How Far till you bottom out?

[Pepto_Bismol]

I went to the MX track again this weekend, and I was wondering how high and how far you all go B4 you bottom out. Now I know I need to adjust my shocks, but the info would be great. I am floating about 12 feet high and probably landing about 25 ft away. I'll have some pics soon for a better visual. ( I have to get is off the video). The problem is I was just goofing around on a supercross track that is not designed for quads, so I didn't get enough speed to hit the downslope. I was flat landing at that distant. Tell me your stories (and type of setup) so that I have a better comparison. Man am I SORE!:D

Thanks
Pepto:cool:

[beerock]

it depends on your weight.

You really dont want to bottom out your shocks EVER, it damages the valving.

UNless your fine tuning them and they bottom out like a haair, then you would need to preload the shock a bit more by turning the nutclock wise or moving the clip down one.

[MOOCAZEN]

QUICK QUESTION? HOW COME SOME OF THE PEOPLE FROM AXIS AND ELKA SAY ITS GOOD AND NORMAL TO BOTTOM OUT EVERY ONCE IN AWHILE, NOT WHERE YOU GET JOLTED, BUT ENOUGH TO HEAR THE HIT, CAUSE I ASKED THEM AND THEY SAID IT WAS NORMAL AND OK FO THIS TO HAPPEN

[Pepto_Bismol]

OK, lets say I weigh 174 lbs, what I really would like to know is what height / distance combination would be considered average when people do bottom out, so that I can have a basis on how to judge my setup. I know is isn't going to be exact, but to give me a general Idea so that I have some sort of base line is what Im' really interested in. Like Beerock, surely you've pushed it on jumps to find your limits, then said this is far / high enough, any farther and I will just keep bottoming out, right? I know bottoming is bad for the shocks...and me :p , but as of yet, I have nothing to compare to see if what I'm doing is normal, or if I really need to seriously adjust my setup..thanks!
Pepto

[cdalejef]

It is normal to bottom out in certain cases.

[Pepto_Bismol]

ok

[Pepto_Bismol]

landing

[400exRacerX]

Did you bottom in that pic? And if so you either landed realy wrong or your elkas arent valved right because your not that high for them to bottom like that.

[cdalejef]

Are you landing on the down side or flat landing?

[Pepto_Bismol]

In the previous pics I'm flat landing and I'm also landing front tires first. I actaully travel about 15 ft. ..I still have alot of compression adjustment( to the hard side) left ..or do you think I shouldn't even come close to bottoming with the Elkas anyway? Here's a pic of the same track when I land on a down slope, but I don't bottom. The events of this jump are recorded 1st three in column 1, then last 2 going down in column 2....

[RideRed04]

Try landing rear tires first, it looks like you nose dived it.

[cdalejef]

It looks to me like you are landing pretty hard. Try turning up the compression but don't make it to hard were it rides harsh on the smaller stuff. Bottoming out on the biggest jumps on the track isn't a bad thing. If you don't then you aren't using all of the shocks travel. Any shock company or pro racer will back me up on this!:)

[Mitch400EX]

Yeah if that was a flat landing you nose dived it. If your front end starts to dive like that hit the gas hard in the air and pull back. This should level you out.

[Pepto_Bismol]

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate everyones advise and input, but I was just inquiring to see if anyone else can tell me about their experiences with bottoming, on purpose or not. Here, I was testing my shocks, so I did a small nose dive on purpose to test the limits, that's what I would like to know from other people is what kind of limits do they know they have on their setup so that I can say "Yes, I'm ok" or "Nope, I may need to really adjust this setup"...just for now ignore the jumping itself, that's not what I'm after....Thanks
Pepto :cool:

[Clay]

Pepto, im no expert in the suspension field, but i have some basic knowledge. I can take shocks apart and make minor internal adjustments, recharges, etc. I would say your Elkas are setup a little soft. I would turn your compression dampning stiffer. They seem to be to soft. You shouldn't bottom that easy i dont think. My works dont even come close to bottoming that much on a jump that size. I would stiffen um up a little, then rejump. Just my $.02. Oh yeah, ive also heard from the people with Elka around here, that they came too soft from Elka, and pretty much everyone had to run the compression up some. They are valved for MX right??

[MOOCAZEN]

PROBLEM, I SENT MY AXIS TO GET THEM REVALVED FOR 200 MX FROM 195 CC, THEY CHANGED THE SPRINGS , BUT DAM, I STILL N=BOTTOM OUT, I MIGHT HAVE TO TAKE THEM BACK TO GET OTHER SPRINGS, I TRIED ADJ THE COMPRESSION, STILL BOTTOMING OUT, MAN IT REALLY SUX:mad:

[Ex'r Marlin]

If this means anything.... I was told by Elka that it is ok to bottom out at a couple of points along a track. Meaning that the frame/chassis bottoms out on the ground. If you ride and never "bottom" out, then I can "lower" the ride height. If I hit too much, "raise" the ride height.

As for the shocks themselves bottoming out and getting damaged, is it possible to do that with that big rubber dampner there??

[Pepto_Bismol]

Yes, even with the rubber dampener, if you compress the shock too fast, you may blow out the seals. I just gont done with a lengthy discussion with Martin from Elka again, and we finally worked out that the main spring may need to be replaced with a stiffer spring. The way he explained how the compression and valving works with his shocks makes sense, and he is sending me the springs if I need them (no charge) along with my new rear shock that I ordered. I have to admit, I am somewhat dissappointed that I did not receive more responses to my original question. There seems to be a declining number of experienced riders in our ranks of people who actually reply with helpfull knowlegde, and too many useless posts on non-technical issues. :(
Anyway, thanks for those of you who did respond this this thread.
Pepto:cool: