Suspension Tuning for whoopies

[ATC350X 85]

I have read a majority of the posts on here about suspension. I understand the purpose of each setting, but need enlightenment on how to tune them for my riding and weight. I weigh 145lbs. In the whoops the rear end is bucking like crazy side to side. I have come to the realization that i need to have my rebound set to hard and compression on the soft side. By changing preload will it put me in better control of the 450r in the whoops or better the ride at all? Also in the front end it seems way stiff, my arms are killing me the day after spending 3 hours trying to get this right. I have also read the stock rear tires are a cause of this, I may consider swapping em for a set of razrs i have on my 350x for testing purposes. All the other handling of the 450r is fine it is in the whoops that I cant get it to ride smoothly. Someone with experience in this please give me a baseline on settings to start with. thanks

[Hammer trx450r]

buy an elka rear link and shock:eek2: But seriously, you are on the right track.

[ATC350X 85]

I knew somebody was gonna say that, i feel that for over $6000 I shouldnt have to put a dime into this thing other than regular maintenance, therefore the stock shocks should be tunable to my liking.

[joe1l]

I knew somebody was gonna say that, i feel that for over $6000 I shouldnt have to put a dime into this thing other than regular maintenance, therefore the stock shocks should be tunable to my liking

Hey Justin, well for the front shocks, you are going to have to take off the preload. Take it down so that there are only two or 3 threads left. This will softin it upa bit. You can try to do the same to the rear, but it won't help out on those South Jersey whoops. The best thing I found is the GT Thunder linkage and shock revalve for the rear ($250), it realy helped slow down that rear shock and makes it soo much better for whoops.

[ATC350X 85]

Joe, I went with 2 threads showing on the front shocks today with compression to soft and rebound to soft in the front, i tried to match it as close as i could to my setting on my 350x by feel as far as compression and rebound. Its not adjustable on the ATC in the front unless you change springs or fork oil weight. I wanted the front to snap back up fast as it does on my 350x so I could spring it up into a wheely over the next whoop. In the rear i went with 1.5 threads showing compression to soft and rebound to hard to slow down that rear end, i have found that if I hit the whoops at the right RPM range and stay on the pipe in 3rd I can do them decent, although my arms are killing me from todays test runs. If you let off the pipe the rear end will start to buck left to right. Also 2psi in the the rear and 2 in the front. This is setup for riding South Jersey sand whoops that get worse every time you ride over them.

Heres my setting if you dont wanna read it all.

Front
Compression- soft all the way
Rebound -soft all the way
Preload- 2 threads showing

Rear
Compression- soft all the way
Rebound-Full hard
Preload-1.5 threads showing

Tires
2psi front and rear

My specs:
145lbs, 5'10" riding 9 years experience on mainly ATC's some bikes and some quads.

450R- all stock except 13t front sprocket