I have two rides on my new Husky, but I've been washing the front end more than any bike in the past. If I don't have perfect form with all of my weight over the front, the bike seems to bite me. I ride flowy, sandy, single track, grass tracks, and some hammered sandy whoop tracks. I like to tinker, but I'm not sure where to start with adjustments... raise the forks to the next line like the bike came assembled? less comp on the forks? faster rebound? Just suck less?
Rider:
5'10 / 170 lbs
Bike:
2024 Husqvarna FX 350 (Stock) w/ 5 hrs
Shock:
- Sag: 102 mm (per manual)
- Lowspeed Comp: 16 clicks out
- Highspeed Comp: 1.5 turns
- Rebound: 13 clicks out
Forks (*note that they are spring because it's an FX):
- They are set to the first line in the clamps
- Compression: 10 clicks out
- Rebound: 13 clicks out
Tires:
- MX33 up front
- AT81 in the rear
Just suck less. That's always my problem!
However, here are the things I would do, in order, to prevent washing out in the front. (I assume you mean the front tire gives way and you low side, correct? That's what washing means to me.)
1) Slow down the rebound (go clockwise on the adjusters) two or three clicks. You should feel a slower, heavier steering sensation. Come back to your setting if you don't like the feel.
2) Raise your forks in the clamps a few mm.
3) Adjust your tire pressure downward. I run 12.5psi in my tires, but I lower it in the front if I feel like I need more grip.
4) Try a different front tire.
Keep in mind that I ride on harder tracks, so your sandy conditions may require other changes.
Remember to stay on point with your form and riding skills; most handling problems on modern bikes can be ironed out by proper form. Unless your settings are really far off, all modern bikes are pretty good. I think your settings look pretty reasonable.
Take that sag number to 98-100.
Being a shit rider is unfortunately the hardest thing to change, so I will continue blaming the bike and start with your step 1 and 2 🤣. I run 12 psi because it's soft/sandy where I live. The MX33 isn't my first choice, but when it comes stock, I usually run it until it wears out. It's not the worst tire (AKA the AT81 front), but there are tires that I certainly prefer more (MX3S, MX34, Pirelli Scorpion).
Proper form is of course the best solution, but I'm a 35 y/o dad, and I don't have the stamina to stay perfect for 2 hrs of trail riding/racing. The last gen 350 was much more forgiving if I started to get a little lazy in the corners. This new gen penalizes me with dirt samples.
Do you think raising the forks, as I had initially hinted and Falcon suggested, would have a similar effect?
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If the front end is washing out like that, then you probably want a more mellow front end steering bike. Sounds like it’s too sensitive.
I would personally run more sag, like 105-110. I also agree with slowing the rebound on the forks a couple clicks.
Wouldn't more sag take less weight off the forks, causing them to push/skate even more?
You're going to have to do some testing!
Too much sag, the front is choppered out, will make the bike hard to corner and with less weight on the front it'll push/wash out.
Not enough sag, the front is overloaded, bike rides low in the forks and bottoms then deflects, will cause the front to push/wash out, especially in sand.
If it was me, I would focus on Sag and Handlebar position, before changing anything else.
Moving and rolling the bars will change your balance on the bike, sag will change the bike's balance. Ideally you want those things in line before messing with anything else.
Possibly, doing that can have other unintended changes on your geometry though so I usually start with sag,
Raising forks takes weight off the front end (traction) and will quicken steering action
What tire pressure are you running?
Terry Hay (shock treatment) has some great videos on YouTube, teknik also has a suspension guide that you can find with a search of the interwebs with good info on it
You’re not really explaining what the front is doing, but this is good overall sand setup. This would be coming off of your stock settings. Stiffe. The fork compression and add a couple clicks of rebound to the shock, this will allow the suspension to ride on top of the sand. If it is really rough and sandy raising the front of the bike (lowering the forks in the triple clamp) by 3-5 mm.
So pretty much what Falcon said.
I didn't know Chase was on vitalmx!
What bike were you on before?
Good suggestions in here. Just remember to only change one thing at a time and take notes between those changes. Otherwise it's too easy to lose track of what's helping vs hurting.
Try 85mm sag
Basically, the bike feels good at initial lean in, but then maybe around the apex, it will suddenly give way and I’ll low side. It’s not a gradual vague feel, it’s very abrupt. On the sand track that I ride regularly, I went from being able to stand every turn on my last bike to now needing to sit on some of them with this bike.
Washing the front is about the only riding ability that I have in common with Chase 😂
2022 GG EX 350, and a 2021 350 XCF before that… quite used to that last gen chassis.
IF it's over steering in the sand slower fork rebound will make it worse. I am running my forks flush with the rebound about 18 out on the AER in the sand. 40mm free sag in the rear with the right spring for your weight and not paying attention to race sag. The new KTM chassis feels front end biased to me.
Pit Row
Frame geo looks to be the same on husky and gg (from a quick internet search). Is it possible the new engine isnt broke in and heavier than normal engine braking in the sand is causing some sudden weight shifts?
That’s a good possibility! Although I don’t really remember this problem with the last two bikes, I just ordered a Vortex from XPR to smooth things out on this one… lots of engine braking and decel pop.
What phase of the turn are you in when the bike is washing out? Are you braking or on throttle when it washes?
2mm of sag makes a difference. U need more weight on frontend , less sag is less rear fender down. I like a lot of sag for manual riding the rear tire, get the front tire light & stability. My cr125 turns great yet with alot more sag .
If you blowing threw the turns, the compression may be too firm.
I had bad issues with my 2017 YZ250F doing the same thing. Raised my forks pretty significantly , increased my tire pressure to 15 from 12. I think raising the tire pressure helped quite a bit. I dont ride it sand though. I do have dry, loose dust a lot of the time. Same difference .
🤣
At81 rear is a terrible soft/sand tire. I don’t know if that is your problem but it probably doesn’t help.
I would drop the forks to the next line. When you start screwing with clickers you are going to impact other aspects of the suspension. Drop them to the second line and see if that helps the washout without making it too twitchy.
Just an update.
I rode some turn tracks yesterday with the sole purpose of tuning this thing. I actually went back to the factory stock settings on everything, which are much softer than I had noted in the beginning of this thread. I figured that it would be easiest to adjust from there. Within 10 minutes of riding, I hit the dirt twice lol. My buddy said that the back of the bike looked like it was riding very low, so I steadily added low speed compression to the shock, which definitely helped. Then I add more rebound dampening to the forks, and that helped as well. At this point, the rear was feeling firm, and the forks were feeling soft, but at least it wasn't pushing. I went in 2 clicks on fork compression to try and balance it, but it started pushing again. I'm thinking that I need to raise the forks one line which will allow me to stiffen the fork compression to balance the bike, but prevent some pushing...
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