McCain suspension shakedown ride

[dirt dame 561]

This ride is prefaced with a trip to Precision Concepts of Riverside on last Friday. It was a scheduled day appointment with the lengendary suspension tuner Bob Bell. I had spoken with his wife, Diane Bell a few times on the telephone before, getting some good advise from her concerning the KTM EXC 250 that I used to own. So I had another phone chat about the TE with her and also Bob, and they suggested that I bring the suspension components up for a same day turn around appointment.

So Thursday night I wheeled Trajan out onto the driveway and yanked his boingers off of him. Then I threw a cover over the legless machine for the night and drove up to meet Bob and Diane at 10:00 the next morning. It was a sixty mile drive. Diane gave me the 50 cent tour of the suspension lab. It was spotlessly clean, uncluttered and well organized and smelling faintly of solvent. Then she got all my riding stats and handed them off to Bob. I wandered over to Bass Pro Shops, which is about 15/20 minutes away, then crossed the lovely and scenic Fontana on historic Route 66. This place must be the capitol of out of business diners and car dealerships. By now, I found myself at Chaparral, and had just started to browse around, when my cell phone rang. It was Diane. The boingers were done, and less than four hours had passed since I left them there. I went back down there and forked over my credit card. Bob and Diane both discussed the suspension components a bit more and then I hit the road, anxious to get back home, slap those Zokes and the Sachs back onto Trajan and roll him into the garage, ready to roll plush (I hoped). The Bells are very nice people and are extremely customer service oriented. It was a pleasure to do business with them and I would recommend them to anybody who needs some suspension work done to their machine. I really liked the same day service appointment deal, too.

Even when I just dropped the bike off the work stand, I noticed a marked difference in the way it's feet hit the pavement. I expected the ride to very different that what I was used to. The first ride would have to wait, though. Trail clearing on Saturday, bass fishing on Sunday (before the big rains), Monday was chores and errands and Tuesday was for battening down all the tarps and plastic coverings on all the leaky spot on the house. And there was the whole thing with the construction site causing my backyard to flood. Had to go talk to those guys.

So, when this morning dawned nice and sunny, I was ready to hit the dirt. Loaded the "Traj" onto the carrier and off down the freeway I went. Even the traffic was fairly light for a week day. Somewhere on McCain Valley road, I hit a rut that didn't look as bad as it really was and bent the crappity crappity out of my Joehauler. When I pulled into the staging area, I almost couldn't get the bike to roll off the ramp. For a minute there, I didn't think that I was even going to get to ride.....but finally after a bit more strenuous tugging, I got the bike to budge over the bent up end. Then, it was time to break out the tool box, some visegrips and a mallet so that I could get the end of the ramp to at least be workable for loading, till I can get it back to Joe for repairs. Finally, it was time to ride.

To say that that the suspension was different than before would be an understatement. To say that it was like riding a whole different bike would be more of an accurate description. The ride was very firm with an underlying plushness that hadn't been there before. The once deflecting and bone jarring initial stroke was gone, as was the quick blow-through of the rest of the stroke at both ends of the bike. This meant that I was riding a bike that stayed level and planted in turns and the geometry was doing what it was supposed to be doing, and that meant that I could use the throttle a lot more and make cornering a much surer, smoother and quicker execution. Now the throttle could be my ally more than ever.

Then there were the whoop de doos. I am sure that everybody who has ever been to McCain is familiar with the big sandy whoops that are just south of the parking spot. The bike didn't plunge into them anymore. Now, it pounced on them with authority. I kept upshifting and squeamishly winding out the throttle until I wondered just when the laws of physics and common sense might fly out the window...then I backed off, kind of scared of just the thought of how fast the machine might actually be able to go in that stuff. The TE would now be fun to actually take to a track and ride, I think (though I didn't jump it off of anything very large yet). Singletracking is a real blast. The bike feels lighter and more responsive in the tight stuff. The only rough spot is on the front end when I am going over rocky choppy stuff and especially uphill, there is a overly firm spot (but no deflection), then downhill choppy stuff feels much better, and I suspect that it may be due to the fact that I can't get the right amount of preload and sag on the fork springs. I took note of that when I installed the springs a couple of years ago and Bob brought it up when I came to pick up the forks. The springs are just a tad too long and so there is just a bit more preload on them than they should have, but there is no practical way to reduce the preload,( unless I could find some shorter springs ). Other than that, it's a dream ride by comparison to stock. A few more rides, evaluations and a little tweaking should see the bike just right.

Anyway, I did plenty of singletrack and had the place all to myself. The sun stayed out all during my ride and the traction was perfect. The storm front began to follow me on the ride back to the staging area, but it was moving pretty slow. Puddle jumping was the only reason I had soaking wet socks. The rain never started till I was back on the freeway and over by Descanso.

Some pics.

Just look at that bluebird sky over the staging area.

Mangled hauler ramp. Aughhhh!

Did you know that stickers make you go faster? (and I still need one of these for the other side)

If you've seen me ride, then you know that I am obviously not running enough of them on my bike.

Italian ones are always good. Especially if they are from the manufacturer that built the motorcycle.

Out on some singletrack.

Sunny skies to the south east.

But the storm front is moving in from the other direction.

A stop to water my Horsky?

There's them pesky clouds still. Even though traction was stellar, I would have liked to have been running more aggressive non-DOT tires for the day.

I'd better skeedaddle.

[rexr 0]

Great write up.. Glad to hear that Precision Concepts took did a good job on the Husky. I will have to keep that in mind when I get ready to have mine done.

[650hucker 0]

Wow, great weather and what's better than single track without worrying about running into someone else?

Wish I could afford suspension tuning...

[TrophyHunter 15]

Great pics. I like the reflective water trough.....

Dirt looks perfect as does the weather (while it lasted).

And...... Bold New Graphics!

Thx for posting & glad the suspension worked out.

[dsfox 0]

Awesome write up...love that weather also..that trough picture also caught my eye...

I know my suspension and sag are not adjusted correctly and I should REALLY look at getting it dialed in....I must slow down alot in woops to stop the "bucking"........another lesson to learn and read up on...perhaps would help me speed up too?.

[dirt dame 561]

Awesome write up...love that weather also..that trough picture also caught my eye...

I know my suspension and sag are not adjusted correctly and I should REALLY look at getting it dialed in....I must slow down alot in woops to stop the "bucking"........another lesson to learn and read up on...perhaps would help me speed up too?.

Don't know what your suspension feels like, but I "Gold Valved" and resprung both ends of my KLX (and the KDX, too) and it feels pretty good.

Perhaps you should take it for a little spin sometime.

[dsfox 0]

Have to have you take it for a spin and let me know what you think...and what it will cost

[robertaccio 413]

suspension (personal redo or set up) first all other mods, secondary. Actually mind and body first. then get the suspension dialed in.

good write up

[blind_in_1_ear 0]

always good to hear about good work!!

enjoy the *boing*

...seconds the suspension dialed in sentiment...next bike it's #1 priority

[mctrails 38]

Nice writeup and pics! Sounds like an awesome day at McCains. Bummer about the Joe Hauler but then its great to have the suspenders on the Husky working good.

[dirt dame 561]

Nice writeup and pics! Sounds like an awesome day at McCains. Bummer about the Joe Hauler but then its great to have the suspenders on the Husky working good.

Yeah, I'll go over to Joe's today maybe and have him take a look at the hauler.

The Husky handled like a weazel before. One end didn't know what the other was going to do.

[robertaccio 413]

you should have no issues with Joe D doing a fix er up job, he is that kind of biz owner.

Ps the difference before and after suspension dialing in on the Husky is night and day. It really is one machine that really really needs a personal dialing in, once done the things just rock.

[Spaugh 1]

nice helmet. glad you are happy with your suspension.

[robertaccio 413]

Awesome write up...love that weather also..that trough picture also caught my eye...

I know my suspension and sag are not adjusted correctly and I should REALLY look at getting it dialed in....I must slow down alot in woops to stop the "bucking"........another lesson to learn and read up on...perhaps would help me speed up too?.

taking a little time to even set the stock suspenders (if yours is OEM) is key to using less energy, being more comfortable, having better handling,,,and thus riding faster with less stress. Sag set first then play the comp and reb adjusters

[Spaugh 1]

Awesome write up...love that weather also..that trough picture also caught my eye...

I know my suspension and sag are not adjusted correctly and I should REALLY look at getting it dialed in....I must slow down alot in woops to stop the "bucking"........another lesson to learn and read up on...perhaps would help me speed up too?.

taking a little time to even set the stock suspenders (if yours is OEM) is key to using less energy, being more comfortable, having better handling,,,and thus riding faster with less stress. Sag set first then play the comp and reb adjusters

robert, there is a lot of info on setting rear sag for a particular bike. But what about the front? How do you go about setting front sag? I have spacers to do it, the question is how to take readings etc? My front dives hard under braking. I think front may need more preload, but its already got quite a few spacers.

These forks (and shock) were done by ESP, they came on the 300. The suspension is so good compared to the stock setup on my 4T that I pull the forks and shock and put them on whichever bike is being raced. Stock spring rates work well for me @ 175lbs.

[dirt dame 561]

How do you go about setting front sag? I have spacers to do it, the question is how to take readings etc? My front dives hard under braking. I think front may need more preload, but its already got quite a few spacers.

If you have the correct spring rate in your front forks, the front end should drop under it's own weight 1.0/1.25 inches MAX. This usually only requires about 5 to 8 mm of preload, maybe 10 for slightly heavier bikes and riders.

Also the springs that are needed for your two stroke are probably a step or two lighter than what would be needed to run the forks on your four stroke, so swapping the forks over without putting in the correct springs could cause some problems.

[dirt dame 561]

you should have no issues with Joe D doing a fix er up job, he is that kind of biz owner.

Joe has taken on another job and was at work in Valley Center. Hard times for all, I guess.

The hauler was totaled. It didn't show in the picture that I took, but the main subframe was bent sideways and also twisted. So almost every part was damaged. Not economically feasible to repair.

[Jaynen 0]

I'm saving for my suspension stuff and planning on having Precision Concepts do it not sure whether I will go south or north tho

[Spaugh 1]

How do you go about setting front sag? I have spacers to do it, the question is how to take readings etc? My front dives hard under braking. I think front may need more preload, but its already got quite a few spacers.

If you have the correct spring rate in your front forks, the front end should drop under it's own weight 1.0/1.25 inches MAX. This usually only requires about 5 to 8 mm of preload, maybe 10 for slightly heavier bikes and riders.

Also the springs that are needed for your two stroke are probably a step or two lighter than what would be needed to run the forks on your four stroke, so swapping the forks over without putting in the correct springs could cause some problems.

1-1.5 inches of front sag with or without rider on bike? what are target static and rider sags for front end?

I use 1 step heavier springs on the 4T. 40s in the 2T 42s in the 4T.

[dirt dame 561]

1-1.5 inches of front sag with or without rider on bike? what are target static and rider sags for front end?

I use 1 step heavier springs on the 4T. 40s in the 2T 42s in the 4T.

1.25, not 1.5. That is without the rider. Not sure if there is a measurement for with the rider. Haven't ever seen it written in an article or on a tech sheet before.

And you might need a .44 in the front end of your four stroke bike (EXC, right?). I'm running a .42 in my 450, and look at how teensy weensy I am.

If you are blowing through the stroke too fast, then maybe you still need some re-valving. For instance, my TE rocked and dove a lot before I had it re-valved. I still have the same springs, but much better valving (and a higher oil level, too.) My forks don't dive under heavy or sudden braking anymore. The spring is the resistance but the shim stacks govern how fast or slow and where in the stroke the variance in the speed of the resistance is. How much oil you run makes a difference in resistance speed towards the bottom of the stroke. More oil slows the last bit of travel and helps prevent bottoming.

[650hucker 0]

Rebound and compressioning dampening can do ALOT for the feel of the bike. Also adding more oil or taking some out. Another great and easy/cheap way to stiffen up your ride is too add a higher weight oil in it...like from 10w to 12w.

[Bagstr 288]

Mimi,

Those are MT21s front and rear? What do you think, I am thinking of changing back to that from the D606. The Dunlop is plenty durable, but lacks the feel of the Pirelli. Or so it seems at the moment.

[dirt dame 561]

Mimi,

Those are MT21s front and rear? What do you think, I am thinking of changing back to that from the D606. The Dunlop is plenty durable, but lacks the feel of the Pirelli. Or so it seems at the moment.

I really like the 908 front tire and the 606 is a good tire for most terrain except for sand. Both of these Dunlops wear better than the Pirelli. The rear Pirelli seems to work good in sand. The front MT21 is not my favorite in mud. For the type of riding and the speed I wanted to go on the new suspension, I really wanted a real dirt tire to bite into the soft, wet dirt like the Maxxis or the old 401/402 Bridgestones.

[Kris 0]

Mimi

If you dont mind me asking, what was the cost for doing your suspension? I have a Husky TE510 and would be removing the forks and shock myself too.

Kris

[dirt dame 561]

Mimi

If you dont mind me asking, what was the cost for doing your suspension? I have a Husky TE510 and would be removing the forks and shock myself too.

Kris

The cost for re-valving, polishing suspension internals with all labor and parts, solvent fees and fluids (but without fork seal replacement, because I just did a replacement) runs about 450 dollars. It will be the best money that you will ever spend on the TE. And if it is determined that you need different springs for your weight, you would have to factor in that cost.