How many of you out there have flipped the linkage on your rear shock and how do you like it? Has anybody had a problem with this after making that change?

John "Nocando"

I have not flipped, but.....Last I heard, it's a trade-off. The seat height gets lowered nicely with the drawback of lowering the frame-to-ground clearance. A rider who did it brought up the issue of bottoming the frame and some linkage rubbing but others seem to love it !? Hmmmm...

How much do you weigh? What type of riding do you do? Like to jump? How far? How high? Ever case it? Ever jump past the lander? Are you running stock shocks and a-arms?

These are all important questions as to whether you can get by with this modification.

I just want to know if any one has done this and how well it has worked for them and if any one has had any problems????? Did you read my question? It never asks if I should do this I asked if others have tried and how it has worked I don't get all your questions.


John "Nocando"

Okay, here are two answers (maybe one of them answers your question)

1) I did it and it is wonderful. No problems.

2) I did it and it sucked. Had problems hitting the frame on the ground after jumps.

The point is that both of these are valid responses. Answers to the questions will put you in one category versus the other. You are obviously trying to decide whether to do this; otherwise, why ask the question? Why should anyone waste their time responding to you if you don't have time to answer some really personal questions. It isn't like anyone asked how long your pecker is...

Damn you can't ask a simple question in here without a bunch of sh&%. I Don't even have my Raptor yet I was just researching different add-ons and hop-ups for mine when I get it (should be the next day or two current ride LT 500R) and what I hoped was people would comment on what type of riding they do and how they made out with the change not some smart A@@ answers. First of all I ride all different types of riding as I'm sure many people here do. I wasn't asking for you to tell me what I should do I wanted people to say what they did and and how they made outand if they had any problems. The main problem I could for see was that the thin side of the linkage is now supporting the suspension and it looked like a possible weak spot. Then I would make my own educated decision from there. If all you want to do is be a smart a@@ and not help any why waste your time answering the post.

By the way 195LBS, trails, pits, a little track riding, some jumping (not too crazy),yes I have cased it and I have jumped past the lander but don't try to or do it often, it will have stock shocks and a-arms for a little while anyway.
And 10 inches by the way! ...lol In case you were still wondering.

Since you are a bit on the small side, I will have some mercy on you. We larger folk feel compelled to help the smaller children of the world. lol. lol again.

You sound like someone who belongs in the camp of people who should not flip the linkage. You are too heavy and given that you have jumped far enough to miss a lander and have cased it tells me that you are a prime candidate for smacking the bottom of the frame against the ground especially if you land with the rear wheels on one side of the lander and the front wheels on the other side. The problem with flipping the linkage is that your frame clearance goes from 10.5" to 8.75" (your seat height drops 2"). By the time you compress the spring down, the rear of the frame is practically sitting on the ground). A lot of people think the rear wheel goes up when landing but really the frame comes down. The risk of bending the frame is too high given there are other ways to improve handling. Lighter people or people or ride in the flat country do not have to worry about this problem and I would say it is worth flipping the linkage.

I don't think you have to worry about breaking the linkage. I am in your weight category and rode it with the linkage switched for a couple of months. I kept thinking the hard landings were from bottoming the shocks but found out it was the frame hitting the ground. I never broke the linkage but it did suffer from some metal to metal contact.

You can improve the handling of a Raptor by getting shocks from a company such as Elka that lowers the bike a couple of inches. The good news is that you will not loose clearance or shock travel because as soon as you go off a jump, the shocks essentially lengthen so you still get full travel. The other way to improve handling is too make the bike wider (via wheel offset, longer axle and a-arms, etc.). Given you already ride you probably knew this but thought I mention it anyhow.

Hope this helps. Good luck with the new Raptor. By the way, for anyone reading this, please send me $1.00 so I can get a new Raptor and Honda 400ex. Tell six of your friends to send me some money too. Ask them to give you some too. It works for the government and it can work for you too. TGIF - no more waiting for the weekend!

Flipped it. Love it. I ride track on weekends...trails and pits during the week. i weigh 186 with gear on. I have noticed the occasional bottom out. but only when i've landed on the knuckle.

I'm running with Elka triple rate, self sagging, piggy backs on +3 lonestar A-arms ( wish i went with +2 ) .190 douglas rims w/rings and beadlock on 8" MX hole shots.

The rear is stock accept for the axle ( Lonestar Axcaliber ).

As for the flipped linkage? i feel more confident whipping this thing around in the tight turns...and if i hite the jump PROPERLY that seems to address the ocasional bottom out. No rubbing. No stress cracks. so far.

and congratulations...you must be real popular with the ladies.

yup i am a "husky guy" and i have flipped my rear linkage. it does work wonderfully well. i do a small amount of jumping, but not on a constant basis. i have noticed that the frame slaps the ground occasionally but i have a aluminum skid and it doesnt ever hit real hard. its never bottomed on me on a big jump. i have flipped the quad straight up and taken the rear swingarm skid plate off to inspect for any rubbing of any kind and there is absolutely none. until someone encounters a major problem i probably will leave mine like it is. it powerslides and rails the trails much easier. too bad it didnt come from the factory that way. oh i have noticed that the rear wants to slap me in the behind on small whoops. i need to adjust my rear shock. which way do i have to go with the tension on the spring? tighter compression or less? which way do i adjust the resevoir?

Glad to hear some other riders experienced the same problem. I was starting to wonder if I was the only one. I didn't even have to try all that hard to make it happen. I could make it happen easily off a set of 4' doubles. Now that I changed it back, it never happens. Obviously, the handling isn't as good now.

Raptor660RNH is right that it isn't a problem if you hit the take off properly and land properly. I am sure he is also well versed at using those Elka triple rates to his advantage by landing more weight on the front. That is not an option with the stock front springs (I won't even call them shocks) and a-arms. Stock riders will be forced to land more on the rear wheels thus worsening the situation. Also if you aren't racing (formally or informally), then it is much easier to line up for the perfect takeoff. If you are racing, then it is easier said than done when you know another rider is right behind you trying to make a pass anywhere he can. I tend to throttle hard of the 2nd set of doubles and miss the last lander from time to time. It is also easier if you are riding the same track over and over because you can get the timing down. It doesn't work well in the trails. I rode for 6 hours yesterday and was never on the same trail twice except for one small section where the trailer was parked. Half the time I never knew what I was going to land on other than knowing the guy before me landed.

If anyone is considering this and you know you are a kick-ass type of rider who will jump off just about anything, then think twice about this mod. It could be expensive in the long run. All I can say from my experience is that it hurts like hell on the wrists and feet/ankles to come down with a major THUD. Check the price of a new frame versus a new set of shocks. Much better to get the shocks that will improve the overall ride more than this mod anyhow. Don't even want to think about the cost of a broken wrist.

My final two cents on this subject...

otterbob, you need to stiffen your rebound settings . Turn the screw in on the lower part of the shock where it connects to the linkage (you may not be able to get to this setting with the flipped linkage though, can't remember). Turn the screw in all the way and then turn out three clicks. This is the maximum setting for rebound. You can slowly turn it out and test until it feels comfortable to you. The factory position is 10 clicks out. I ride with 5 clicks out on mine. The other adjustment that could help you some is to adjust your pre-load. If you haven't changed it at all, make a mark on the inner adjusting nut with a marker or whiteout. Turn it 5 revolutions. This should be the maximum preload you should set. This will give you a spring length of 9.65". If you have changed it, you can just keep turning it until you get a measurement of 9.65" (245mm). The measurement if from the top of the actual spring to the bottom of the actual spring not including any other part of the shock. The locknut should be tightened to 30 ft lbs but who has the tool for doing this? Just smack it a couple of time with a screw driver and rubber mallet. You shouldn't need to adjust the compression setting on the reservoir if you are happy with the resistance when landing and going through whoops.

Good luck!