Have a 2024 YZ450F on stock suspension I ride moto with at Central Florida tracks, (Orlando MX, Pax. Motorbros). I'm a C rider and my suspension is stock. Works perfect for me at my speed on moto. Love it.
Decided to try an FTR race for the first time. Have never done this type of riding and my buddy is telling me I need to open up and soften the suspension by ridiculous amounts to do a trail race. I'm kind of skeptical.
I typically don't fiddle with my setup much on this bike since I've been really happy with it on the track.
Have no idea where to go with settings for this race and will have no opportunity to test.
Looking for good advice on where to go from my base setup to give me the best shot at being comfortable and safe for this race coming up next week.
My base settings on this 24 YZ450F are:
Fork height: 3mm
Fork comp: 11 out
Fork reb: 11 out
Sag: 105mm
Shock LS comp: 12 out
Shock HS comp: 1.25 out
Shock reb: 11 out
Not looking to revalve or respring since I'll be going back and forth with moto being primary. Just clicker changes
Appreciate any advice I can get. This is the Bartow race for anyone familiar. Thanks!
Go out/ softer 4 clicks on compression fork & shock, out 1/2-3/4 on Hs shock compression…..out from your Mx settings…. to soften it up for some roots,rocks, square edge…if it’s hardpack, a couple clicks out/ speed up, on rebound should also help…I ran Bartow last year, it was dust bowl, but I liked the course, got disqualified on the line for not having correct color backgrounds on my bike😂…I raced my 300SX Mx bike with just the above clicker adjustments…
If I were you, I'd ride with the current setup and see if you feel out of place. Don't just make radical changes because your friend says to do it.
JMB used to setup his suspension and leave it alone all year. He had a Supercross setting and an outdoor setting which were very similar and just adjusted his riding to suit the day's race. I do the same thing and it works for me.
Honestly, you probably do need to open the compression by a ridiculous amount. Such different worlds between track and offroad. Best suggestion would be to try pre riding something similar in terrain and take some wild swings.
It's been years since I've jumped into a FTR race, but here in new england stock MX suspension compression is too stiff even when all the way open. Rebound can be set properly though - you'll want it much faster with those palmetto roots.
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I ended up moving my fork compression and rebound out 4 clicks from my base mx setting. On the shock, low speed and rebound went out 4 clicks from the base setting. Turned high speed out 1 half turn from base. Did a day of trail riding weekend before the race and thought it felt pretty good. Day of the race I did a practice lap and it felt comfortable. Thought it felt in the ball park and I would do well with it.
When the race came, it was night and day. It was harsh and got progressively worse as the track wore and I got more and more tired. Everything felt dangerously harsh and sketchy. Front end would knife when I went for brakes, front end would deflect violently off of roots. back end was harsh hitting every bump and very kicky. It was pretty damn terrible. Amazing how different things got when adrenaline kicked in and I rode faster.
Probably not going to ever get it ideal for trail/woods racing. Motocross is what I mainly do and I'm not revalving for woods riding. Next hare scrambler race I do, I'm paying a suspension guy to set me up at the event as close as we can get and go with that setting. Probably going to be way softer than what I tried to ride with.
Appreciate the advice. We'll see how it goes next time. Thanks
Ha ha…..Hare scrambles races are no joke….I”m sure some guys could make a big 450 work but that would be the last bike I would choose for that discipline…
yeah, totally agree. Toying with the idea of a premod 250 two stroke or maybe even getting an ebike so I can race on Saturdays if we continue to do FTR races
Unless you are riding tight/technical stuff the four stroke has a significant advantage over the two stroke. Now if you just want to have fun and don’t care as much about results the two stroke is pretty good, and I bet you can get an older ktm or yz set up for xc pretty cheap although they seem to keep their value better than four strokes.
I have been racing hare scrambles in Texas for the last couple of years. I have yet to find a great compromise for the track and off-road. The track setup is too stiff for off-road racing, and the off-road setup is too soft for the track.
The best workable compromise I’ve found is to stiffen my off-road setup by some clicks to enable riding at the track. It’s good enough for smaller jumps or those with good landings, but otherwise just too soft.
Likely your suspension felt wrong/harsh bc you were exhausted. Offroad is no joke.
HIGHLY recommend more training on/off bike so that you can hold posture. You'll likely figure out more about hydration, more comfortable gloves along the way.
You have one of the best handling bikes on the market with 'track toughness' that works on a wide variety of terrains and weight and skills of riders. My best advice is don't mess it up (or let a tuner mess it up), haha.
After many years of racing YZ250 (four and two strokes) offroad, my most significant mod was getting correct spring rates and after that, lowering the oil height in the forks.
MOSTLY it was about me, not the bike.
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