Edsfast400ex
09-27-2009, 08:13 PM
Hello to everyone. I've been following this forum for a while now and just want to say thanks to everyone for answering questions that other people have. There is so much useful information on this site it is awsome. I have an 01 400ex and was thinking about a front shock upgrade. I mostly trail ride fast with an occasional trip to a mx track. I think that I have read every post on here about the 450r front shocks. So many people saying that they are good and as many people saying that they aren't that great. I am familiar with the works triple rates as I had a pair on a 250r. I wasn't wanting to spend much and didn't need anything too fancy. I stold a pair of 06 450r shocks off of ebay for $102.50 and thought I'd give them a try. If I didn't like them I would just turn around and resell them. I was a little weary hearing about the stiffness of the springs and the raised ride height. The shocks showed up and that night I installed them. Just knocked off the spot-welded nut for the fender mount bolt, used a button-head bolt pointed up with the nut on the topside. Sat the shock in place and seen where I needed to hit the shock mount just a hair with a grinder and 10 minutes later the shocks where mounted. The rideheight had raised 1/2 inch with about 3/8 inch of threads showing above the preload rings. I loosed the preload all the way out. This lowered the front end and now it sat 1/4 inch lower than it did with the stock shocks. Took it out for a ride with the compression turned all the way to soft and a 1/4 turn back in and set the rebound halfway between soft and hard. I'm 6'2" and 210lbs and I was amazed as I pulled a wheelie away from the trailer and sat it back on the ground. Totally different feeling than the stockers. Now I was ready to really test them out. I was on a small mx track and was surprised that they were not as stiff as I was expecting. On bigger jumps they were set to where they would just lightly bottom but everything else they soaked up so smooth. To me they felt good at slow speeds but high speed on rougher terrian is where they shined. It is amazing how much faster you can go when you aren't cringing thinking about a landing or worried about getting thrown around. I did have to adjust my rear shock a little to match it up with the new fronts but what a difference for around a hundred bucks. I could see where the 04, 05 shocks would be a little better though with the slightly softer springs. So to anyone who wants a cheap suspension upgrade I would say give them a try. If you're not happy you could always resell them and probably make a couple bucks if you didn't spend to much on them in the first place. Again thanks everybody and keep riden'