How to Adjust Your Motocross Bike’s Suspension

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How to Adjust Your Motocross Bike’s Suspension

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If you are looking for high quality products for your car or motorbike, look no further. We are sure you will find the perfect product for you at Racext. Do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or requests. We are here to help you make your vehicle perfect.Adjusting the suspension on your motocross bike can be daunting when you are inexperienced. Modern bikes, especially, with their myriad of clickers and knobs, can be quite intimidating.

Take a deep breath and relax. The adjustable suspension on your motocross bike is designed to be tuned, and you can do it! While suspension adjustments are a bit more complex than tweaking chain tension or tire pressure, with this guide and a few basic tools, you’ll be able to manage all the essentials: setting sag, adjusting preload, rebound, and compression (where applicable), and understanding the basics of your bike’s suspension.

Understanding Different Bikes

Not all motocross bikes are the same. This introductory article aims to help a wide range of riders with various motocross bikes—from the latest XC models to vintage twin-shock enduros. Each bike will be slightly different, and although there is no magical setting that works for all bikes, you can achieve significant improvements with a few simple adjustments. That’s why we’ll stick to the basics in this article. Don’t worry if your bike doesn’t exactly match the examples shown in the images below.

Suspension Wear and Maintenance

Motocross bikes are incredibly resilient machines that endure a lot of use and abuse. Their suspension systems require routine maintenance and service to perform at their best. Following this guide to the letter won’t help if your rear shock is blown or your fork seals are leaking oil. Check your suspension components, paying close attention to seals. Seemingly unrelated maintenance points, like chain tension, tire condition, steering head bearing health, and linkages’ lubrication, should be inspected before starting, as any of these can affect your bike’s performance.

Consult your bike’s maintenance schedule to ensure everything is in order before making adjustments to avoid unnecessary headaches.

Basic Suspension Tools for Motocross Bikes

Your bike’s manual should list the necessary tools for working on the suspension. If your bike came with a tool kit, now is the time to use it. You’ll need a variety of flat-head screwdrivers, a hammer, a tape measure or ruler, a punch or spanner wrench (often found in the tool kit), a motocross stand, and a notepad to jot down changes as you go. If you plan to change the fork height, you’ll also need basic hand tools to loosen the triple clamp pinch bolts.

Basic Suspension Terms

Before diving deeper, let’s establish some basic concepts and key vocabulary for suspension. Knowing these terms will be helpful.

• Travel: The total range of wheel movement, from fully extended (no bike weight) to fully compressed.
• Sag: How much the suspension squats when the bike is stationary. Free sag (or static sag) is the measurement without a rider on the bike. Rider sag (or race sag) is the same measurement with a fully equipped rider on board.
• Preload: Adjusters that change the tension on the shock’s springs, affecting sag. Increasing preload raises the bike in its stroke, while decreasing it allows the shock to sit lower. Rear shock preload is typically adjusted at the top of the rear shock spring. Fork preload adjusters are less common and are usually found on the fork caps.
• Damping: Valves or hydraulic gates that control the speed of suspension movement.
  • Compression Damping: Alters the rate at which the suspension compresses when hitting bumps. Low compression is soft and spongy, while high compression is stiff and sharp. Adjustments are typically small screws on the shock body and fork cap.
  • Rebound Damping: Controls the speed at which the suspension returns to its natural state. It helps keep the wheel on the ground. Adjustments are small screws on the fork or shock.
• Bottoming out: When the suspension reaches its lower limit and can’t compress further, resulting in a harsh impact.
• Topping out: When the suspension reaches its upper limit. Modern bikes usually have a top-out spring to manage this.

Meet the Expert

Brandon Fleming is the suspension department manager at Solid Performance. Although Solid specializes in KTM and Husqvarna, Brandon has helped countless riders tune their motocross bike suspensions.

“I find that three out of four riders at events don’t even have their sag set correctly, usually off by about 20 percent,” says Brandon. “Suspension seems like a mythical creature that no one wants to touch. But you can adjust those screws all the way in and out, and nothing will break. So, learn the basics and get your suspension close to where it should be.”

Setting Sag

If you do one thing from this article, set your sag. This places your suspension in the optimal position, balancing the bike. Balance is crucial for handling and shock absorption.

• Sag Measurement: There’s debate on whether to sit or stand while measuring rider sag. Brandon advises being honest with how you ride, as it affects weight distribution. “Balance and sag matter both when sitting and standing,” he says. “Pay attention to rider feedback and make adjustments accordingly.”
• Regular Checks: Sag changes with temperature, spring life, and rider weight. Ideally, check sag before every ride, but at least seasonally or with every oil change.

Adjusting Sag

1. Initial Measurements: Put your bike on a stand so the wheels are off the ground. Measure from the axle block to a point on the fender. Write down this number.
2. Static Sag: Take the bike off the stand and measure again. The difference is the static sag.
3. Rider Sag: With the rider in position, take the same measurement and subtract it from the initial measurement. Adjust preload as needed to get the rider sag within the recommended range.

Adjusting Fork Height

Adjusting the fork height involves loosening the triple clamp pinch bolts and sliding the forks up or down to change the bike’s front-end height. This adjustment can affect the bike’s handling, so make small changes and test ride to feel the difference.

Conclusion

Learning to adjust your bike’s suspension can significantly improve your riding experience. Start with setting the sag, understand basic terms, and use the right tools. With practice and patience, you’ll become more confident in tuning your motocross bike to suit your riding style and terrain.

By following these guidelines and continuously refining your adjustments, you’ll ensure your bike performs at its best, providing you with a smoother and more controlled ride.

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How to Adjust Your Motocross Bike’s Suspension

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