Posts
34
Joined
10/26/2017
Location
Germantown, WI
US
Edited Date/Time
7/23/2018 12:06pm
So far I have 17 hours on my FE and have been riding the best I ever have. There is a slight annoying issue that i have noticed though. When coming into smaller braking bumps or rough sections as the track breaks down the bike does not track very well. The last two seasons I was on a 2016 kx450f which I could charge through rough sections easily.
What would be the fix for this? I was planning on getting the suspension revalved over the winter.
Would adding the ride engineering/showa steering stabilizer/bracket assist with this? Maybe send the forks out now to get revalved? I am 31 years old and 155 pounds. I took 3rd overall in +25b/c and 5th overall in +30b/c in the last local race.
What say you vital experts? Any advice would be much appreciated!
What would be the fix for this? I was planning on getting the suspension revalved over the winter.
Would adding the ride engineering/showa steering stabilizer/bracket assist with this? Maybe send the forks out now to get revalved? I am 31 years old and 155 pounds. I took 3rd overall in +25b/c and 5th overall in +30b/c in the last local race.
What say you vital experts? Any advice would be much appreciated!
Sounds like we're fairly similar in ability, weight and age. I'm 30 and 153 lbs. I was having a similar feeling to what you are describing on a 17 TC250 with similar suspension and had Factory Connection take care of the fork and shock before the riding season started this year.
I have to say that what they did is really confidence inspiring. I am able to charge into that small chop with a lot more confidence now as the bike is tracking much better. I'm not just trying to sell you to have FC take care of it, it really does feel a lot better all around the track. I have less harsh of a feeling to the hands and the rear of the bike is tracking very nicely in and out of braking and accel bumps.
Personally, I wouldn't jump right to getting a steering stabilizer and would get the suspension done and see if that helps, first.
I had FC do the Performance Kit, Revalve and update on my 17. In the rear I had them revalve and kept the piston setup and did not convert to bladder this time. I currently run around 138-140 PSI on the forks and 104-105mm of sag.
On throttle or off?
Forks or shock?
Have you serviced the suspension?
Springs?
With that many hours in both the shock & forks the fluids will break down and changes dampening.
150 lb probably could use lighter shock. On my FE the previous 140 lb A rider ran lighter springs.
What pressures are you running in shock and forks? Have you changed pressure settings in forks?
I have researched the FC performance kit and revalve a little bit. That does seem like the route I should take. I was hoping to push that off until the winter but it seems like something I want done sooner than later.
The Shop
I have not serviced the suspension yet.
I also do think that I need the lighter 42 n/mm shock spring. I am able to get the 104 mm of sag out of the 45 n/mm spring but there is barely any spring tension when the bike is on the stand.
I currently have been running the fork pressure at 150 psi and have not really played with that too much.
Using the motool digital scale my free sag is around 45 mm and the sag is set to 104 mm. I do not know the spring preload but it is not very much. The forks are set at the 2nd line down which I believe would be 2 mm down from the top.
I ride only motocross on mainly clayish hard pack tracks.
It does seem like a revalve might be the answer.
If it's a stability issue, a general rule of thumb is to extend the wheelbase via fork offset or sliding the rear wheel back
I will try going a few clicks softer on the compression for the next time I go ride.
I just picked up a 19' two days ago. Hope I can dial it in the same way. Good Luck
Of course running a steering stabilizers and proper bearing adjustment is a better option. But a little extra on the adjustment will make a difference.
Pit Row
I had him ride the stock setup for a little over 10 hours before we upgraded the suspension, that way he would really know the difference between stock and the new setup. We were running the stock settings and with his low weight he was still bottoming the front and the rear with suggested fork pressure and 105 sag.
Lower your fork pressure. I am 180lbs and probably of similar speed and run 143. 102mm sag. Static sag and preload have never meant anything to me.... 12 out of compression. 10 out on rebound.....Do not remember my shock settings. People ride my bike all the time and love it. The faster you go, the better it gets.
I Started doing the snug stealing bearings on a 1984 CR500 that shook its head like a wet dog!. On a stand with the front wheel in the air It still turns easy but if you flick the bars and let go so it goes all the way to the stop it will bounce back just a little but not all the way. Manual has torques specks for the bearing setting and I always went just a little more then tighten the top clamp and for tubes.
I set the fork pressure to 146 psi. This was the only thing that I changed on the bike. It took a few laps to get used to the extra travel I was feeling from the front end. I was also able to get the forks to bottom once or twice while I was still figuring out the jumps in the first few laps.
The 3rd, 4th, and 5th motos I put in were awesome. The track was getting pretty rough but the bike was tracking through the braking bumps and acceleration chop much much nicer! I did not have to focus so much on keeping the bike in line and could charge much easier.
Thanks vital crew for all of the suggestions! I will continue testing and figuring out what works for me!
P.S. To whoever decided to thumbs down the guys that took the time to help me in this thread... You need to take that negativity somewhere else!
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