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When was the last time the bike was framed and greased?
Agreed make sure everything is moving freely but I’d say go stiffer on the spring.
Enzo did my stuff and I’ve mostly settled on 5.4nm front and 6.6nm rear. I’m 232lbs without gear and race 40 A off road and roughly 40 B Mx or vet Mx.
Even at 6.5nm to get to 105mm sag with the Enzo settings I have (your valve stack may be dramatically different) I always wound up at 28-29mm free sag. Some people will tell you that’s an important number to get right, and others will say don’t worry about it and go off the field of the bike. For me when it gets too far below 32 or 33 mm of static sag I feel like I lose traction at lower throttle openings (important for off road) and the rear of the bike is too reactive throttle and rebound.
Even just going into the 6.6nm helped and now my static SAG is 32 at 105 rider sag.
Depending on your speed and valving, I would be surprised if you are under 6.2 for the shock. Just my take.
Also note that this frame seems especially sensitive to balance and set up, and there’s plenty of people out there at 101 mm of rider SAG with like 25 mm of static sag racing just fine. So totally depends on what you prefer.
My take so far is that for me the 23 mm offset works better than the 22 mm. The bike lays over with more confidence, not necessarily easier, but steadier and more predictable, holds the line better mid turn, and if you want to turn down hard with the bars it cuts a slightly less sharp line, which for me is good. I typically don’t have a hard time turning bikes, but I’m usually looking for a certain balanced feel front to back, especially off throttle and downhill. This is where the 23 mm triples were the most noticeable for me because the bike seemed very slightly longer, more predictable, and felt like I could carry more front end weight and corner entry, or in some cases, rut entry
For motocross, but especially for off-road I find that to be pretty invaluable.
Also of note, I recently went one rate stiffer on my shock spring, which helped even more, and I also run a precision damper, which helps keep the bike steady and keeps me from turning down too hard. I have a tendency to try to cut down hard turns without ruts, and sometimes oversteer or use too much energy. The damper also makes it a lot easier to enter straight ruts and tackle other obstacles off road like in Colorado, without using as much energy.
Have I noticed any added front tire feel specifically from the triple clamps? Hard to say, as I do feel like I have a better feel on the side of the tire and mid turn, but I think that has more to do with the offset clamp. Not being an engineer or tester, hard to say. I will say that when I first put them on and didn’t change sag, fork height, clickers, the front end actually felt harsh! I was very surprised and ended up going from 2 mm to 1mm, then to flush, then down to 3.25mm. 3-3.25mm was the best front end feel and I ended up going in one click in on compression to help with hold up. It was very hard for me to run 3 mm or 3.5 mm before with a 22 mm triple clamps, although now that I added a slightly stiffer rear spring I am back to playing with fork heights again and may land back at 2-2.8mm.
In terms of the bar mounts, I think the way they mount is great, but I already ran Billy‘s bar mounts on my stock triple clamps, so no change there. At first, I didn’t think these bar mounts move that much, sort of like the PHDS but actually they move a decent amount! It’s sort of like putting very strong bar on that won’t twist or band, but move like the OEM rubber mounts on stock bikes. I’d highly recommend them!
At the end of the day, would I recommend these clamps to other people? At $1000 it’s a pretty big commitment. If I knew what I know now I probably would buy the 23.5mm non-adjustable triples from Luxon, as I think the offset for my riding style and the terrain ride is good. Also they’re purple!
Hope this helps.
235 lbs and on 6.8. This bike is harsh as hell if u ride low in the stroke........but i'm a Vet (so there's that) I'm still 25 on the inside - but 55 on the outside.
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That's really helpful, thanks
Pretty weird as K-Tech (in the UK) are recommending the stock spring rate for 97kg / 213lbs
I was like "when has any manufacturer made a stock spring rate to suit a rider for this weight?"
Quick update for anyone stumbling across this thread (perhaps via a Google search).
K-Tech in the UK recommended a spring rate of 57N (stock) for my weight 97kg (213lbs). My suspension tuner felt this was obviously wrong and ordered the 60N spring for me.
I could not get my sag numbers and was becoming quite disappointed with the bike. As we know the bike is sensitive to fork height (and clicker settings) and I started down the path of constantly changing things whilst running the 60N.
I ended up purchasing the 63N spring (whilst acknowledging MOST springs have quite some variance). Finally the bike is fixed and is so supple everywhere for me. HAPPY.
From what I understand: 63N/mm is equivalent to roughly 6.4kg/mm. I think the US tends to rate springs in kg/mm if this helps.
Has anyone else tried the 2025 linkage and engine mounts? Is it just the linkage arm that you need? I do appreciate the shock may need revalving
It looks like the linkage is on backorder here in the UK. Are there any aftermarket linkages that do something similar to the stock 2025 linkage?
Thought I'd give a little seat feedback. 10/10 recommend the GUTS seat. I went with flat/wide top and soft foam. Game changer for "tailbone" pain. Also for me, I feel like I can maneuver the bike better with my hips with the wider top. Not a major fan of the gripper material but it's ok. Feels a bit plastic like than rubber. Exact same as the 23 fc450 rock start seat material.
I’m going to order the knuckle and a stiff spring. I believe that was the only change besides valving?
Uhhh, maybe I am mistaken but I believe it's just the link arm? You would actually be able to run a softer spring due to the new design.
From Keefer's site:
Yes, you can swap your 2024 linkage with a 2025 but you will have to go lighter on your shock spring and change your valving stack. It is not a swap and go part. The 2025 YZ450F comes with a 56N/mm spring instead of a 58 N/mm like the 2024 does.
It's the triangle part that has a different part number, but yes on the softer spring by a rate or two.
I really like mine too. I got the medium flat top foam.
Lighter spring due to the linkage change.
I’ve never had a bike that changes so much with a 1mm difference in fork height! 😂
Cool, I have lighter spring already, thanks dudes!
The linkage is firmer and gives more hold up which prevents more pitching from acceleration/decel.l but they found the original spring was too heavy after the change in the linkage curve.
I've been doing this and loving it. It took a bit of playing with suspension and fork height but its amazing. Currently running a 90/100 AT82 front tire and loving it as well. However Im a bigger guy so the spring change probably wasnt needed for me.
I have been running the rear at82 120/90 and I love it. I have a 3s on the front and can’t wait to switch it over to an at82 front
Pit Row
Hinson clutch update on 23-24. After smoking clutches every 5-8 hours initially I tried one thing at a time to see if I could address the middle of the clutch pack getting too hot on heavy/wet tracks and tight single track sprints.
First I tried the Hinson clutch pack but it didn’t last much longer than stock. Then I tried non-synthetic oil, which I hadn’t run in 20 years, and it helped a little but not a ton. Then I tried the Hinson stiffer Belleville washer for the clutch. This helps and I got a little more life out of the pack. Finally I added the Hinson inner hub, but not the pressure plate and viola. This is a photo of a Hinson clutch pack with 20 hours on it. Nearly 3X what I got out of any pack before, and while a few plates/steels show wear, there’s still some life in it, and it’s nothing close to completely cooked like in the past.
When you look at the OEM inner hub from the 23-24 compared to the Hinson it’s pretty obvious you’re going to get more oil flow, and with more flow the plates in the middle of the stack don’t turn into burnt bacon anymore.
Just sharing in case anyone else is still struggling with this clutch.
The OEM 2025 inner hub was opened up to increase oil flow to address this, correct? Does the 2025 part drop right in to the 23-24 bikes? Wondering because it is about half the price of the Hinson hub.
Yes it will drop in. The ‘25 part is basically a clone of the Hinson part.
Could the '24 inner clutch hub be modified or do the oil holes not align?
My understanding is yes it could be… however I asked this a few months back and no one has done it.
This is great to hear, I just replaced my YZs clutch after 20 hours and I didnt realize how toast it was. Threw a Hinson in mine as well so I'll have to look into the inner hub as well. Heres mine.![]()
For those A riders specifically, what are your replacement intervals for say - top end, valves, bottom, clutch and what are your preffered replacement parts - OEM? thanks
Struggling to fit raptor titanium footpegs on my '24
I noticed in the latest Vital bike build the spring seems to be different
Just wondering if anyone else has the same shape spring as me?
Seems you have right spring on left mounted backwards?
Raptor got back to me, I don't think I could have reasonably figured this out
Apparently this is a recent upgrade to stop pegs from getting stuck
OK - so 14 hours on this bike now. My god I was going around in circles when trying to set it up. It really does take 10 hours to bed in.
I wish I had gone to a track with some decent jumps / heavy landings sooner which may have expedited the process.
I understand why some people "give up" on this bike, it is insanely sensitive to setup. I found getting as little tension on the rear spring (preload) as possible then working with the high speed to get the ride height right.
I have the forks 1mm from flush. 110 sag (but a really heavy spring). Best upgrade I have made was the -5 down -5 back Raptor pegs. (I am 6 foot 1). It's surprising how I hated the seat to start off with now I think it's perfect.
Because the bike is FAST I have found the rear tyre PSI shoots up a lot mid-moto. Dropping the pressure pre-moto (with the suspension bedded in) has made this bike buttery smooth.
Finally I found tightening the stem nut as a cheap steep damper made a big difference with helping with any lingering twitchiness.
Welcome any comments/criticism/suggestions of my approach above.
I have the 2025 knuckler & engine mounts on the way and will try a softer shock spring to see how that goes too.
I have the suspension knuckle coming for mine also. They are saying early November ETA. I have the 25 shim stack if you are interested.
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