Hi,
I have a little Problem with the rebound of the rear shock of my KTM bikes. I couldn‘t finde any answers on that and couldn’t find an existing thread so I hope you guys can help me.
This season I rode a SX 250 of the 2024 Models and for the next season I ordered a SX125 of the 2024 Models, as i just feel better on a 125.
All together I was quite happy with the bike, but I couldn‘t figure out how to set up the rebound on the Shock properly. As i felt like that bike was kicking from the back very often and however I changed the settings It didn‘t got any better. As a former Yamaha rider I feel like the the rebound klickers on the KTM didn‘t have the same effect or have a smaller range as on the KYB‘s.
For the next year i‘m thinking about getting a WP Xact pro rear shock but I‘m afraid that the klickers also won‘t have the same effect as i wish. So as an alternative i was thinking about a KYB A-Kit rear shock.
Maybe someone had the same struggles and can help me out or provide some Information about that.
You sound like you'd like a different linkage with a different rate progression.
Thank you for your answer.
I don’t know if that would solve my struggles.
From other People I often got the feedback, that my Suspension seems to be moving too fast, although i already turned the rebound klickers all the way in.
If you have the rebound all the way in, or even close to all the way in, your shock is likely packing and deflecting.
That is what I thought too but the more I open the rebound up, the bouncier it gets.
It seems like the Range in which can setup the rebound is much smaller than i‘m used too from the KYB.
Or am I the only one experiencing these issues with the wp shock?
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Almost sounds like your shock is broken or in need of a rebuild. That doesn't seem normal.
How much do you weigh and what shock spring are you using? What are your sag numbers?
If your spring and sag are correct, I would lean towards something being wrong. My 23 350 shock would start to pack in high speed stuff around 12 clicks out. Try to stiffen up the compression
Could be low nitrogen from the factory also
Besides the clickers, i run the shock with the Stock settings. As my weight is always between 75 and 80kg that seems to be a good match.
On Friday i will get the 125 an try to compare the shocks. As riding is kind of Hard due to the weather conditions i have to Test it in the Shop. Maybe Then I can See if Theres a difference to a new shock.
It is possible the nitrogen is mixed in the oil. You can take the shock off the bike, take the spring off, hold the reservoir side of the shock down for a minute or so then see if the shaft will push in easily and then stop. If the air is in the oil the piston will have little resistance as it moves through the air pocket. What this does on the bike is to make less damping on rebound and compression.
Sag is very critical on Austrian bikes. As soon as I go below 40mm it behaves like shit. That's 40mm hot, so 42mm cold.
Trax, OEM, OEM revalved. Same behavior. So if you try to run less static sag you are in for a ride when tracks get rough.
Thank you for all the answers.
I had problems with nitrogen in the oil before and can confirm that there are no problems. All in all im sure that the shock is working proper from a mechanical point of view.
As i mentioned before i will compare it with the new Shock on Friday to make sure. Additional i will try to compare it to the kyb shock of a Yamaha i can get for testing.
Maybe I explained my „problem“ wrong in my first post, so i will try it again. As i’m a former Yamaha rider i‘m used to the kyb suspension. The difference in the shock‘s movement between the Rebound turned all the way in and all the way out is clearly visible with the Kyb‘s. But on the WP it seems to me that the difference ist not as big. Sometimes on tracks with big waves i would like to have the rebound a little slower, as i got the feeling that it just rebounds too fast. And thats the feedback i get from other people too. In the past I never experienced those struggles with the kyb Suspension. So i‘m wondering if a WP Xact Pro Shock or a KYB A-Kit Shock will cure that and give me the tuning possibilities i‘m searching for. Otherwise I might consider a revalve.
Maybe someone can understand me and i didn‘t caused too much confusion.
Kicking is very rarely the result of a rebound setting, but most often packing of the rear due to soft compression. Adjusting the rebound to a slower setting will compound the problem. Can you check if increased fast- and slow compression helps? Leaving the rebound somewhere in the middle.
Make sure linkage bearing is not walking out, remove shock & make sure the swingarm & linkage are moving through ark with no binding…they did have a few that had this issue….
IMO the compression is way too soft on WP MX shocks, and this causes a rebound problem for quick riders or rough tracks. Try going stiffer and stiffer on low speed and high speed until you get an idea of what direction helps the most.
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