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stuff like that used to bother me but not anymore. i changed my 5.0 back to the 4.7 today when i was greasing the swingarm. just to see if i still didnt like it. i'm going to play with the different sag settings tomorrow.

Thank you Indawoods, 89kdx200rdr, canyncarvr, and Jason for all of your advice. I found it very helpful.

canyncarvr,

I think you are confusing the LENGTH of a spring with the amount the spring is compressed by the PRELOAD adjustment.

If you were actually shortening the spring (ie, cutting 2" off the length) the bike WOULD drop in the rear, as you suggest.

But the adjuster is COMPRESSING (NOT shortening) the spring. Compressing the spring will RAISE the rear of the bike.

The more the preload, the harder the spring will push upward on the seat (ie decreasing sag).

HB

hb you should listen to cc's advice he is almost always right. experience. if i spelled it right. the most important thing is to get that bike in the woods and hit some trees then make adjustments from there. just a question when im riding i dont notice the trees does anyone else?

btw cc save me some time
after going back to the 4.7 and putting it to where i thought it would be close i came up with 15mm static and 116 race. give me your thoughts. please.

one other thing when setting race sag should i allow for the extra weight of mud?

Hellbender wrote:canyncarvr,

I think you are confusing the LENGTH of a spring with the amount the spring is compressed by the PRELOAD adjustment.

If you were actually shortening the spring (ie, cutting 2" off the length) the bike WOULD drop in the rear, as you suggest.

But the adjuster is COMPRESSING (NOT shortening) the spring. Compressing the spring will RAISE the rear of the bike.

The more the preload, the harder the spring will push upward on the seat (ie decreasing sag).

HB

Quickly reading this thread, I also have the same impression. Cranking the nut down increases preload and should decrease sag. Keep in mind that the shock body is not being shortened, just the spring being preloaded. Over all, the shock length always remains constant when fully extended and no load is applied to it. Preload sets the amount of initial weight it takes to start compressing the spring, wether it's the bikes weight or the riders. An extra 50 lbs of preload and the bike will sag as if a 150 lb rider is on it when really a 200 lb rider is on it. It will sag less.

CC, how about one more time through this for this dim wit and tell me where my thinking is flawed.

BTW I took the advice you provided with setting rear dampning and played around with mine this weekend. I experimented with the extremes of both too much and too little dampning on both compression and rebound. It is much easier to understand what's affecting what when you go past reasonable settings. I ended up with my compression dampning one click softer and my rebound one click stiffer. It made water bar jumping much more pleasant wtihout my bike's rear end kicking up like a young colt over every bar. Now it is much more neutral feeling and I don't feel like I'm getting launched over the bars. Thanks!

I probably missed an edit somewhere along the way...so will tag this on the end.


Please disregard any argument from me concerning shortening springs and results on sag. It's backwards.

Check:

http://kdx.woodsrider.net/viewtopic.php?p=3434#3434

to get the idea straight.

**edit**