Adjusting front suspension compression damping

So... I'm starting to mess with my suspension now that I've got my dirt legs back under me just a tiny little bit after a thirty year hiatus.

Can't remember what "good" felt like anymore. And besides, that was back in the days of feather light 125cc YZ's - and when I weighed about 60 lbs less than I do now.

But anyways...

In my random attempts at finding something that works better in my setup, I moved to my compression damping after easing off on my rebound damping. And saw this...



So... before I start tearing at that with a small flat bladed screwdriver or an assortment of dental picks...

There's no mention of that in the service manual or the user manual. Is that just a "from the factory" silicon plug that goes bye-bye the first time you make an adjustment? Or do you carefully work those out and then replace them after you have everything where you want it? I could just as easily fake the factory one with some silicon after I've figured out where my suspension is supposed to be at...

It's just a rubber plug to keep the crap our of the adjuster screw.
I have mine around here somewhere in case I want to put them back in.

You're worried about nothing, really.
This kind of feature has been around since at least 1984, so it's not something new and/or unproven and/or something that hasn't had the bugs worked out of it.
Hey, if my less-than-extremely-dexterous buddy with his 1984 Yamaha IT-200L could do it, you can do it. :)

Just grab a small, flat-blade screwdriver, shove the blade of it between the outer edge of the rubber plug and the fork leg, and simply pry the plug out of it's hole.
You can probably do it by feel and without having to look directly at it (what I did when I adjusted my compression clickers).

When done twirling the clickers, just moisten the end of the rubber plug and push it straight up into the hole with the flat, blank side facing down.
Done. :)

It specifically tells me to remove the rubber plug to make adjustments in my 2009 manual...

remember to bleed the pressure out of the forks too before every ride. even a small amount changes how the compression damping feels.

YZEtc wrote:

You're worried about nothing, really.
This kind of
feature has been around since at least 1984, so it's not something new
and/or unproven and/or something that hasn't had the bugs worked out of
it.
Hey, if my less-than-extremely-dexterous buddy with his 1984 Yamaha IT-200L could do it, you can do it.

My last dirt bike was a 1975 Can-Am MX... so for me, this is something new...

I'm not worrying about how to deal with it. I have enough dental
picks, gunsmithing tools, and general mechanical instruments of
destruction around that it won't be there long. I just didn't know
whether to pull it and toss it, or whether they're supposed to stay.
Apparently, it seems it goes back. Fair enough. Otherwise, if it had
died during extraction, I was going to stick a tuft of kapok up there
and then fill the rest in with silicon goop.

SpaGuru wrote:

It specifically tells me to remove the rubber plug to make adjustments in my 2009 manual...

Hmmmm... duh... moron alert.

Now that I actually go back and READ ALL the little words in my owner manual... mine does too. The printed 2008-2009 service manual I finangled as part of the bike purchase (LIT-11616-21-66) doesn't mention it, so I guess my excuse is... oh never mind... I didn't read carefully enough. I guess the lesson is just because the service manual is bigger than the user manual doesn't mean the owner's manual doesn't have extra stuff in it too.

Ummmmm.... ahem... thanks...

Now to go find a piece of brass key stock to use as a drift on the rear shock lock nut and adjusting nut... I'd go buy the damned tools if I thought I'd ever use them more than once or twice.