baseline stock suspension set up??

I tend to ride a lot of single and double track, as well as boring dirt roads. A lot of the more technical stuff is whooped out, sometimes being pretty big whoops.


I have experienced some of the bike's desire to almost bounce me over the bars, even in the first ride. I wish to not have that happen.

I pulled these settings out of the ADV WRR mega thread.

Front:
Rebound(top): 20 clicks out
Compression(bottom): 15 clicks out

Rear:
Rebound( bottom black knob): 3 clicks out..max.
Compression( top): 6 clicks out.

Would these be a good starting point, for the type riding and terrain that I described above??

Try this:

Sag 3"

Forks Top--adjust all the way closed (clockwise); then 10 clicks CC
Bottom---same; then 14 click CC

Rear Top----same; then 13 clicks CC
Bottom----same; then 8 clicks CC

if not satisfied....go 1 click at a time on one setting only; then test ride

Make sure you set the rear spring preload to achieve 3.5 inches of "sag" with you sitting on the seat.
This sets the proper balance and attitude of the chassis.

My opinion:
Depending on how you plan on riding and/or what you expect out of the bike, all the clicker twirling in the world may or may not do it for you since the rear shock is simply delivered with poor damping qualities and a heaping helping of air inside of it as an added bonus.
Basically, it's a cost-cutting budget shock.

On my own WR-250R, gotten when I started to get back into off-road and dual-purpose riding after a 15-or-so year break, I was, at first, satisfied with how the suspension worked.
Then, once I started to shake the rust off my riding ability, I realized that the stock suspension was pretty poor.
Sure, it looked the part and looked modern, but it wasn't all that great for maintaining traction.
By poor, I don't mean it wasn't good enough for jumping the triples at the local track.
I mean just in the way it wouldn't let the wheels follow the ground as a good suspension will, something anybody at any speed can benefit from.

For myself, my solution was to get another bike that comes with a higher-quality suspension from the start.
Some guys choose to get the shock and fork revalved so it works much better.
Some guys just ride it stock.

For me, getting another bike is not the direction I wish to go in.

I know the bike is a dual sport bike and not a full MX or enduro bike, and as such, the suspension is not top of the line. Every bike is a compromise. I could have bought a KTM and had the best suspension, but would have been making compromises in other areas.

This thread is just to try and get a feel for a starting point, as to where to set the SAG, rebound and compression settings...and go from there. If I exhaust all the adjustments and am still not happy, then I can look into having the components sent out. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

I know Trav has some input, and I am hoping that others who have tested and fiddled with the stock suspension would give their input too.

Just to get some clarity, if my goal is to stop/lessen the pogo'ing on big whoops, I'd want to increase my rebound damping, or decrease the rebound damping?? ( speaking mostly about the rear shock alone here)

DougZ wrote:

Just to get some clarity, if my goal is to stop/lessen the pogo'ing on big whoops, I'd want to increase my rebound damping, or decrease the rebound damping?? ( speaking mostly about the rear shock alone here)

Increase the rebound damping.

SAG setting. I messed with the compression and rebound damping yesterday, but did not do anything with setting the SAG.

I am gonna do this before the next ride and have a good instruction sheet from a local suspension shop on how to do it.

On the WRR, is the rear spring the only one that is adjustable?? Is there anyway way to adjust, without taking them apart, the springs in the front forks?? I looked in the owners manual, but did not see anything for the forks.

DougZ wrote:

Is there anyway way to adjust, without taking them apart, the springs in the front forks?? I looked in the owners manual, but did not see anything for the forks.

There is no preload adjustment on the forks.

OK, Thanks Bob. I know my sport bike has that adjustment...not sure if dirt bikes had it or not.

So I guess the only sag to set then is the rear shock sag.

So I went for ride with some of my buddies today. I had a buddy who raced hare scrambles and some enduros, come with us on his KTM. I took his advice as to how to try and adjust it( my suspension)....especially after he rode it for a couple minutes.

Even with adjusting the suspension, I was still not happy with the rear. I got it to a much better place than when I started the ride, but it was still not perfect.

I had also switched bikes, with a buddy with a WRR...with a professional rebuilt rear shock. It was like night and day. I am gonna be doing the exact same thing, as soon as I get the money saved up. Go Race suspension IRC.

For anyone that feels the rear shock is fine, I am quite confident they are not doing any kind of technical riding. The rear shock is fine for riding pavement and boring dirt roads. But, ride anything with whoops and jumps, and it will show its ugly side.

I have to agree with that assessment.