Suspension choices for dunes ONLY

[Dubs_Tech]

Well im in the middle of my dream build of my 310r dune machine. This quad will ONLY see sand as i use my 440ex for anything else. Here is my question.... to go long travel or not, i keep getting mixed answers.... i dont do any "crazy" jumps but do average 10-15ft + for fun. The group i ride with say to just save money and get a good standard travel suspension kit as it'll suit me just fine and will keep weight down. Thats one thing i should mention as im building this quad to be as light as possible. Anything that can be changed to Billet will be, right now i have the complete HydroDynamics suspension on my 440 and LOVE it, ive hit the biggest jumps i could find with that quad and havent bottomed it out yet, but i would like something that even exceeds that suspension on my R. Thanks in advance guys!

-Tony

[woodsracer144]

well if you just doin small things tehres no point of gettin long travle.. unless you are hittin a ton of whoops or something and the trails are SUPER rough... yeah the LT is alot nicer but some fully adjustable axis or elkas will do you just fine...

good luck...

[Dubs_Tech]

Great thanks! whats your opinions for rear shock? I was thinking of sending the stocker out to C&D and having it rebuilt.

[thedeatons]

You may check out DeRisi Racing. The owner calls you right back, and his stock to custom valving conversions are supposed to be great. That would be inexpensive, and a bit of a sleeper. He is east coast though, so not much dune experience.

Ohlins is always at the top of my list after owning a few Cannondales. At the end of the year they do a half price sale so they can get rid of inventory before paying taxes on it. I bought a FULL SET of 3 triple rate, standard travel shocks with piggyback reservoirs for $1200 a couple years ago from them, sprung for me and valved for sand. Perhaps you can wait that long?

Other than that I would look into Custom Axis, assuming they do a standard travel setup.

Couple things:

I do agree that from your description you should be on standard travel. My long travel setups see 5th gear sand whoops and 90'+ dune jumps and just laugh at it all.... If you are not doing that then standard travel is perfect. Those standard Ohlins were butter through the whoops.

DO NOT short yourself on shocks. If you spend $1000 on the engine, then you should spend $2000 on the suspension in my opinion. Suspension is THE most important part of the quad, period. A stock engined 250R would RULE the track or tight follow-the-leader (on the sand) with the right suspension setup. Many people don't realize that and get pipes and carbs, then go for budget shocks... BAD IDEA! After hours in the saddle your body will tell you whether you spent our money well....

[norcalduner]

Originally posted by thedeatons
After hours in the saddle your body will tell you whether you spent our money well....

I totally agree .... you can only go as fast as your suspension will allow you. Unless you just wanna go fast in a straight line ....over and over and over again ;)

[thedeatons]

Yes.... Going straight for a few seconds at a time and races where there are only left turns never appealed to me. The more turns the better..... right and left.

If you feel differently, do NOT listen to my suspension advice....

LOL

[Dubs_Tech]

Do you recommend +3 arms?

[thedeatons]

For the dunes you need to go as wide as humanly possible, to avoid tipovers while turning hard, sidehilling, etc. Same for the rear.

Since you are a recreational rider and not a jumper I would chose something like new JD Performance a-arms, or a good set of used arms like Walsh or Houser or Laeger. That way you can keep costs down.

[woodsracer144]

another thing... if you dont want to throw down alot of the green stuff you can but alot of good used parts at a fair price! the shocks might need a rebuild or something but C&D are fairly cheap when it comes to rebuilds unless you have a guy near you that knows whats goin on...

if its on a 250r i would get some fully adjustable Elka or Axis or pep shocks... i had some olhins on my old r and i didnt care for them...
in the rear end you could try revalvin it but im not sure if it would help you much... you can get a good used rear shock fairly cheap and if you have to rebuild it its not that much... im sure you could have the rear end done for well under 750 and the front done for 7 or 8 at the most if you go used... i had a set of really nice leager +2 a-arms and i got some where between 250 and 300 for them and i repainted them... i just sold a durablue rear axle for like 150ish? and that was a +2+4... i think

just look around at the part outs and check out some other parts like 400ex and stuff.. some of it swaps over...

its hard for me to fine new 250r a-arms for what i need... a no link rear and a +.5 front LT... so just take your time and look around something will turn up...