Posts
496
Joined
8/15/2006
Location
In the Pines, AB, CA
Fantasy
Edited Date/Time
1/24/2012 6:35pm
Or is it genii? Whatever...
I'm trying to get busy setting my CR250R up for this season. The thing I'm humming and hawing about is whether or not to change out the springs. The consensus of most suspension places web sites is that with my scrawny 135lb (w/o gear) frame, I should be running a .38 or .40 kg/mm in the front and a 4.6 in the back, as opposed to the stock .43 and 4.9.
The reason I'm waffling on this is, for the most part, I've been fairly happy with the suspension. The recommended springs would be a drastic change, and I really don't want to mess things up. That may be because I've never had a bike with good suspension and don't know any different. It's stiff all right, but the action is pretty smooth, and I kinda like it that way anyway. The only reason I'm even considering changing things up (after owning the bike since it was new in '02) is that the last couple of years, I haven't been on the bike much at all, and the little choppy bumps and such that I used to hit hard enough to roll over now toss me around like a rag doll. But will it still be stiff enough for me to charge through knee deep sand whoops in 4th or 5th without lawn darting myself into oblivion? Or save my ass when I turn a double-double-double into a double-two and two thirds but not quite triple-case it and bounce over the last jump?
Thanks.
I'm trying to get busy setting my CR250R up for this season. The thing I'm humming and hawing about is whether or not to change out the springs. The consensus of most suspension places web sites is that with my scrawny 135lb (w/o gear) frame, I should be running a .38 or .40 kg/mm in the front and a 4.6 in the back, as opposed to the stock .43 and 4.9.
The reason I'm waffling on this is, for the most part, I've been fairly happy with the suspension. The recommended springs would be a drastic change, and I really don't want to mess things up. That may be because I've never had a bike with good suspension and don't know any different. It's stiff all right, but the action is pretty smooth, and I kinda like it that way anyway. The only reason I'm even considering changing things up (after owning the bike since it was new in '02) is that the last couple of years, I haven't been on the bike much at all, and the little choppy bumps and such that I used to hit hard enough to roll over now toss me around like a rag doll. But will it still be stiff enough for me to charge through knee deep sand whoops in 4th or 5th without lawn darting myself into oblivion? Or save my ass when I turn a double-double-double into a double-two and two thirds but not quite triple-case it and bounce over the last jump?
Thanks.
When dealing with a local, you can get a more personal service, more tailor made and usually also some trackside service and fine tuning if necessary.
Hard to do all of that over the phone and through UPS
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When dealing with a local, you can get a more personal service, more tailor made and usually also some trackside service and fine tuning if necessary.
Hard to do all of that over the phone and through UPS[/quote:1jsijm5o]
I agree. The big shops usually sale you on a lot of add ons (Oil lockcollars,pressure springs etc..) that you don't need. Go with a local guy and he can help you get it tweaked.
When dealing with a local, you can get a more personal service, more tailor made and usually also some trackside service and fine tuning if necessary.
Hard to do all of that over the phone and through UPS[/quote:16vsa44y]
DING, ding, ding!!
Most of the stuff you see in suspension catalogs is unnecessary fluff. There's a huge company selling oil lock collars for new bikes that is an anodized version of the stock piece that Showa updated in 06. There's also a few companies that sell "valves" that you don't need. It's unreal the shit the big companies get away with because well they are a big company and they must know what they are doing. People let the image of a company sway their judgment. I am sure this will come off as a bitter "jealousy" type post but oh well...
The thing that leads to good suspension is nothing more than the correct spring for the application and a sound tuning technique. Not anodizing...
As for springs, avoid spring generators. They are based on the same mathematic equation for EVERY bike of the same size! That is a crap shoot at best. Call the company and ask them what springs they think you should run. I will bet you one OGIO bag that it's different than what the company's spring rate generator comes up with.
Flarider being an asshole he at least gave good advice. Going local is sometimes a difficult proposition because obviously they don't have huge amounts of credibility and it is more of a risk in quality. When and if you do go local avoid franchises. People that own franchises pretty much didn't know how to do suspension before hand so they really don't know the science behind the suspension. They basically just read in a book what to put in. Find an established company with at least a few local riders that you can get their opinion of. Even ask people who aren't running their stuff what they think. A lot of the time the reason why they aren't running it is because of a problem they had with them.
If you go for a huge company... ENZO
In the end ..
.41 in the front and a 4.6 in the rear. The springs you have now are probably causing more problems for you than you switching to the proper springs. In other words you should see more positives than negatives (if any) by dropping to a lower rate.
I think I've always known that the bike was over sprung, I'm just stubborn when it comes to changing things when they work okay-ish, even if they don't work at all in some situations, mostly because I'm afraid of screwing things up and making it worse. Better the devil you know and all. And I don't trust the spring generators, but they did make me start to ask some questions, at least. I'm going to try some new springs. Probably aim for the .41 and 4.6 combo, we'll see. Then I'll spend a couple of days playing with clickers to get it sorted out.
As for revalving, I don't really think it needs it, to be honest. Once the suspension starts moving, it works quite nicely, it's getting it to move in the first place that needs work. Having owned and ridden a few mid '90s CR125s and early 2000s KTMs, I know a good mid stroke spike or weird back end lock up when I feel it. But most people I've previously discussed this with have sworn up and down that my bike either needed entirely new internals front and back, or I should just change the oil (well, thank you Capt. Obvious!) and not bother with springs or anything else, neither of which I ever believed was the right answer.
Anyways, after two years with almost no riding at all, this years looking up already! Hopefully, we'll get the bike (and rider) working well and have one hell of a good year.
One, it's a '02. Spending a bunch of money you will never get back for that year of bike if you ever want to sell it.
I always advocate to riders who wants the whole kit and caboodle to meet me at a track and work on everything possible combination available stock first before deciding to change valving, etc.
I raced stock suspension thru out my racing career; from Novice to local expert/Vet Pro; I was happy with it always; and I never blamed the suspension for my crashes; just fine tuned it the best I could for what's available.
It's just my op. Wish you the best in whatever you do.
Post a reply to: Attn: Suspension geniuses