Newbie questions on sag / yamalink / suspension

I read a lot of threads, watched a bunch of movies on youtube, and still have some questions about lowering the bike and adjusting the suspension.

I have a 30" inseam and as much as I love riding my WR250R when I'm on it, I don't have a lot of confidence to take into harder terrain.  With the stock seat height I was able to get at most the balls of my feet on the floor, so even pushing the bike across a parking lot was pretty difficult.

Today I installed the Yamalink, did the stock height adjustment, and raised the forks by 14mm.  I hoped to get 2" of seat height drop, but ended up with just over an 1".  

I took some photos of how things look now -- and would appreciate any comments/suggestions.  I guess I mainly want to know that I didn't miss anything.

With the stock adjustment, I didn't move the lower jam nut as high as possible -- wanted to give some space to adjust black rubber nut ("rebound adjuster"?).  Should I max that out?

I measured sag (my first time, but think I got it right), from the axle to top of helmet lock.  The measurements I got were: 25” on the stand, 23.5” off the stand ("free sag") and 21” with me ("race sag").  So the actual sag is 4" (25 - 21), which is a bit more than the desired 3.5".  I originally thought of increasing that number to further drop the seat a bit, but abandoned the idea since I'm already over 3.5".

To adjust sag I would have adjusted the spanner rings above the spring.  I'm not quite sure what the "rebound adjuster" should be used for.  And when I read about number of clicks on the preload, those are all from the neutral setting (screw turned all the way in, and then counting clicks while turning screw out), right?

I looked around the net but am still a bit confused what good settings to use. I thought I could start with this one (https://wr250rforum.forumotion.com/t9399-free-suspension-adjustments-makes-wr250r-handle-much-better) but am not sure how to implement these changes.

The bike feels great when I ride it -- most of my riding now is on dirt/gravel roads, with some 60mph pavement to get to those dirt roads.  I took the bike for a 10 mile ride after doing the adjustments, and it feels great -- if I could drop the seat height by another 1/2" I think it'd be perfect.  As it is now, my feet are 1/4" from both touching the ground flat.

Hope I didn't ramble too much, and you can probably sense some of my confusion.  Any tips would be much appreciated -- and mainly I'd like to know that I didn't mess anything up.  Thank you,

tom.







Does this look right?  Or should I snug up the lower jam nut, i.e. move the rebound adjuster as high as possible and then move the lower jam nut as far up as I can?

I'm 5' 5", myself.
In brief, my opinion:

Don't get too concerned with having the seat low enough to touch both feet flat on the ground, and this is, mainly, because you just ain't gonna' find a bike that has long-travel suspension with a seat low enough to do that.
If you try modifying the bike with some kind of custom-made low seat and/or shortened suspension travel to achieve that, you'll end-up with some kind of Frankenbike with a steep slope to the seat (like an old swayback nag of a horse) which will then make standing from the seated position harder and/or reduced ground clearance.
Learning how to ride the bike (AKA: time on it) is really No. 1, and riding a dirt bike does mean moving around on the bike, especially in more difficult terrain.

With the rear shock lowering clevis, just make sure you don't let the lock nut contact the rebound adjuster (black knob at the bottom of the shock).

I agree you are already backed-off enough with the shock spring preload.
The preload adjuster is via the two slotted spanner nuts that thread onto the shock body at the top of the spring, and no "clicking" is involved with these.
The clicking is reserved for what guys call "the clickers", the compression adjustment screw (at the shock reservoir) and the rebound adjustment knob (at the bottom of the shock) that you already are familiar with from your clevis height adjustment.
They click when you turn them, hence the knick name.
If somebody refers to so many clicks out on compression or rebound, they are talking about so many click out from fully turned in.
Rebound adjusts how slowly or quickly the rear shock extends after being compressed.

With that URL you posted about another rider's findings, it sounds like his bike was a mess to start with or he's heavier than the average rider.

Thank you, YZEtc! Much appreciated. You clarified a lot of things for me, and now I'll feel good about not having missed something obvious.

I'll stick with the suspension setup I have -- it feels great when I ride with it.

As for touching the ground, there are times when I need to put my feet down, mostly when sitting on it and foot-pushing it. Turning around on steeper terrain (whether a rough jeep road or parking lot) my downhill foot was too high for me to hold the bike up... Sitting on the bike to push it around a park in a straight line was challenging too, my stride was probably 8" long, and only tippy toes touched the ground.

It'd be a confidence booster to know I could put my foot down if needed on rides like this one :)

Thank you again,

tom.

You can gain a little more by snugging that right up to almost touching the adjuster. Everything else is fine. I have 30 inch inseam as well. You will learn to be selective where you stop, and other than that I just hop off the bike and turn it around. It is a rare occasion now that I find myself having to duck walk the bike. I agree with the other poster that going with a lower seat will alter your peg to seat distance and may make the bike more uncomfortable. In fact , even with my short legs and regular seats concept seat, I chose to install lower footpegs to increase the seat to peg distance. Enjoy your new ride!! It's a fantastic bike.

Very good points -- since the bike works 95% of the time, I'll be pickier about where I stop! I'll stick with the current settings for now.

I've had this bike for a few years and it's the perfect way to get to the local fly fishing spots. I ride in waders and wading boots and can be in the river within minutes of putting out the kickstand :)

tom.

The WRR250 lists a seat height of 36.6".
With the shock adjustment and link what does this drop to ?

My inseam is just over 30"---maybe 31" on a stretch. I grew up riding shorter travel suspensions so the WR seemed tall. I was advised to ride it a lot more before doing anything to lower it. After a lot of fairly challenging trails (and a few scratches on my body armor), the stock suspension height bothers me a good deal less. I'm even looking at a slightly taller 500. As a result, I agree with YZEtc in suggesting more riding before further lowering.

I envy your quick access to good fishing but after the fortune I paid for some Simms waders, I'd be heart broken if I tore them up in a fall. ;)

Dave

I have a 30 inch inseam too.

I have the stock lowering done on the shock with the nut right up to the rebound adjuster, every thing else is stock height.

I dont want the bike to be any lower as its a inch or so lower under the skid plate than other off road bikes already.

I noticed this when riding with other bikes or when on my kx, they will clear rocks and other stuff that the wrr hits.

You dont need both feet on the ground at once to ride the bike through nasty trails.

This takes some pratice but try going from standing on the pegs to stepping off the peg with one foot to dab, you will find its a lot easier to reach the ground this way, the trick to it is not sitting on the seat, stand up on the pegs as much as you can.