Newbie Suspension help

I have a 2008 WR250R and I need some suspension set up help. I am a new rider, so I not only don't know what to set, but I also don't know if the settings "feel" right while riding because I don't really know what it is supposed to feel like. I am mostly interested in dirt riding dirt roads, dual track, and single track. I am a beginner at the motorcycle thing but have been mountain biking for years, if that makes a difference.

I weigh about 150 pounds without gear, I am 5'8" tall, with a 30 inch inseam. I have lowered the bike with a Yamalink, and have also lowered the front end through the triple clamp the recommended amount (If I recall, about 5/8ths of an inch). I know how to make the adjustments, since I have played with all of them, I just don't know what to adjust everything to.

Also, I am planning a multiday adventure in the near future where I will be loading up the bike with my camping gear, etc. Will I need to adjust the settings for that?

Thanks!!

thegg wrote:

I have a 2008 WR250R and I need some suspension set up help.  I am a new rider, so I not only don't know what to set, but I also don't know if the settings "feel" right while riding because I don't really know what it is supposed to feel like.  I am mostly interested in dirt riding dirt roads, dual track, and single track.  I am a beginner at the motorcycle thing but have been mountain biking for years, if that makes a difference.

I weigh about 150 pounds without gear, I am 5'8" tall, with a 30 inch inseam.  I have lowered the bike with a Yamalink, and have also lowered the front end through the triple clamp the recommended amount (If I recall, about 5/8ths of an inch).  I know how to make the adjustments, since I have played with all of them, I just don't know what to adjust everything to.

Also, I am planning a multiday adventure in the near future where I will be loading up the bike with my camping gear, etc.  Will  I need to adjust the settings for that?

Thanks!!

Well maybe others can chime in on this.

I think you are the right weight or maybe a little light for the stock springs on the bike. For now I would just leave the stock springs on the bike.

Not sure if the Yamalink was a good move or not. It does lower the bike but some says it messes with the suspension design. With a 30 inch inseam I think you should be fine with the bike at it's stock height. Remember, being able to touch the ground is vastly over rated when riding a dirt bike (ie Dual Sport). When ever I have touched the ground while riding my WRR bad shit happens. :)

First step is to set the sag on the rear shock. You probably want to search for the 'correct' to do this but in a nut shell you want to measure the distance between the seat and center of the rear axle. Remember those two points since you want to use them again. Write down that measurement.

The WRR has about 10 or 11 inches of travel in the suspension. Ideally you would want the suspension to collapse about 3 to 4 inches when you are sitting normally on the bike. Here is the tricky part now. You need some way to keep the bike up right while you are sitting on it. I usually do this when I have some friends over. One person steadies the bike while I am sitting on it and another person measures the distance between the same two points you measured earlier. The difference between those measurements should be a about 3 to 4 inches. If it is less then you need to take some preload out of the rear shock spring (I am assuming you know how to do this, if not take a look at YouTube since there are a lot of good videos on there on how to do this). If it is more then you need to add preload to the rear shock. Keep doing this until you are at say 3.5 to 4 inch range.

Next I would play with the compression and rebound damping in the forks. If you bought the bike used you may want to change the fork oil to good brand of 5W fork oil before going to far. You may just want to have a fork service performed if you can afford that since at least you will have a good starting point. The compression damping adjustment is on the bottom of the forks and the rebound is on the top. There are a certain number of clicks between full hard and full soft for each of these. You can set one of these to full hard and ride on a dirt road (preferable one that is a bit rough) and then go to full soft to see if you notice a difference. Do this each for the compression and rebound adjustment in each leg. Then set it where you like it. Given your weight I am thinking you may want to be towards the soft side on the compression damping. Just play around with it and see where you feel that the bike is more planted for you. Remember these are meant to be changed so don't be afraid to play around with these settings.

Again YouTube is your friend. Lots of good how to videos on there.

Assuming I get the sag set correctly, does anyone have any specific setting recommendations for compression and rebound dampening for my weight and lack of ability? Once again, I don't know how it is "supposed" to feel when set up properly.

Anyone, anyone? Bueller?

Set the compression and the rebound both 10 clicks out on the forks.
This is the standard setting and works fine.

Set the compression 8-10 clicks out on the shock and the rebound 3 clicks out, the shock is lacking in rebound damping and 3 clicks out is full slow and as good as it gets without a revalve.

I'd get the fork and shock oils changed, its a 08 and way over due, this will make it work better too, if you have the coin for it a shock revalve is the best thing you can do to this bike.

Thanks Biglake, I will give that a try.

Hey Guys

I just did a re valve and new spring on my rear shock. So now I'm looking into suspension tuning myself.

Here are a couple links to some other threads that I am finding useful. Thought I would share.

http://www.thumpertalk.com/topic/585124-wr250r-suspension-set-up-thread/

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=24063943&postcount=41583