[Tiggyboot]

Howdy.

I've been scouring the forums here for peoples opinions on suspension setup on the stock SE bike. It looks as though taking out the air box is mandatory. Is it a major undertaking or just the 4 bolts and the hose clamp? Next, the owners manual is obviously useless when it comes to getting a feel for what you should set your preload at and where to measure from. I've read through the Elka manual as well as the Ohlins one. I'm a pretty big lad at 6'4" and 230 and add another 20lbs for gear. The rear is set to midway, I'll have to crank that up quite a bit. So just looking for some tips on suspension setup as far as sag goes and ride height and where you are measuring from.

Gas type.

Haven't really seen this one talked about here. The manual says regular unleaded, no reference to Premium. However, the rating shows 91, that is premium for most. In Canada we have Sunoco Gold which is 94 Octane. In some of my other bikes and sleds, running them on 94 isn't all it's cracked up to be. What do you guys run and what has worked best?

thanks for your input.

Marcel

 

[Glamis700]

Ive run 87 and sometimes it pings. 91 is about the same. Ive run 100 Sunoco unleaded and it does not ping.

 

[Diddly]

I found this link helpful to get a base set-up done on the SE.
http://www.quadmagazine.com/quad/features/article/0,24942,1172631,00.html

I don't think I'd remove the airbox alltogether unless you are just riding dunes or dry trails, but I do agree that a filter and adaptor is a great idea, maybe even a hi-flow lid. Don't forget the programmer too.

I've run Husky or Chevron in every performance peice I've ever owned and never had problems.

 

[PaleRider]

Here is a link to a discussion on here concerning Octane and the Raptor.
http://www.raptorforum.com/index.php?topic=5101.msg50028#msg50028

The Raptor is only running 9.5 : 1 compression so you do not really need to go overboard on the octane, especially with colder weather now here.

 

[Tiggyboot]

I found this link helpful to get a base set-up done on the SE.
http://www.quadmagazine.com/quad/features/article/0,24942,1172631,00.html

I don't think I'd remove the airbox alltogether unless you are just riding dunes or dry trails, but I do agree that a filter and adaptor is a great idea, maybe even a hi-flow lid. Don't forget the programmer too.

I've run Husky or Chevron in every performance peice I've ever owned and never had problems.

Sorry Diddly, I was talking about taking the air box out to make the rear shock preload adjustment.


MK

 

[Diddly]

[
Sorry Diddly, I was talking about taking the air box out to make the rear shock preload adjustment.


MK

LOL. :crazy: Gothcha .

 

[Tiggyboot]

Ok, without question, the award for the biggest pain in the ass adjustment has to go to the suspension. Whether is the removal of the air box, cranking those friggen nuts, measuring or my favorite, the vast contradictions amongst the various manufacturers about ride height and sag. The only thing I've done so far is crank the rear preload up. The spring length is 8.625", this compares to Yamaha's hard setting of 8.98". The fronts are where they were from the factory, 9.5", which compares to max hard setting of 9.7". My rider sag readings are this so far.

front - no change from bike sag (just bike weight) to me on it
rear - 4.625 (4 5/8")

If I go with the Elka recommendations, I have a 1/4" difference front to back, which is good. But the rest of their guidelines are way out of whack. The article in Quad magazine is very clear, but I'm still way out from what they want. I would have to back the fronts off and add way more to the back to try and get 30% rider sag.Sh$t, my fronts don't even really compress when I get on the back, in fact, they front end raises ever so slightly. The rear shock is already nearly topped out (next to no free sag) with no rider. The whole thing is whacked. I don't know what the hell I should do.

I'm about 230, go 245 with gear on.

help!

 

[Diddly]

The factory rear spring isn't really meant for us bigger guys I don't think.I wasn't able to get near 30% rider sag with the preload maxed either. And as you stated the excess sag in the rear throws off the front sag reading. I set-up the closest I could and have just been tuning by feel every trip out, I've got it pretty close to what I like but would definatley jump on a stiffer rear spring if I found one.

 

[BJH]

You can buy an Eibach spring to match your rider weight from TCS for the rear. This is a fairly inexpensive fix for you bigger guys.

Just a single spring with the gear is $120 ("Sport Series" slightly better than stock)
Dual rate springs with gear is $ 200 ("Race Series" much better than stock)

Full shock conversions (Highly recommended) just my .02 The converted rear blows the stock shock in the weeds.
Full conversion valve body, hard annodizing, etc.etc.
Sport Series $325
Race Series $ 450

RACE SERIES- RACE SERIES REFERS TO OUR NO-PRELOAD SETUP. RACE SERIES ALLOWS THE ATV TO SIT LOWER THAN STOCK WITHOUT SACRIFICING WHEEL TRAVEL. ATV RIDE HEIGHT IS FULLY ADJUSTABLE EXTERNALLY TO COMPENSATE FOR VARIOUS TRACK CONDITIONS. TYPICALLY APPLICATIONS FOR THE RACE SERIES SETUP INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO MOTOCROSS AND CROSS COUNTRY RACING WHERE A LOW CENTER GRAVITY AND HIGH CORNER SPEED ARE REQUIRED.

SPORT SERIES- SPORT SERIES REFERS TO OUR PRELOADED SETUP. SPORT SERIES IS A MORE TRADITIONAL STYLE SETUP WHICH PLACES THE ATV AT STOCK OR SIMILAR RIDE HEIGHTS. TYPICALLY APPLICATIONS FOR SPORT SERIES INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO DESERT RACING AND RECREATIONAL RIDING WHERE MAXIMUM ACTIVE TRAVEL AND GROUND CLEARANCE ARE REQUIRED.

http://www.tcsracing.com/id21.html

At 200+ I don't see you getting there with the stock spring. If I remember correctly Yamaha lists max rider weight at 220lbs.

I have TCS suspension and I love it.

 

[Tiggyboot]

Hey BJH, if I read your response correctly, you only change out the stock spring with a TCS model and reuse the rest of the stock shock? is that correct? That sounds like a pretty good solution.

MK

 

[Diddly]

Thanks for that info BJH. :thumbsup: Let me know if you want to order one Marcel, maybe we can combine the shipping and bring them in through my broker?

 

[Tiggyboot]

So I settled on what Ohlins recommends and the service manual. I cranked the preload up to the max position according to unloaded weight. I set the rest of the stuff to standard settings with a little extra rebound to compensate for the extra preload. Took her out for a boot through some trails and it's pretty good so far. I'm sure I'll fine tune it once I get more seat time. What I've learned is that these measurements you take for sag and so on are so subjective. Each aftermarket company refers to a different spot to measure from. Because the swingarm and A-arms are essentially a lever, you will see more movement the further you are from the pivot point. So at first I didn't think I was getting good numbers, but then when I followed the Ohlins method, I was a little closer to the mark.


Damn this thing runs good, so responsive it's unreal. Like most are saying, I let it warm up for a few minutes without touching the throttle and it's good to go.

Did - I'm going to hold off making anymore wholesale changes until I see if the current setup will be good enough for me. I'd be curious what the price is though.

MK

 

[BJH]

Hey BJH, if I read your response correctly, you only change out the stock spring with a TCS model and reuse the rest of the stock shock? is that correct? That sounds like a pretty good solution.

MK

Yes you have that option. Call TCS or ATVsuspensiontech. They will hook you up. Check out their website from the link in my previous post. Changing the spring is fairly straightforward and is the lowest buck solution.

By the way different shock manufacturers will have different set-up recommendations on sag set-up to match their shock valving and pre-load set-up. Like I said just give TCS a ring.