Background: I race on low speed technical trails. lots of roots, rocks, ruts, etc. Nothing more than 30mph or so. I am ~195 lbs with gear. I ride a Honda TRX300EX and love the power for what I am doing. Stock all the way around I think. Tires are 20x11x9 kenda Klaw rear on 9x8.0 rim. Front are 22x7x10 K Klaw on 10x5.5 rim. I like the traction but could use a little more. Suspension is 1 level from the highest preload setting on the front and topped out on the back. I run 6 psi in the tires mainly to keep from rolling the tire off the bead or getting flats. I have done 3 races and I am on a steep lurning curve but I think I hit the limit of the suspension at the last race. Lots of abuse with lots of tire hopping around and a little bottoming on the big hits. I want to soften the suspension but still have ground clerance and have it soak up some more of the hits. I have no money other than a very bare-bones racing budget. I am not that agressive, I have to be able to work the next day. I can fab with steel that is how I got my skid plates.

Am I running a 9" tall or 9" wide rim in the back?
When I see a 10x8 rim is that 10" tall or wide?
If I go up to a 21 or 22" tall rear tire, will it want to roll the bead more or be more top heavy?
At what PSI will I start getting more flats?
Where can I get a steel wheel in a common size that I can make bead locks out of?
What is the toughest tire that isn't riding on a wagon wheel?
Is there a way to change the factory valving on the stock shocks?
What is the factory valve setting?
Where can I get custom springs?
What is the stock spring rates?
What can I do that will help acheive the results I want?

Thanks for reading this long thread and responding.

 

when you look at your tire and i says 22x10x9 the 22 is the tire height the 10 is the tire with and the 9 is the rim height, you can measure the offset of the rim to get a estimate on the with but usually it you take the tire off the rim the rim sice will be stamped on it somewhere. The 300ex is not a great jumping machine at all but it is awsome in the trailsi jumped the one i had 2 times and bottomed it out both timesso as for how i feel the suspension is only good for the trails. As for the tires i run mine really low 5 p.s.i. in the front and 4 in the back i like the grip i get out of the corners from the lower tire pressure, i havent yet blew the iter off the bead and i am a very very agressive driver. I hope that i have helped you in some way

 

It helps thanks. I read somewhere that the 300ex had 8" rims on the back so the "9" was throwing me.

I am going to try and run 4 psi all around and I lowered the preload to the minimum to see how that is.

I don't jump at all if I can help it.

 

The little 300 was my woods trail bike for many years, before I got the 400. Also, use to bust out some surprisingly big air on that thing! The stock shocks weren't great, but can't say they ever really let me down.....

Stock front shocks are not rebuildable, serviceable, nor adjustable (except for preload). WorksPerformance has some reasonably priced replacements for the stockers, and they are going to be way superior. The rear may offer you more options, as I think Works can rework them to better fit your needs, at a reasonable price.

I always ran Holeshot XC's on the 300 (22" front/20" rear). I gave up a bit of ground clearance, but gained low end torque (which you need in the woods!), because it lowered the effective gearing. I think 22" rear tires like the Holeshot XCT's, would kill that little engine, even with a gearing change. Holeshot H-D's should make a good woods trail tire.

You might just want to stick with the stock rims. I find that they are reasonably light and quite durable. Plus, you can replace them cheaply because everybody upgrades to aftermarket and sells off their stockers cheap.

I don't race, but I have always run 4.5 pounds front and 4.0 rear, and never had anything close to a rim pinch or a tire coming off the bead.

 

An 01 raptor 660 rear shock is a direct fit I believe on the 300 it has to be an 01 as that is the only year with a remote rezzie, Good luck.

 

Today I lowered the preload to nothing front and rear and tried 4psi in the tires front and rear and I was able to climb a hill I haven't been able to before. Steep washed out with 2 foot runoff ruts all the way up with small trees down and the like. But I haven't tried since after the first race. I may have gotten better at riding, BUT the changes seemed to help the low speed stuff. It was mooshy when I tried to let it hang out on my long driveway. That was expected.

I am definately leaning toward the holeshot xct's. I like the ground clearance and I am always hunting between 2nd and 3rd while racing. The taller tires should accomplish better traction and stretching 2nd gear a little. Most of the winners are running holeshots too. I am rarely at full throttle so I don't think I will miss any power. If nobody seems to have a problem throwing the tires in the back than the stock rims should keep working.

I didn't know about the raptor shock. I will look into that.

 

you know, my friend has a 400ex and he found he was shifting alot too.
he went up one tooth on the front sprocket and he loves it now. He said it will carry out a little more. Maybe give it a shot if you havent already. Also, you may have better luck with different tires than them stock ones. if i remember correctly, the 300ex comes stock with some "bubble" tires as we call them. They arent flat across,which means your loosing traction. your traction is only in the middle of the tire. Thats one reason hole shots are recommended for racing, or something like them, you wont have a tire roll, and it will feel more stable. good luck in your races!

 

If you are already bottoming the suspension on a few of the bigger hits, then softening it up will make those worse. I think if you search arouond a bit you might find front shock takeoffs from another model that will work as well as the Raptor rear. I would advise you though that nothing beats a nice custom setup, you should price out the HLS suspension from GT Thunder. Maybe not in the budget this year but it would give you something to save for. GT worked wonders on my stock rear YFZ shock, and that was the mod that cut my XC laptimes the most. Works performance also has moderately priced units that are better than stock and they sell custom springs/stock revalves as well. Actually, a lot of companies are doing shock revalves these days. your fronts may not be rebuildable though.

As for tires, i have ran different Holeshots, and have found bang for the buck and longevity you can't beat the old school plane jane 6 ply original Razr. Enough traction in the mud and goo to get through, tough as nails, and they work awesome on the dry courses. Splurge on some Razr II fronts though, as they work much better than the 1's in the mud. GBC is selling the XREX model tires which are closely modeled after the razr line. initial reviews look good. I ran GBC Shredders before, and they were long lasting, but the rubber was a bit hard for my liking. I run 4 PSI rear and 4 to 5 front. It is very hard to roll a tire off the bead on these things, even after they go flat. Beadlocks make life easier when changing tires though

What series are you running?