[pbandjelly]

OK, i was looking into getting a suspension for my 700. I am basically a weekend woods rider. I was desiding between elka elites, or works black widows, with +2 a arms for the front. well last night i was looking through ebay and i found an iShock 5500 kit for $1000 brand new. I just couldnt resist, i noticed that a few of you guys on here have it and i did not read any complaints. So i bought it. Nowhere on ishocks website do they mention valving and spring tension for weight/riding style. does iShock do this? Was it a bad idea buying this setup? if so, ill just put tehm back on ebay for like 14-1500 and make money off the deal.

 

[Desert Racer]

I have heard that you can send them back and they will valve them for you if you feel they are off.

 

[Grizzlygreg]

For the money I'am realy pleased with my i 55oo complete set up. It took me around 3 hour to put ever thing together and i just love it. I'm still fine tuning it but so for it ben working great for me

 

[pudamac12]

if you are just doing regular trail riding the i shocks are great. However if you start to put them under some abuse like mx racing you might have problems. There are about three guys I race with and they all have had shocks blow out on them this year. However they did say the customer service was good from them.

 

[promethius]

I never tried them so i can't be sure but i heard in allot of places that the i-shocks are not that good.That could be different now though.The elka elites are high quality shocks that will last a very long time because they are made from the highest quality stuff that you can use.Some people say you have to send them back for another revalve but mine came perfect so i can only go by that.One thing is for sure is the service at elka is the best out there and they will do anything quickly to make you fully satisfied with thier product.If i get another quad in the future i would probably go with the elka elites again.If not it would be just to try the PEP shocks that everybody loves but nothing else and if i had to wait 8-10 weeks for them i would just go with the elites again because i allready know how good they are.

 

[pudamac12]

you should check out my post about motowoz shocks. They amazing shocks

 

[promethius]

Sounds like they are good.But they will have to be proven by allot of riders before they will be put in the top classes of high performance shocks.It takes allot of testing including durability(how long they last with an agressive rider,like how will they be a year from now after allot of abuse?) to see how good they are overall.I wouldn't buy any shocks unless they have extensive testing and are proven.Others can experiment if they wish,but i am putting on something i know are good.We will see though,if they are as good as they claim it would be another good option out there.

 

[pudamac12]

I had elka before my motowoz and I would never go back. The valving is just so much better. I have had mine for over a year and not one problem. The owner is local to me and he wanted to take them apart and the end of the season to see how things looked and everything was fine. Five or six guys are running them locally and no problems to report from any of them either :thumbsup:

 

[frankhkp7]

Buying used Elka's and sending them for revalves might be a cost effective way to upgrade your suspension. Here's what I did:

A couple weeks ago I bought a full set of Elka Dune edition shocks off a dude on Ebay. Got the whole set for 1100 bucks, fronts and rear. The shocks dont have a scratch on them. I think the guy ran them three times. Before I pulled the trigger I called Elka and asked what the price per shock is to revalve to 160lbs, intermediate MX and upgrade to Elite w/ triple rate springs. They quoted $150 per shock. I didnt think that was a bad deal considering the rear alone in the elite series is almost a 1000 bucks. Unfortunately, with free time becoming more and more scarce, I haven't had time to send them back for the revalve. :'( I'll let you guys know how I make out when I finally send them back.

 

[promethius]

Buying used Elka's and sending them for revalves might be a cost effective way to upgrade your suspension. Here's what I did:

A couple weeks ago I bought a full set of Elka Dune edition shocks off a dude on Ebay. Got the whole set for 1100 bucks, fronts and rear. The shocks dont have a scratch on them. I think the guy ran them three times. Before I pulled the trigger I called Elka and asked what the price per shock is to revalve to 160lbs, intermediate MX and upgrade to Elite w/ triple rate springs. They quoted $150 per shock. I didnt think that was a bad deal considering the rear alone in the elite series is almost a 1000 bucks. Unfortunately, with free time becoming more and more scarce, I haven't had time to send them back for the revalve. :'( I'll let you guys know how I make out when I finally send them back.

Or you could send them to pep for a revalve and have pep shocks for the price of a revalve.I am going to try that when my shocks wear down in about a year and a half.They use the same high quality materials,the only real difference between elka elite shocks and pep is the valving.My shocks now though are valved perfectly and i love them.I guess i must have been lucky or something because i keep hearing about other people not being happy with the valving the first time with elkas.I have ridden on other top aftermarket shocks and these elkas are the best so far,exept for a set of progressive sixth sence series i tried and they were amazing and just as good.

 

[pudamac12]

I guess i must have been lucky or something because i keep hearing about other people not being happy with the valving the first time with elkas.I have ridden on other top aftermarket shocks and these elkas are the best so far,exept for a set of progressive sixth sence series i tried and they were amazing and just as good.
[/quote]

I think what it is where everyone is complaining about elka lately is that they get to ride a better set of shocks and it leaves a bad taste in their mouths for elka. This is what happened to me. I could not believe the difference when I got to try a set of motowoz shocks for the first time. I immediately sold my elka's and got a set of Motowoz. Elka shocks when properly setup and valved/sprung are good, it is just there so many options that are better now. Elka's do look really good still though and definetely better then stock

 

[ChrisK14]

I run an elka elite rear on my 700r and it came valved perfect. I just had to slow the rebound down a little and play with the high and low speed compression adjustments and it is perfect now. There are 50 clicks of rebound adjustment and I had to move it 4 clicks for me so I was surprised they came so close. I run the fox float evol front shox. Can you say amazing. I went for a playday at Mills Creek Motocross last weekend in AL. I was blitzing the whoops sections pinned in 4th. There was a crowd of people gathered around the whoops section and after my arms started getting pumped I took a rest and chatted with some people over by the whoops. They said "Your quad stay straight and your wheels and tires bounce up and down like basketballs". I am just in my first year of amature racing. I finished fifth in the MS state arenacross series last year. I ran the begginner class and couldn't make all the races. I missed 3 out of 7 and was 5 points from having 4th overall. This year I am going to make all the races but the competition will definatly be harder but atleast I won't be running stock boingers. Just incase you want some fox shox, I had to order them for the yfz because they hadn't released them for the 700r at that time. I got to talk to to one of the techs that sets up the shocks and told him what I was trying to accomplish and he said they already had alot of data for the 700r and he would hook me up. They work great and I am pleased.

 

[promethius]

I guess i must have been lucky or something because i keep hearing about other people not being happy with the valving the first time with elkas.I have ridden on other top aftermarket shocks and these elkas are the best so far,exept for a set of progressive sixth sence series i tried and they were amazing and just as good.

I think what it is where everyone is complaining about elka lately is that they get to ride a better set of shocks and it leaves a bad taste in their mouths for elka. This is what happened to me. I could not believe the difference when I got to try a set of motowoz shocks for the first time. I immediately sold my elka's and got a set of Motowoz. Elka shocks when properly setup and valved/sprung are good, it is just there so many options that are better now. Elka's do look really good still though and definetely better then stock
[/quote]
Just curious but what kind and what year elkas did you try before?Were they the mx setup elites or something else like dune edition?Please don't tell me they were the recs.

 

[pudamac12]

I guess i must have been lucky or something because i keep hearing about other people not being happy with the valving the first time with elkas.I have ridden on other top aftermarket shocks and these elkas are the best so far,exept for a set of progressive sixth sence series i tried and they were amazing and just as good.

I think what it is where everyone is complaining about elka lately is that they get to ride a better set of shocks and it leaves a bad taste in their mouths for elka. This is what happened to me. I could not believe the difference when I got to try a set of motowoz shocks for the first time. I immediately sold my elka's and got a set of Motowoz. Elka shocks when properly setup and valved/sprung are good, it is just there so many options that are better now. Elka's do look really good still though and definetely better then stock

Just curious but what kind and what year elkas did you try before?Were they the mx setup elites or something else like dune edition?Please don't tell me they were the recs.
[/quote]

yeah they were the mx setup quadrate shocks. I even had sent them back to have elka revalve them at one point. They were better after that. I wouldn't make a comparison of apples to oranges. It wouldn't be fair to the makers of the product.
My shocks now are super adjustable and that is the main reason that I went with them. I weigh 190 with gear and I let my buddies brother who is 350 ride it and he hit a whooped out ditch section in 4th on my quad and said it felt great after i gave them a few more clicks of compression. With my elkas changing a few clicks really did nothing for me. It seemed like I didn't change anything.

 

[promethius]

Huh thats strange.Mine are extreemly adjustable and i can notice a significant difference on just 5 turns.I done allot of research on elkas and other high performance brands and talked with ALLOT of pro's and experienced riders in forums and in private e-mails before i got my elites and found out allot of usefull information on them.Allot of people say elkas are not good who never even tried them but would just say it because others did.The shocks themselves are made of the highest possable quality materials you can use and the ONLY difference between a pair of elka elites and pep is the valving and colors.Elka can mess up and does mess up the valving SOMETIMES but considering the amount of shocks they sell(they are the microsoft of shocks) and the amount of time they get them to you(7 to 10 days) thats understandable.There is a few basic things to look for when you get them put on that will tell you if they were valved right.Some of the pros i talked with said some of the best shocks they ever raced on were elkas.If you look in the pro races and on allot of pro freestylers quads you see about 70 percent elka.I forget the company(something eem?)but allot of pro's send thier elkas after they wear the first year to this company and they come back valved incredibly.If i sent mine to pep for a revalve i would get pep shocks when i got them back that you would not be able to tell the difference.Allot of times elka gets the valving really perfect,but unfortunatly only the people who had problems with them post about it.I am one of the people who got perfect shocks and could not be more happy with them.

 

[pudamac12]

yeah i hear you. But the only thing about the pros (like john natalie) for example only switched to elka because elka pays the big bucks. I have had the chance to speak to his personal mechanic and he told me that John hates the shocks compared to his floats but the money is way better. I do agree with you that elka and pep do both use the same interal parts. I have seen the internals first hand and yeah they are identical. For the compression and rebound adjuster it is a like a banjo bolt with only so many holes in it which limit the amount of adjustability to the amount of holes in the bolt. On my motowoz it is a different system (the only shock with this setup) which uses a tapered pin that goes into the hole allowing nearly infinite adjustability. I can take my shocks from soft to stiff as a board in just a few clicks. I don't want to bash elka but I would rather wait a few more days and get a properly setup shock 100% of the time instead of waiting to see if I am one of the lucky ones.

 

[promethius]

Yeah motowaz are really being promoted lately.You would think if they are that good they would be allot bigger of a company and i would like to see how all their shocks are set up if they had 3000 orders per week.When you have just a few custermers you can really pay attention to detail.That would be interesting.The progressive sixth sence series are incredibly adjustable too as they use springs and air like fox and combine them well.You could valve them yourself for 6-7 different people just by the adjustability they come with.I rode on them before and i was really impressed.I would like to try out these motowaz shocks sometime soon as well.I am probably getting another quad in another 8-9 months like an ltr450 just so i don't beat on just one quad all the time and was going to get either elka elites again or try the pep shocks that everybody loves but if i try these motowaz on someone elses quad and they are as good as you say,maybe i will try them on my next quad,we'll see.

 

[pudamac12]

Yeah motowaz are really being promoted lately.You would think if they are that good they would be allot bigger of a company and i would like to see how all their shocks are set up if they had 3000 orders per week.When you have just a few custermers you can really pay attention to detail.That would be interesting.The progressive sixth sence series are incredibly adjustable too as they use springs and air like fox and combine them well.You could valve them yourself for 6-7 different people just by the adjustability they come with.I rode on them before and i was really impressed.I would like to try out these motowaz shocks sometime soon as well.I am probably getting another quad in another 8-9 months like an ltr450 just so i don't beat on just one quad all the time and was going to get either elka elites again or try the pep shocks that everybody loves but if i try these motowaz on someone elses quad and they are as good as you say,maybe i will try them on my next quad,we'll see.

that is the best thing about the owner. He doesn't care about selling 100 sets a month. He is at a race every weekend and helps out anyone with suspension problems. He has even tried to help out my buddy setup his elkas at the track. He refuses to let a set of shocks go out the door without proper dyno time. He is that committed. And promethius what kind of a arms are you using. I might have a deal for you. If you use 18.5" shocks pm me and I will fill you in.

 

[promethius]

Thanks for the offer but i am sticking with the stock ones for now.Maybe in the future,i am not sure yet.Late responce comes because my compuer shit the bed,and i had to run a full system restore which took awile because i had to sift through a bunch of stuff in storage to find all the disks.Friggin microsoft.

 

[YFZ RAPTOR 700R]

HEY I HELPED PB&J INSTALL HIS ISHOCK FRONT END AND I COULD NOT THINK OF ANY WAY TO IMPROVE THIER SYSTEM. OUR FRIEND RODE THIS BIKE AND GOT BACK ON HIS STOCK 700 AND DIDNT EVEN WANT TO RIDE IT ANYMORE. FOR A RETAIL PRICE OF 1800 YOU GET MORE THAN YOU PAY FOR.