recently mounted 450r F shox on 400ex

[platinum350]

I know everyone says it doesn't work but I usually like to learn the hard way. So, I did it. Went out this weekend and it was muddy as hell. I did notice my landings off jumps where way way smoother.
I was told to loosen up my spanner nus on the 450r shox so I can get some extra sag. They do seem pretty soft just when I push down on them. My queston now is how to dial them in. I notice I have the adjustment on the top and the bottom. I need a lil 101 on dialing suspension in. Also nticed there are no "clicks" when you turn these adjustments. So how do you know where you are -----you could be going soft when your really trying to harden them because they wil keep on turning(im assuming).
Anyway, any help w/ this would be much appreciated!!
Thanks in advance.

[sampleez]

i have the yfz shocks on my 400 and i had to make the preload stiffer b/c of my +2 aarms. all of the adjustments(this is for the yfz, i'm just assuming the 450r is the same) work like a standard thread, turn it right to tighten(or stiffen in this case) and left to soften. hope this helps a little.

[platinum350]

Yeah, I loosened those all the way to the top (colby from c&d mentioned to start there) But I think they were too soft that way. How about your compression and rebound....did you do anything w/ either of those adjustments?

[Mxracer53]

do u have any pics of the fox shock

[platinum350]

no, I put on the 450r front shocks

[Mxracer53]

oh ok. srry bout that.:rolleyes:

[markk]

ALot of ppl have them already man, They work great for z-400's also!

[sampleez]

i have done a little. i have my compression set pretty stiff(13-14 of 18 clicks), but i think i'm gonna tighten the preload some more and loosen compression some. the rebound is only set to like 5-6 out of 18) it seems to be pretty good, but i'll have to do a little more adjusting. if anyone else has a similar frontend, what do you have yours set to.

[Bush0102]

can you post pictures? For 550 bucks you could have them rebuilt as TCS or Elkas and dial them in for your 400.

Im just curious to see a pic of how it looks.

[sammy5x]

That may have seemed like a good idea but putting a 450 rear on a 400 will damage your frame. Let me explain. I am an R&D test rider for Elka Suspension and the rear shocks may seem similar but the dimensions are quite different. The 450 shock is shorter in overall length which leads people to believe that they will have a lower ride height, true to some extent. What it also does is travel up too far as the shock has a different travel location. What will happen is when you bottom the suspension, your frame(under the footpegs) will hit the ground before your shock fully compresses resulting in frame breakage. This will be very bad with 20's and catastrofic with 18's. It will only be a matter of time before your frame breaks off a foot peg mounts and surrounding tubes. Also your airbox, silencer, battery, etc. will be damaged as well. Even if you are a light rider that thinks it will be ok, please don't ride your bike this way. I have been reading for months about people trying to swap parts from one bike to another and this is NOT one to do. I don't want any of my EX homies to get hurt:( . This is not a joke or an Elka plug in regardless of what other people might think they know about shocks. There are a few riders out there that will respond to this thread saying "it's ok he doesn't know what he is talking about. I have been riding mine for months now with no problems, blah, blah, blah. My advice is to have a reputable shop revalve your stock 400 shock and put it back on. I read about how people trying to save money by swapping parts all the time, and all they do is end up going around in circles and spending just as much or more money and wasting good ride time by rigging parts up. If you can't trust your ride or if you are constantly worrying about your parts, you can't concentrate on your riding. Good luck--

[sammy5x]

Sorry for the long reply before^. I read it incorectly. the stock 450 front shocks have less travel than tha 400. The front end geometry of the 450 is different than the 400. The 450 uses shorter travel front shock because the tie rods will hit the underneath of the frame. The 450 gets the same amount of wheel travel because of slightly longer a-arms. The action will be better than tha 400 but you will loose about 1/2 - 3/4 inch of up travel. Conversely, if you put 400 fronts (stock or aftermarket) on a 450 you will bottom the tie rods on the frame. If you don't think this is possible talk to John Natalie. He did that on his old Cannondale and ended up breaking his back when the tie rod broke. Good luck.

[drifterx]

Just curious, i wouldn't want to do it, but with the shorter travel and all, do you think 450r front shocks would work on a 300ex, with a relocator bracket?