kind of a dumb rear shock question

[hotshotgoal30]

so ill try to explain this hopefully someone can understand what im trying to say. if i go to say lift the rear of the bike up off the ground by the grab bar, it seems like my suspension is sagging. i say this because when i lift it up the shock goes up before the whole back of the quad. if that makes any sense. its like the shock is not fully at the top. i can lift it maybe an inch or inch and a half before its at the top and then if i keep lifting the rear lifts up. does this make any sense to anyone? lol why would this be? i am a heavier guy at about 225 and have not done anything to the suspension but it almost seems like im losing that whole inch or so of travel and would only be worse when im sitting on it. i mean the quad has maybe 10 hours on it so i know its not worn out or anything

[cdoskocil9]

Thats because travel is not all up travel as in there is droop travel.... (what you experience when you pick the quad up)...... if there wasnt droop travel the ride would be horrible

[DGS]

I think what u mean is sag... The rear shock is set from the factory to have 1- 1.5 inches of rear sag. If the shock was at its max out, the shock would top out while riding as well as the ride would be terrible. U must have sag on your rear shock....

Hope i got it right....

[hotshotgoal30]

alright understandable. i dont know much about shocks i just thought that with that much sag plus the weight of myself it would be droop/sagging alot and would not allow as much travel with me riding. so i guess what you guys are saying it that a perfectly good setup on any sport quad should have motion both up and down before maxing out? i say that because i dont remember being able to do that on my buddys raptor but i could be wrong. i thought when we lifted his raptor it was all the way at the top meaning there was no sag. but whatever if you guys say its normal then im cool with that and thanks for your help. im not going to confuse you guys anymore

[cdoskocil9]

Not a problem you can vary the amount of droop travel by getting a stiffer spring to account for your weight by the way .....

[Blizzard24]

Your goal for your suspension sag is ride height with you sitting on the machine with all riding gear on.

A general setting is 7 inches of ride height for mx and 7.5 for XC type riding.

Have someone measure the height of the quad at the footpegs with you sitting on it. Take the measurement and adjust the preload on the rear shock to obtain the desired height. To adjust the preload spin the collars on the shock: Tighten them to raise the ride height and loosen them to lower it.

Once you get your desired rear ride height, do the same for the fronts, measure about 20" in front of the foot peg and the ideal height is about 1/2-3/4" HIGHER than the height you measured at the foot pegs. Again, adjust the preload by adjusting the front collars.

Once you have the ride height of the quad set, you can begin adjusting compression and rebound. But ride height is the first step for all of this to happen, the quad should have some sag or the springs are way too stiff.

[hotshotgoal30]

Originally posted by Blizzard24
Your goal for your suspension sag is ride height with you sitting on the machine with all riding gear on.

A general setting is 7 inches of ride height for mx and 7.5 for XC type riding.

Have someone measure the height of the quad at the footpegs with you sitting on it. Take the measurement and adjust the preload on the rear shock to obtain the desired height. To adjust the preload spin the collars on the shock: Tighten them to raise the ride height and loosen them to lower it.

Once you get your desired rear ride height, do the same for the fronts, measure about 20" in front of the foot peg and the ideal height is about 1/2-3/4" HIGHER than the height you measured at the foot pegs. Again, adjust the preload by adjusting the front collars.

Once you have the ride height of the quad set, you can begin adjusting compression and rebound. But ride height is the first step for all of this to happen, the quad should have some sag or the springs are way too stiff.

nice write up man thanks. i went out today to do some preliminary measurments and i got my little shock wrench and im almost positive its impossible to get the wrench on the rear shock to loosen the collars. i tryed every which way no luck. why the heck would they make it so hard on us?