Long Travel?

[Mxracer53]

I was wondering how much of an advantage long travel is? Both my friends that have ridden it don't like it and said I wouldn't either.They said it doesnt corner good and thats where it helps. Also Do you need rebound that much any ways?Thanks:eek2:

[redrider9045]

Either your using crappy long travels or your friends are weird long travel would be better for cornering the standard

[honduh440]

i honestly think the different between stock shocks and standard travel elkas is the same different in standard elkas and long travel elkas

[jeepnrocks]

I think it would be worth it for the extra droop you can get.

[TBD]

Originally posted by jeepnrocks
I think it would be worth it for the extra droop you can get.
What extra droop. You can get the same travel out of both std. and LT frontends. The arm builder is the one that decides that. The "LT" should actually be "LS" for long shock. The main reason for the long shock is to increase shaft velocity so you get more adjustability from the valving and adjusters. It's easier to tune the shock and allows more room for incorrect valving.

[Moto92]

There was a big discussion on this a long time ago on .org
Whether or not it was worth the extra money.
Someone measured the travel of the shaft and it ended up only being like 1/4 of a inch more. I cant really see gaining anything for all the extra money your spending.

[Smoker]

The LT seem to have nicer ride, as far as the Elka's, it is a lot more money, but if you have it to spend, I doubt you'll be very dissappointed.

[86atc250r]

The main reason for the long shock is to increase shaft velocity so you get more adjustability from the valving and adjusters. It's easier to tune the shock and allows more room for incorrect valving.

That would be pretty cool if that were the case most of the time, but of the shocks I've measured, they should be called "Long Body" shocks, because the actual shaft travel is roughly the same as a ~16" shock. The body of the shock is merely longer, making little if any difference to the actual performance of the shock.

In fact, I've got one set of 16" shocks that has almost 1/4" MORE shaft travel than my 19" "Long Body" shocks.

That's why they have to have low mounts on the control arms, if they actually provided additional shaft travel and the control arm builder were using it, the low mounts would cause frame to ground clearance problems under full compression....... A low mount wouldn't be required or desireable.

If correctly set up, a "Long Body" shock can be used with a rebound adjuster and a properly designed control arm to not lose shaft travel over a comparable non-rebound adj ~16" shock. That's a nice advantage if you feel you need rebound adjusters.

Another potential advantage that some shock builders take advantage of is the ability to use longer spring sets.

As far as offering poor cornering or any other poor performance compared to 16" shocks -- only if poorly setup.

Proper setup is the key to any shock absorber's performance, regardless of the body length or brand name.