I'm picking up my TLD Predator this Sat. Today when I went to check it out, I noticed the suspension took a long time to return after I put weight on it to compress the rear shock. It took a good 15 seconds. One of the techs said that was what I want, but I don't think so. The z400 I've ridden returns as soon as I take the weight off. Is this just a setting on the shock? Or is it a bad part? Maybe I'm totally wrong and that's how it should be. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

It's normal or almost there's alot you can do to the rear shock for adjustment, I added some nice sag to mine last night.
Anyways, you have you 8 position resy for Compression Damping and on the bottom of the rear shock you have 20 clicks for Rebound Damping and the top of the rear shock you can adjust for Spring Preload.
Once you ride it alittle and get the springs worked in abit you'll have all kinds of fun adjusting it for your riding style.

 

Thank you for your response. Do you recommend me keeping it at the stock settings right now? I'm 275lbs, so I'm sure the pre load needs to be beefed up, and I will be doing mostly trail riding along with some visits to the moto tracks. Thanks again.

 

If it really took 15 seconds to return to full hight you're gonna hate the current setting. Unless you make sure that the whoops you ride over are at least 15 seconds apart! Seriously though, reduce the amount of rebound damping, untillthe quad feels bouncy as you ride over some whoops at a medium pace, then add some back in 1 OR 2 clicks at a time, till the bouncy feeling goes away. Another hint you should run the minimum amount of damping ( compression) that suits your riding style. Getting the rebound "in the ballpark" will allow you to set the compression, then go back and fine tune the rebound. The fast guys dont run alot of rebound either, 'cause the rear tends to pack down if you run too much rebound damping and hit several bumps in rapid succession,then the suspension does not return to ride hight fast enough. Hope this helps.


BTW i moticed the same thing when I saw a predator at a local dealer. The comp and rebound were both set way too stiff.

 

Thank you, that sounds like good advice. I was just imagining my heavy **** constantly bottoming out to where it felt like I had no rear suspension. (Made me nervous) Thanks again, as you probably can tell this is my first quad, and I just pray I like it better that my brother in laws Z400. (The one that got me hooked) Thanks again for the advice.

BTW - I saw the Cannondales and I have to say, they make a very nice machine (My future bro in law is getting one) I couldn't believe how light.

 

I used to ride dirt bikes, and the rule of thumb for setting up the suspension was this:

Lift the rear of the quad up until the suspension 'tops out' and measure the distance between the rear wheels & the fender. Do this also with the front. Look up the suspension travel, and take 1/3 of that figure from the distance between the fender & the wheel. This is the distance you should measure when sitting on the quad in a normal riding position. If you ride where there are a lot more bumps than dips, you CAN go 1/4 of that measure, remember, we are just getting a starting point here.
For example, if the distance between the wheels & fender is 14 inches when topped out, and you have 12 inches of travel, subtract 1/3 of 12 from the 14, which would be 10". This is a good starting point for initial 'sag'. Remember, have a buddy measure the sag with you sitting or standing on the quad in your normal riding position. Do this both front and rear. Sag is set by how much you tighten or loosen the spring adjustment. You will have to just 'guess' for the initial damping settigs. The compression damping, or resistance to bottoming is the **** at the reservoir in most cases. Basically, this should be set just so the suspension barely touches bottom landing off your biggest jump, or hitting the biggest bump or hole. The softer the setting, the better the ride, but the easier it bottoms out. Setting it so tight that it never comes close to bottoming doesn't allow you to fully utilize the full suspension travel. Generally, compression settings aren't the hardest to set.
The rebound setting is generally a little **** in the shock rod that is difficult to access (on my old bikes, anyway). If you look carefully, the **** usually has numbers, so you at least have an idea where it is set. Basically, and this is personal preference, but most people like the rebound fairly soft, so the suspension 'opens up' again quickly. If it seems 'bouncy' or one end seems to 'kick up' at a jump, the rear in particular, increase the rebound damping. If when going over a series of smaller bumps, the suspension sacks down, decrease the rebound. Sometimes it is hard to tell if the suspension is sacking down, but usually it is a sensation of each bump feeling progressively bigger, when in reality they are all the same size. What is happening is the suspension isn't extending fast enough, so each bump compresses the suspension a little more, giving less travel for each successive bump.

The biggest thing I can say is, FIDDLE WITH IT! That is why the settings are there. My brother rode a bike for a long time without moving the suspension settings because he thought it rode 'good enough'. With only 10 minutes of riding & fiddling, we got him wondering how his bike rode so smooth. Good luck,

Farmr.

PS, if you can't keep it from bottoming over big bupms without the suspension feeling 'harsh' over little bumps, you need a stronger or more progressive spring.

 

Just a bump for some well stated info [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]


Ken

 

Hey guys, thanks a lot for the answers. I haven't done it yet but it sound like good info. I took my TL out today for the first time and the rear was fine. The fronts were way to stiff. I was riding on a loose stone road and felt every bump into my shoulders. I will adjust as you said before my next trip.