, you could go eat a ham sandwich while you are waiting for the shock to rebound. My experience with cheaper shocks is you will not see this much change in a shocks peformance with similar adjustments. Overall though, I guess one of the most agrivating things I see is when a person buys a set of shocks and puts them on and comes back in 30 minutes and tells me there are junk. I don't care whick shock you buy, you cannot just bolt it on and think it is going to work for you. You have to willing to learn how a shock is suppose to work and then experiment with the setup of the shock until you get it adjusted to your own riding style and level. An don't let someone tell you that a shock is never supose to bottom. A properly set up shock will bottom occasionally. You just want to make sure this bottoming is not excessive or to hard. This will usually be determined by the type of terrian you are on. For example, at our last race at Hardrock I never did bottom the bike out but the race before that at Boyer's there was this one little drainage ditch with a square edge that would bottom my rear shock every lap. The thing about this is I was hitting this ditch in 5th at 3/4 throttle and even though the bike did bottom, it was a controlled bottoming and did not let the bike get out of control.

[This message has been edited by bpace (edited 07-16-1999).]

 

What should happen when I adjust the shocks I do have?

I can see where I need to change the settings. I have the manual, but what I can not find is a set of expected results. I know that there are three kinds of adjustment and what the functions are. Correct me if I am wrong.

Preload - How stiff the spring is on the shock. Tighten the nut (compress the spring) and the ride will stiffen.

Compression Damping - The amount of force a shock will absorb. A harder compression will soak up big hard landing.

Rebound - How fast he shock returns to it normal position:

My questions are how each should affect the handling. In other words if I make the compression harder, I will not bottom out on big landing, but I will I loose something somewhere else? Is there a proper way to set up the shock? Such as adjust preload to this point, then adjust the rebound. But if you change the compression you could adjust the preload to make up for the stiffer ride. You know stuff like that.

Slash
99 Banshee
98 Blaster

 

Where exactly can i find these Axis shocks? I have been searching for them in my Atv Action Magazine and I have not seen a company sell them?

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00' 400ex
97 Kawasaki Bayou 220




[This message has been edited by classic_sc (edited 07-17-1999).]