My brother has an '02 400EX. He says the suspension in the rear seems too hard. He weighs about 250, and he has not adjusted the stock shocks. Does anyone knoe how to soften up this suspension? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

 

theres 2 nuts on the top of the shock raise them up to soften the suspension, you have to take off the fenders and air box to do this

 

Thanks for the info! Anybody know about aftermarket shocks and how much of a difference they might make? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

At 250, he is going to need to STIFFEN the suspension (from stock) a whole bunch, not loosen it (seeing the maximum weight for that bike is only 243 lbs!!). What he may be feeling is the shock BOTTOMING, and he is mistaking this for "stiffness". You soften that suspension, and he will be bottoming just sitting on the bike in the garage.

First you want to properly set the ride height (sag). It should be about 1/3 of the total suspension travel (~3") with him sitting on the bike in full riding gear. Do this by tightening the rings that 420EX mentioned. When you have that properly set, you can start playing with compression and rebound damping adjustments (see your owners manual, pg 26). Set the damping back to stock, and start from there.

The 400EX rear shock isn't to bad. I wouldn't consider aftermarket until you have satisfied yourself that the rear shock isn't going to do the job. But, at his weight, it may not be up to it.

 

after market shocks are great. my brother put a cheap set of works on his warrior and it made it fun to ride.

 

I weigh 225 and with preload set (spring tension) mine was stiff as hell. I finally got around to setting compression and rebound and it made a much milder ride. I'm clearing about 3-4 foot heights on a tabletop with smooth landings. I set compression just off of complete soft and rebound about midways or just below and it works for my mild skills.

 

Yeah, I weigh 225, also. I rode it and it did feel stiff to me. My brother said it is not bottoming out, just stiff on the compression. So this is adjustable? How do you do it?