DeRisi shock revalve

Member lonestar_R and myself have nearly identicle 2006 450r's. He had a 250r that had nothing stock but the engine cases. it was a beast that handled like a dream. He likes his suspension a little spongy, so the tcs shocks that were set up for a rider that weighed about 40 lbs less was perfect for him. Needless to say, he was not impressed with the stock suspension on the 450r. He absolutely hated it. It beat the h3ll out of him.

Neither of us race so to spend beaucoup bucks on shocks and a-arms was out of the question. We just don't need that, but he needed something done so he did a little comparison between Derisi and GT Thunder. There was about a $180 differnce for the same job done by DeRisi. The cheaper price won out. A phone call to Santo DeRisi proved to be very pleasant, not abrasive like a call to GT Thunder would be. He made you feel like you were old friends.

Lonestar was told that at best, he was looking at 2 weeks for the shock, but the spring supplier(eibach) was not getting all of the prings to him that he had ordered, so there may be a longer wait. Lonestar didn't care as the suspension was too stiff for him even at it's softest settings. So off to Derisi the shocks went. That was the first or second week of May. The springs that lonestar needed were the ones that were on back order. Lonestar was orginall going to change the rear spring to a dual rate spring, but that was also on backorder and had no expected date of arrival so he decided to just use the stock spring. Finally last friday the shocks were delivered after he left for the NASCAR race in Michigan.

He installed the shocks last night and took it for a little ride without even adjusting the ride height. he wanted to see what they were like "out of the box". He said it felt exactly like his 250r did in the short time he was on it. ON his way home, he stopped at my house to let me take it for a little spin around my yard as I am somewhat unhappy with the suspenision on my '06 450r also.

I am coming off of a 400ex with the GT Thunder rear link and revalve and elka rec series front shocks. I loved the suspesion on the ex after I changed everything. The R's suspension was better, just a little stifff at first, but i have been tuning it a little each time out and it is coming into me. My biggest complaint with it is the ride height. The ex sits at 8 1/4" and the r is at 11 1/2". A big difference, too big.

I know what changing the rear link can to do one of these machines, i had it done ont the ex and loved the results. there was no buck and when you nailed the throttle, the rear end would squat and put the power to the ground instead of making you look skyward. I liked that. The '06 450r is easy to wheely, but didn't want to do it as automatically as the 400ex.

I hopped on his bike and took it for a spin in the yard. It had rained a lot a few hours before and the grass was still soaked, plus my yard has no jumps or real bumps for me to really try the suspension out. I did notice that the rear squatted like GT Thunder suspended 400ex and his 250r. The few bumps minor bumps in the yard were not noticalble like on my r. The ride, without him setting, it is way lower. So far, I like it.

We are planning on riding together the first weekend in July since I am going on vacation starting saturday. I'll give my ride review of it after then. I am sure he will give his review of it somewhere along the way.

here are comparison pics. When looking at the 2 from the front, mine is the one on the right without a bumper, his is on the left. When looking at it from the rear, his is on the right and mine on the left.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-12/921056/TJEKJ-derisifront1.JPG
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-12/921056/WXKRP-derisifront2.JPG
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-12/921056/PBJCP-derisirear.JPG

[Lonestar_R]

Now I like my 450.....it feels more like my old 250R everyday

[MAD450r]

I paid more since I got his older setup with the triple rate front dual rate rear and new link. After a bit of tinkering with settings its pretty damn close to the same ride as my 416ex with elka's triple rate front and dual rear. I didnt' change my rear link on the EX, I dont think I needed too either. Elka told me that I shouldn't anyways.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid185/pa2027a12863bfbff7772c7f4debf7984/f266acf7.jpg http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid185/p705416cafdcc9e94beb921f047b5a40d/f266acb9.jpg http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid185/p0e5dba5d16bad64914194546e8fd2722/f266ac9e.jpg http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid186/paa53ea8311565f2b24db2e7ae9a2a012/f2515b08.jpg http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid202/pbb0ff5d90e0eb277133356630e2e9099/efdfe3ec.jpg

[MtnEX]

OK... I'm dragging this up from the dead...


What are the long term thought's on Santo's work?


He's doing the KFX 450R's now too, and he's in my back yard compared to the other ones I know of....

I just want to know in case I can't get that last dial-in to perfection to happen... or for down the road when I need to get service.

his work was great, although very slow(took a little over a month if i remember correctly). it think that i like the feel of the gt thunders' rear just a little better(from what i spent on lonestar's 450r), but i would not turn my nose up to santo's work as the derisi on lonestar's was not set up for me...

it would be hard for me to do a true comparison as i am still running my derisi fronts on my 400ex now and have only had gt thunder rears...i put a gt thunder rear on the 450r as opposed to a derisi since i found a used one on ebay(from gt thunders' ebay username) for less than half the price...i have never ran any gt thunder fronts...yet...

lonestar_r has had both derisi and gt thunder(derisi on a trx and the gt thinder on an ltr) so he would be the best to ask here...

[Lonestar_R]

Hmmm. Let me think about this. The LTR and the TRX are not good to compare each other to. The LTR is a different machine and overall I did not like it. I myself think the GT Thunder Link, Revalve and respring is the way to go. Not to take anything away from Santo he's a great guy to deal with but just too damn slow. I had both the DeRisi Link and the GT Thunder Link at the same time for the 06 TRX and they are completely different. the DeRisi link looks more like the 04-05 TRX link from GT Thunder.

Alot of people don't like Laz from GT Thunder because if you email him he is short with you but he directly answers your question and that is it. He's a busy guy and tries to get your parts back to you in a very short amount of time. I have never waited more than a week total on work from him even in teh busiest seasons.

Do the Complete GT Thunder Setup and you will be happy for years to come.

[TRX450RACER174]

Go with Santo...
GTT blows...
and i speak from personal experience.

[MtnEX]

OK... I posted on this earlier and I don't have a clue where my post is... anyways, here is what I think I wrote...

Thanks for the review... I know I said thanks...


I was considering Santo for a few reasons... because he is the closest to me that I know of... and because a GNCC racer I ride with recommended him...

For what it is worth, he is a Honda guy too, and has ran GTT and Santo's.

I'm thinking the back-n-forth reviews on GTT is about preference from what I have read to date. And preference is a BIG part of what people do and don't like about suspension.

The only conclusion I can seem to draw is that people who like a soft setup end up unhappy with GTT. But I don't know that to be true.

Switching gears, Santo races Pro GNCC, so I think if I were going to have stuff done there, I would try to plan it for the "Off-Season".


Since reading up here, I have also gotten another real good review on shock work by Noleen for the KFX 450R.

I'll keep them all in mind for the future.

[Pappy]

i cant think of anything better then living close to one of the shock builders. it would be a no brainer for me soley based on that fact.

we run derisi shocks, love them...repeat LOVE them. gtt is good as well, you just have to go with what works best for you

[badazz400ex]

I have to chime in on this. Laz is within 40 minutes of me and on 2 different shock setups on my 400EX and 450R he got them both wrong, way to soft for me and never got it right. I ran XC and both quads pushed on rolled bad into corners. There are other shock builders out there who are comparable in price and work more closely with customers. Everyone has a opinion I am just posting my experience with him. I have since had Derisi redo my 450R and found some flaws in the setup and since last year I have had no complaints what so ever, and he will take the time out of his day to help you with the setup and if your that close to him it should be a no brainer, he's the type of guy who may even help you tune it hands on.

[MtnEX]

Originally posted by Pappy
i cant think of anything better then living close to one of the shock builders. it would be a no brainer for me soley based on that fact.

we run derisi shocks, love them...repeat LOVE them. gtt is good as well, you just have to go with what works best for you

I always try to think that the closer to home I can spend my money, the better it is for my local economy.

The only time I step out of that is if I can get better elsewhere... or if the local price is just too inflated.



But anyways, you being a moderator posting here made me think of something...
Doesn't our sponsor C&D Racing do this type of work also?

[MtnEX]

Originally posted by badazz400ex
I have to chime in on this. Laz is within 40 minutes of me and on 2 different shock setups on my 400EX and 450R he got them both wrong, way to soft for me and never got it right. I ran XC and both quads pushed on rolled bad into corners. There are other shock builders out there who are comparable in price and work more closely with customers. Everyone has a opinion I am just posting my experience with him. I have since had Derisi redo my 450R and found some flaws in the setup and since last year I have had no complaints what so ever, and he will take the time out of his day to help you with the setup and if your that close to him it should be a no brainer, he's the type of guy who may even help you tune it hands on.

Santo is about an hour's drive south for me.

So yeah, I'd probably go in person.

[Pappy]

Yep, we have had several sets done by them and been very satisfied.

Derisi is used by us mainly because we can see him at the races if we have issues and he is a personal friend, has been for many years. As fast as my kid is growing, I would spend a fortune sending them to C&D and Colby would go nuts with me *****ing because no sooner then I'd get them back, he would grow again and need a re-spring or revalve:p <----This is from expierence haha.

[triple b]

Originally posted by Pappy
i cant think of anything better then living close to one of the shock builders. it would be a no brainer for me soley based on that fact.


I agree 100%

My suspension guy is 8 miles from my house and he will go riding with me and sort out any issues I have in the desert.

The realy cool thing he is a one stop suspension shop.....ATV / Motos / Mountain Bikes / and trucks & buggys

[Scro]

Originally posted by badazz400ex
I have to chime in on this. Laz is within 40 minutes of me and on 2 different shock setups on my 400EX and 450R he got them both wrong, way to soft for me and never got it right. I ran XC and both quads pushed on rolled bad into corners. There are other shock builders out there who are comparable in price and work more closely with customers. Everyone has a opinion I am just posting my experience with him.

You are not the only one. I know alot of people that had work done by him, and 90% of them are way too soft and rolled badly in the corners (myself included). He has very quick turn-around time, but I think that may be part of his problem. I would rather wait 2-3 weeks and have shocks that are setup right the first time, instead of getting them back within a couple days, and have to send them back 3 times and still not be right (personally experience).

He seems like a smart suspension guy, but when two people send in two shocks for rework for the exact same arms, weight, riding style, etc., and they come back two different setups (one single rate, one dual rate), that just throws a flag up in my mind. He was asked about it, and his answer was "All depends on setup and shock length." If everything is the same, why would they be different?

As far as Derisi - I've heard nothing but good about them, although I've never dealt with him. I have heard that he's a cool guy to talk to, and will take the time to talk with you until it's right.

[jimmyjames1700]

Here's my longwinded opinion regarding suspension rebuilders, take it for what it's worth. I know alot depends on what your needs are and if you actually race or not. I don't race so having a builder close by wasn't an issue for me as long as they were set up right the first time and the turn around on them was fast.


After I got my KFX450 I decided I wanted a better ride out on the trails. So I bought a set of GT Thunder rebuilds with a new rear linkage and bolted them up for a ride. They were awful, so much so I put the stockers back on as soon as I got home and put the GT's on Ebay the next day! The worse part was, when actually trying to call and ask Laz some setup questions he was a complete arrogant jerk. I don't know what else to say other than the guy is rude and the shocks I had were not that great. I personally would not buy anything from him again.

After selling the GT's, my buddy had a great deal for my when he decided to sell the Elka Elite's off of his KFX. I rode those for a few while and decided that I still wasn't as happy as I should have been considering how much the Elites cost. Plus Elka wanted another $200 for different springs and I couldn't justify the extra coin.

So I sold the Elka's and decided to do some more research on shops that rebuild shocks, other than GT of course. So I called HYGEAR, RaceTech, Derisi, C&D, and Noleen J6. Price wise, they were all about the same but I wanted a company that when I called, I could talk to the shock builder and he would listen and take the time to share some knowledge and ideas with me. And after talking to them all on numerous occasions I settled on Noleen. Clark Jones at Noleen was always there when I called and was truly a great guy to talk to. Plus I learned that Clark used to personally tune the suspension's for top pro racers like Doug Gust and Joe Byrd!!!

So, 3 days after he received my shocks, Clark had them turned around and in the mail for me. And after riding Noleen, I can honestly say that this is the ride I was hoping for when I spent the big bucks on the Elka's. Personally, I will always have Noleen do work for me from now on.

[MtnEX]

jimmyjames,

I didn't know you were over here too... and you of course are the Noleen reviewer I spoke of here.


I also wanted to thank you for making me watch that CT video again (I like that guys input for the most part). I had forgotten about those upper arms. I want some... like now... lol...

His suspension setup he had done looks a bit stiff to me though. It's kicking, but not to the point of bucking. It's controllable.... so like I say, a lot is preference when it comes to suspension.

[jimmyjames1700]

I can't speak for that particular set up from the video, but I can tell you mine is very smooth and I haven't found it's limits yet. Like I said in the KFX sub forum, I haven't had mine buck or feel like it would kick me off once.