• Hi everyone,

    As you all know, Coffee (Dean) passed away a couple of years ago. I am Dean's ex-wife's husband and happen to have spent my career in tech. Over the years, I occasionally helped Dean with various tech issues.

    When he passed, I worked with his kids to gather the necessary credentials to keep this site running. Since then (and for however long they worked with Coffee), Woodschick and Dirtdame have been maintaining the site and covering the costs. Without their hard work and financial support, CafeHusky would have been lost.

    Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working to migrate the site to a free cloud compute instance so that Woodschick and Dirtdame no longer have to fund it. At the same time, I’ve updated the site to a current version of XenForo (the discussion software it runs on). The previous version was outdated and no longer supported.

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    Coffee didn’t document the work he did on the site, so I’ve been digging through the old setup to understand how everything was running. There may still be things I’ve missed. One known issue is that email functionality is not yet working on the new site, but I hope to resolve this over time.

    Thanks for your patience and support!

Suspension Setup recommendations.

If there are no spacers, how much do the springs stick out the top of the fork before you put the cap on?

It definitely sounds like too much preload. If there are no spacers and the springs are too long, you're going to need to get springs.
 
Sooo... I am not sure what happened but I pulled the forks changed the fluid with 5w to 120mm didn't see any spacers so I put back together... Re-Checked and I am at 30 static and 55 rider sag??? I don't think the fluid had anything to do with it. I think something was tweaked with the front axle/forks maybe? WOuld that do it? I swear i'm not crazy lol... well maybe a little haha but it's totally different than it was. Looking like I need a size lighter springs front and rear?
 
Ha ha sounds like you are on the right track now. Go a step softer front and rear. The front may be ok if you ride really fast terrain or soft/sand.
 
Your spacers will be underneath the fork springs. And you can use 2 1/4 sched 40 to make addt'l spacers to get the front sag correct.(which made a BIG diff on mine to get it to turn correctly) I went with 5W 120mm from top, In the rough stuff it's a dream, didn't moto it but it'll hit the biggest sand whoops I could find & beg for more.('09 WR300) Also, b4 you put the wheel on the axle should slide in easy, my left fork was on 1st line from top & right was on 2nd line, but no fork bind so I didn't care. This is the 1st bike I took a LOT of time on the front end & it was time well spent.....
 
Right now I'm at

Front
Free Sag:35mm
Rider Sag:50mm

Rear
Free Sag:42mm
Rider Sag:102mm

I talked to a local suspension guy, who seems to know his stuff. He serves quite a large area also. He thinks that 75mm rider sag is WAY too much. And that .42's should be ok for my weight.

I'm only 150 with gear (estimate). I can tell my rear spring is a bit too stiff. So I guess I'll get that dialed in then maybe play around with preload in the forks.

Right now I've got the rebound/compression opened right up so it's either too much preload or springs are too stiff.

I've been reading up and alot of ppl are saying you don't measure sag on the front.
 
I may have missed it in the last 9 pages Vinduro... but how do you apply your suggestions if you have your suspension lowered?

I'm a bit short in the leg and have the suspension lowered so the seat is about 20mm lower... then play with cutting the seat foam too.
I think they workshop achieve the lowering by using a top out spacer.
On the shock there is usually plenty of thread to allow the preload to be backed off so it is not compromised by the lowering spacer.
Not so sure what happens on the front, I would think that the lowering process may put the spring under an increased preload unless it is somehow adjusted for by shortening the spring or something.

Anyhow... your thoughts on how to apply your method in this situation please?
Do I calculate the % sag targets based on the shortened total length of travel... or the original length?

Also another specific question. Rear sag I measure from axle to a point roughly vertical on the rear guard.
Where do you measure front sag? Between axle and front guard again... or straight up sliders as I have seen on a Suspension Tech photo?

Thanks in advance for your help.
 
IMO regardless of travel the sag percentages apply. Common theory is that you don't worry so much about measuring front sag and just use the correct springs for your weight (I.e spring calculator).

I just had my suspension revalved and the rear was too stiff. Racetechs spring calculator said the stock .42 springs are ok for my weight a little bit stiff.

It feels like cheating I'm so used to powering through stuff to compensate. Suspension feels great now, don't even think about the bike deflecting off certain obstacles. Just point it straight and twist the throttle.
 
As far as front sag goes, my used wr300 had the racetech recommended fork springs in & the thing would NOT turn. So found this thread & went to work. Tried many different sizes of preload spacers( at the bottom of the open chamber Zokes, used 2 1/4" sched 40) finally using 55mm with the stock springs to get the correct #s(I'm 210 in gear). Now it'll turn where I put it & with 120mm air gap take anything I hit. I can attack these Floriduh sand whoops & not be too concerned about the pucker factor. Since bike was used don't know if it was ever revalved. So just saying IMO that front static & rider sag is just as important as rear......
 
Fair enough, I'd like to ride a similiar bike with 3" rider sag and see how it handled. I've read more then a few comments about it being too much sag. Glad your happy with your setup. Who knows I could be riding blissfully ignorant. Something about dropping the front end another 1" tells me it won't be good.
 
If someone is looking for spring rates. I am 180# in street cloths and went with 6.0kg spring on my 2012 TXC310 and it gave me perfect sage numbers of 32mm static and 101mm race. I was able to back the compression of 1 click and add 2 clicks of rebound and it is dialed in very well.
 
I'm looking to revalve my 50mm CC forks on my 2009 TM Racing EN300, I have the mechanical skills and I'm eager to learn.
I don't however have a understanding of shimstacks, where can I find info to calculate my shimstack.

I'm 67kg with gear on, bike is suspended about right (not quite sure what the ideal front sag should be). I ride a bit enduro but mainly mx (I'm pretty slow).
Rear is an öhlins shock with a 50n/mm spring.
Not sure what fork springs I have, it is a factory Shiver 50mm with DLC coated sliders. The fork was setup for Luca Cherubini (TM racing enduro team manager).
 
Front sag recommendations (from the first post in this thread):

Front suspension static sag should be 14% ( available travel in mm X .14 = static sag in mm)
Front suspension rider sag should be 25% (X .25 = Rider sag)
Click to expand...

Shock (and fork) tuning thread: http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/diy-tuning-the-sachs-shock.23893/

With regard to your specific fork, if you open it up and see what the current shim stacks are, and describe what it is doing that you do and do not like, people might be able to make recommendations.
 
I see my current shim stack could come in handy however, these people have to get there info from somewhere I want to know how they do come up with a shim stack so I could try my own.
 
They come up with a shim stack after doing hundreds of forks and getting a general idea for how to set them up. Then, if they do your forks, they will ask you a bunch of questions (weight, riding style, terrain, opinions of forks), open your forks up, see what the stacks are in there, and put a revised stack in.
 
So my fork springs are way off, I mean 35mm static and 45mm rider (crazy)!
Got hardly any preload on them (anything less and the spring rattles).

So I need lighter springs 0,38 or 0,4kg/mm, how can I tell what springrate I currently have (some code on the springs)?
 
Bart said:
So my fork springs are way off, I mean 35mm static and 45mm rider (crazy)!
Got hardly any preload on them (anything less and the spring rattles).

So I need lighter springs 0,38 or 0,4kg/mm, how can I tell what springrate I currently have (some code on the springs)?
Click to expand...

If you are lucky the weight will be engraved on one end or the other, they aren't always exactly what they are marked, but should give you some idea. The only way that I know for sure is to have them checked by with a tester. There is a computer program that takes in the size of the stock, number and diameter of coils and overall length, but I don't know how accurate it is. Maybe someone will chime in here.
 
Hi there ive got a standard sprung 2013 TXC250r and im having trouble with the front end and massive armpump, i weigh 12.5 stones (175lbs) dry so probably 13/182 suited n booted. The front is quite harsh and ive read on the TC 2013 you should remove 20cc/ml of oil through the air bleed hole to help it fully stroke, i presume same goes for the TXC as same fork?

So im in the process of doing this and noticed the oil is quite thick, i believe the weight should be 7.5 correct?

Ive also heard of the progressive spring maybe this will help, im located in the UK so cant use your suspension guys and do it all DIY.

Thanks for any help here

UPDATE the oil is wayy too thick, the 5w and 10w i have drips, this is like silly putty in comparison, i will flush and add 7.5 (mix 10 and 5) and put 20ml less oil and see where that gets me.

Any other help very welcome, thanks
 
Hi, we don't have the same fork as I have the open chamber.
But, I think both our forks are are damped for higher speeds and whoops.
If you have slower going with slippery rocks and roots, I think it is often necessary to go to 5W oil at a lower level, and lighten up the compression, mid valve and rebound quite a lot.
Either Chris Hockey or any known suspension tuner can help with this, or you can get Motion Pro suspension tools over at dirtbikebitz and fiddle w it yourself. There are also a number of youtube videos to look at.
Good luck on whatever you choose.
 
Thanks for replies ive found a great youtube vid but now need to make a 36mm inner cap tool so i can get the gloop out, the outer oil wasnt as bad but still too thick and black!

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrafDhaHbKc
strip and

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGjUpxEMrT0
rebuild with a handy drilling tip!!

Ive read that the inner oil chamber carries 200ml too much oil (http://motocrossactionmag.com/Main/News/MXAS-2013-HUSQVARNA-TC250-MOTOCROSS-TEST-THERE-IS-9569.aspx) and to drain through bleed hole!

The service manual states ...Fill the cartridge with the specified oil (196 cm3-196ml- 11,96 in3).

The video says fill to hole and purge to correct level. (as service manual)

SO the question IS...DO I REMOVE 20ML AFTER REFITTING?????

Also the service manual states 360ml in the outer and i have been told 320ml!

Going to strip tomorrow now after making a 36mm cap tool and see what happens but probably go with standard and maybe remove the 20ml through the air bleed hole if i dont get full travel, as for the out i think 360ml 1st also and removed if needed. Also i will be fittin 5W oil.

I will follow up with results should anyone need but im still up for advice regarding spring rates (big n small) and oil levels also!!

Cheers
 
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