What's the best suspension set up you have ever ridden?

I have a 2008 CRF450 that has the RG3 "Works Kit" suspension front and rear that is the best I've ridden. Soaks up small stuff like it's not even there, very progressive all the way thru the stroke with amazing bottoming resistance.  I have other full A-Kit suspension on other bikes but they don't have that magic feel of that RG3 setup

Best I’ve ridden.  In 2019 when I started riding again after more years away than most of you are old.  I bought a used 2014 YZ250F that had 34 hours original hours, with original back tire and never raced.  I was 3rd owner.  Guy I bought it from said original owner had suspension worked on.  It had an ENZO sticker on the rear shock.

It was hands down best handling bike I’ve ever ridden.  I never even checked sag, I just rode it.  My Beta 300 RX with KYB is solid but nothing as good as that old 2014 YZF.  My 24 KX that RaceTech helped me get springs for my weight is good but nothing like that old Yamaha.  I could not stand the way that old Yamaha set, with my long legs my knees were under my chin.  But it would corner good and soak up braking bumps.  Hit a jump and it would land without hardly feeling the ground.

I decided I needed electric start.  In the fall of 2022  I bought a 23 Honda CRF250R.  I would ride it back to back to back with my old Yamaha.  It would make me want to set that stink bug Honda on fire.

I would have liked to have ridden that old Yamaha more.  I really didn’t get to ride it much back then, but what little I did it was good.  I had an almost 3 year string of bad luck and couldn’t ride much.  Work, Covid shut down, broke foot, knee surgery and bad concussion from a car wreck etc kept me off the track.

If my wife wouldn’t kill me I’d buy one of those new 2026 Red and White Yamaha’s!

'06 YZ250 done by racetech was really good. '22 KX250 with only clicker adjustments was a close second.

ENZO KYB forks that came on a 2010 KX450F (same AOSS forks as SSS Yamaha). I put them on my 2016 KX450F and they were magical! 

For me it was the kyb suspension I had revalved by factory connection on my 2020 KX250. Handling and suspension wise that bike was amazing after I got it done. 

Hopped on my stock 24' MC350 and instantly hated the handling. Broke in the frame and got the suspension done by factory connection again, and it was a night and day difference, but still no where near that kx250 suspension. I think I might do a kyb spring conversion this winter to hopefully get that last little bit, but who knows if I'll get there. 

2003 Cr125

Too bad Rob figured out there’s about a million times more $ to make in exotic sports car racing and the moto stuff kinda went away. 

Right side up forks for the win... so supple compared to upside down

Perfect for clearing 6 foot double jumps and rolling through the whoop de doos

My friend’s 2011 (and later 2016) RMZ 450 with RG3 suspension. My friend is similar in size and a bit faster than me and his setup it worked perfectly for me. It was plush and well balanced and the RMZ with that suspension was hands down the best handling bike I’ve ridden. I rode the 2016 with the stock suspension and then again after he put the suspension from his 2011 on it, and then what a difference! I didn’t care for the 2016 RMZ with the stock suspension and loved it with the RG3 setup. 

2015 crf450r with factory connection revalve and parts. That was the year with the KYB air fork. Admittedly not the most comfortable and had the usual air fork complaints, but the suspension responded so well to being pushed. The bike seemed to wake up the harder you rode it. That bike was a ton of fun. 

2007 rmz250 with some random set up suspension, have not find a bike that handeld that good.

In stock form my 2017 KTM 350 was very good and tunable also my 2015 YZ 250F was great as well. My son and I could race it on the same day and he was 30lbs lighter than me.

As far as aftermarket I used Jeremy Wilkey at MX Tech for all the earlier spring fork KTM's I had and it worked well.

I was riding +40 Vet A/B district 20 Houston area.

Worst lure in the box still works like a charm!! 🤣

My 2023 KTM 450 XCF with Dick's Racing air/coil spring hybrid.  Amazing in rocks and on big hits, and infinitely adjustable. 

Factory connection on my 07 CR 250 

WP with KYB full spring converison with shock bladder and pro action valving woods/moto set up.

08 CRF450 revalved by Dan Moore at EVO, that bike was GLUED TO THE TRACK and very predictable 

My revalved and resprung suspension on my 2004 YZ250. Forks and shock off of a 2024 YZ250. Derek Harris at HP Race Development did it, he did different spring seats in the forks, and some other stuff I can’t remember. I forget what exactly he did inside the shock but I remember him mentioning machining something or another. It’s so plush, but also soaks up big hits. I’m a 40yr old Vet B rider. I’ve let really slow riders try it, and some really fast riders try and it seems to make everyone happy.

He did all my Honda's from 2004-2010 while I was racing. 

Best I ever rode was my buddies 2007 Loretta's bike. It was basically a Geico Honda, everything done by PC including their Showa A-kit at the time

Man I bet that was so good. I just started restoring a 2004 CRF450R. I was sort of blown away at how good it is even compared to my 2023 CRF450R. It feels like a cheater bike when I get on it after riding my YZ250

1983 RM125 suspension set up by Ross at  Enzo. Ya I’m old! 

2001 YZ125 with Enzo valving and springs. The way I could tell is one day I thought I was going to die; I had slightly overjumped something and landed front-wheel first, in a hole, under braking. Couldn't do anything but hope I didn't do 3 front flips when the front wheel came through the handlebars, but actually it didn't even bottom. Just soaked it up and sent me on my way down the track. 

To be fair, the SSS suspension that comes stock on those bikes now is 99% as good. 

I bought a "demo" 2013 CRF450 from Honda that came with all the factory rebates etc. in 2015, awesome deal. It had all the TWMX graphics, and was the very same bike that they had in the magazines pinup with the model. It might have been Swaps bike, it had his brother Enzo's suspension magic front and rear. It was more than just a revalve. I didn't really like it when I first hopped on, until I started pushing it. Then, it worked really well. At speed it really soaked up the big stuff, but wasn't too stiff on the small stuff. It wasn't super plush, but was very effective.

The motor was gutless with too narrow a torque curve though. Fortunately Ron Hamp, RIP, could work magic on them. 

It’s easy to get suspension to feel comfortable, it’s easy to get suspension to be bottomless. Getting it to do both is hard. I once rode a buddies KTM at Pala (when the main was good)with cone valves and an old ohlins shock, not the new version. That rear shock was amazing made the bike do things I’d never felt before, I still dream of that shock. 

Factory Connection 2013 Honda CRF250R

Factory Connection 2025 Yamaha YZ450

2007 YZ250F had such comfy suspension stock.

Coil spring cone valve and Trax shock on an FE450 I raced in the Dez was phenomenal as well. 

I thought my 2001 YZ 250 with Pro Action suspension set up by Ron Turner was great, until I showed up at a KTM demo day in 2003, hosted by off road legend Larry Roeseler. When it was my turn to demo the new 450, there were none available, so Larry let me ride his personal bike. I was a little leery because I probably outweighed him by 80 pounds, so I expected a lot of bottoming. But it was great! Extremely plush, but not wallowing, no bottoming at all, and the bike tracked and handled better than any of my friends’ KTMs that I had sampled.

‘93 factory 500 KTM with conventional Marzocchi forks. Unreal.

Absolutely. Inherently better design than USD. But fashion said different.