2017 RMZ suspension for Hare Scramble

Scrambled
Hi all, new member here looking for a bit of advice on suspension set up for a 2017 rmz 250 with psf2 forks.
The bike will be used for 2 and 3 hour Hare Scrambles and MX practice.
I'm hoping I don't have to send my suspension off for a re-valve and hoping I can get somewhere near with clicker adjustments.
I don't fully understand the limitations of my suspension, so hopefully I can save a bit of time by picking the collective brain on here.
Here's some info about me and the bike.
I weigh 74Kg without kit. I have the correct shock spring for my weight and also fitted a DeVol lowering link and set the sag. I also pushed the forks up through the clamps roughly 10mm.
I'm an average rider racing at the front of a local sportsman/novice class in HH races. I'd say I'm a below average mx rider and do not commit to the bigger jumps. But I can get a bike around an mx track fairly quickly neglecting the fact that I will slow up on the approach to the bigger jumps. (it's an age thing).
What I'd like to know are the best settings if possible and air pressure for the forks for this style of riding. The manual says minimum pressure in the forks should be 31psi, can I go lower than this? I rode the bike on a very choppy cross country track last weekend and the suspension was extremely harsh. I put the compression clickers on forks all the way out to soft and this improved the front, I then did the same to the rear and things improved, but they were far from perfect. I wasn't able to accelerate hard across the choppy bumps without the bike getting very unsettled.
Hopefully somebody can make some sense of the above post and give me a good base line setting. I'm not sure how the lowering link may have affected the suspension as I have not lowered the front by an equal amount, could this make the bike handle badly? Any advice will be greatly received, many thanks in advance.
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mxb2
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mxb2 8/17/2017 6:01am
8/17/2017 6:01am
Start with at least the correct spring rate in the back, sag set, try a few fork settings,. Hate to say it the rmz s need a revalve and they are pretty good. Factory connection has good settings for them
Scrambled 8/17/2017 7:31am
8/17/2017 7:31am
mxb2 wrote:
Start with at least the correct spring rate in the back, sag set, try a few fork settings,. Hate to say it the rmz s need...
Start with at least the correct spring rate in the back, sag set, try a few fork settings,. Hate to say it the rmz s need a revalve and they are pretty good. Factory connection has good settings for them
Hi, thanks for the reply. The first thing I did was use the racetech spring calculator to find out what shock spring I needed, so that's all sorted. Ordered from karlzracing here in the UK.
I'm not sure what the lowering link may have done, it definitely felt very light and twitchy up front. I'm gonna hang fire with taking the shock apart for revalving. Also according to the racetech calculator for my style of riding and ability it suggested 28 psi in the forks whereas the owners manual states 31psi as a low setting.
Scrambled 8/17/2017 7:50am
8/17/2017 7:50am
Ok, I have just checked Factory connections trouble shooting page. I'll probably print that off and take it with me to the track this weekend.
mxb2
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mxb2 8/17/2017 8:23am
8/17/2017 8:23am
mxb2 wrote:
Start with at least the correct spring rate in the back, sag set, try a few fork settings,. Hate to say it the rmz s need...
Start with at least the correct spring rate in the back, sag set, try a few fork settings,. Hate to say it the rmz s need a revalve and they are pretty good. Factory connection has good settings for them
Scrambled wrote:
Hi, thanks for the reply. The first thing I did was use the racetech spring calculator to find out what shock spring I needed, so that's...
Hi, thanks for the reply. The first thing I did was use the racetech spring calculator to find out what shock spring I needed, so that's all sorted. Ordered from karlzracing here in the UK.
I'm not sure what the lowering link may have done, it definitely felt very light and twitchy up front. I'm gonna hang fire with taking the shock apart for revalving. Also according to the racetech calculator for my style of riding and ability it suggested 28 psi in the forks whereas the owners manual states 31psi as a low setting.
Np , man. Good luck, keep us posted.

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harescrambled
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harescrambled 8/17/2017 6:25pm
8/17/2017 6:25pm
Scrambled wrote:
Hi, thanks for the reply. The first thing I did was use the racetech spring calculator to find out what shock spring I needed, so that's...
Hi, thanks for the reply. The first thing I did was use the racetech spring calculator to find out what shock spring I needed, so that's all sorted. Ordered from karlzracing here in the UK.
I'm not sure what the lowering link may have done, it definitely felt very light and twitchy up front. I'm gonna hang fire with taking the shock apart for revalving. Also according to the racetech calculator for my style of riding and ability it suggested 28 psi in the forks whereas the owners manual states 31psi as a low setting.
I can't say anything about the air pressure settings (I have no experience with air forks), but your spring rate for the rear shock wouldn't be far off stock, given your weight. I will say though that prior to spending any more money on suspension tuning, either put the stock linkage back on, or lower the front of the bike by the same amount the rear was lowered by.
Scrambled 8/18/2017 12:18am
8/18/2017 12:18am
harescrambled wrote:
I can't say anything about the air pressure settings (I have no experience with air forks), but your spring rate for the rear shock wouldn't be...
I can't say anything about the air pressure settings (I have no experience with air forks), but your spring rate for the rear shock wouldn't be far off stock, given your weight. I will say though that prior to spending any more money on suspension tuning, either put the stock linkage back on, or lower the front of the bike by the same amount the rear was lowered by.
I think you're right, I didn't actually ride the bike with the stock linkage and the first track I tested it on with the lowering link was unusually rough. Fitting the standard link should at least let me know what the bike could ride like before I mess it up with the lowering link. I'm just about to order some risers so that I can drop the forks by the same amount, but this weekend I'll try to the stock set up. Only trouble is, the mx track that we're going to is very well graded, the exact opposite of where I was last weekend, I think any suspension will feel fine around there.
harescrambled
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harescrambled 8/18/2017 3:32pm
8/18/2017 3:32pm Edited Date/Time 8/18/2017 3:33pm
Scrambled wrote:
I think you're right, I didn't actually ride the bike with the stock linkage and the first track I tested it on with the lowering link...
I think you're right, I didn't actually ride the bike with the stock linkage and the first track I tested it on with the lowering link was unusually rough. Fitting the standard link should at least let me know what the bike could ride like before I mess it up with the lowering link. I'm just about to order some risers so that I can drop the forks by the same amount, but this weekend I'll try to the stock set up. Only trouble is, the mx track that we're going to is very well graded, the exact opposite of where I was last weekend, I think any suspension will feel fine around there.
Not true...the first thing you need to do is get the bike balanced front and rear, next thing is to get it to where the front end is planted and it'll turn well, but still handle the high speed stuff without headshake. Get it handling first, then worry about getting the suspension dialed in for the gnarly woods.
Scrambled 8/18/2017 3:56pm
8/18/2017 3:56pm
Ok, sounds good. I got some bar risers from the local mx shop after work this evening. I'll be able to drop the forks in the morning and get the geometry somewhere near where it was before I fitted the link.
harescrambled
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harescrambled 8/20/2017 7:53am
8/20/2017 7:53am
Scrambled wrote:
Ok, sounds good. I got some bar risers from the local mx shop after work this evening. I'll be able to drop the forks in the...
Ok, sounds good. I got some bar risers from the local mx shop after work this evening. I'll be able to drop the forks in the morning and get the geometry somewhere near where it was before I fitted the link.
That'd be the best place to start...then make changes one setting at a time. If you mess with multiple settings at one time, you won't know which setting had what effect.
Scrambled 8/21/2017 4:28am
8/21/2017 4:28am
harescrambled wrote:
That'd be the best place to start...then make changes one setting at a time. If you mess with multiple settings at one time, you won't know...
That'd be the best place to start...then make changes one setting at a time. If you mess with multiple settings at one time, you won't know which setting had what effect.
Fitted the bar risers on Saturday. Increased the fork pressure to 31psi and added some pre-load to the shock. I think the shock spring may be a little hard 50Nmm but not a million miles away. Initially I had tried to soften everything up by having lower air pressure in the forks and less preload on the shock. I realise now all that was doing was starting the suspension lower in the stroke and not helping at all. I also think that choppering the bike with just the rear link was also contributing to bad handling. Had a blast at the mx track on Sunday, the bike turns really well. I think I have a good base setting now.

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