ballzdeep38
12-26-2009, 05:08 PM
Ok so i FINALLY got out to the track with the 450R front shocks on my bike. I wanted to give a little report for anyone considering them as an affordable upgrade to the stockers. The bike has the mods listed in my signiture. It is a pretty basic setup with Stock a arms. The track is Milestone MX in Riverside Ca if it matters to anyone.
Ok so the last time i was at the track i had my stock 87 shocks on the front. If i landed a jump perfectly on the back side of the landing they felt fine. Not great but sufficient. it was when i would overshoot a jump, come up short, or let off and go right into the face of the next jump, that they were terrible. Even landing on top of the bi tabletop in the middle of the track bottomed them out and i felt it all the way through the bars. I know ideally we would all like to land every jump perfect but this is the real world right? when it would get a little choppy coming out of a turn, the shocks were nothing too impressive. they soaked up some of it but i couldnt ride through it with any type of confidence. again this was the stock a arms and stock shocks.
Today I went to the same track. the layout was a little different but over all it was pretty much the same track i remembered. This time the only difference was a set of used 450R shock in front (no valving or spring changes). Still the stock a arms. When it came to taking the jumps they felt great. on my first lap i cam up short on a small double (one i had some up short on before on my last trip). so i cringed, and braced myself for harsh landing. To my surprise the front end soaked it up Very well IMO. throughout the day i cased a few jumps, landed a little short, nosed into the face of the next jump, over shot and flat landed, and flat landed the big tabletop. overall i think the shocks did very well for what they were. they soaked up the big hits pretty good. with the exception of a fast nose dive into a jump i dont think i ever got that real harsh bottoming i got with the stockers. as for the choppy stuff, they were a little bouncy and stiff (probably due to me only being about 150lbs, stock a arms, and not being revalved/sprung for the 250r). they didnt ride great through the choppy stuff, but they did let me charge through it with a little more confidence than the stockers did.
after comparing the 2 days and 2 sets of shocks i am very happy with the 450R shocks. I think i paid about $100 + shipping, and rented a spring compressor for a day for about $5 i think. they soaked up big hits,landings and jumps far better than the stockers did. in the slowere speed choppy stock the stiffness really showed itself. This i also noticed when i went trail riding after i installed them. so for trail riding they are ok but really need to be revalved. For jumping i think they felt great. overall on the MX track i like them much better than stock. with a revalve and a new set of springs they would be great IMO when you consider the cost. again this is all considering i have less than $150 invested in them.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b347/ballzdeep38/for%20sale/DSC02011.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b347/ballzdeep38/DSC02014.jpg
Ok so the last time i was at the track i had my stock 87 shocks on the front. If i landed a jump perfectly on the back side of the landing they felt fine. Not great but sufficient. it was when i would overshoot a jump, come up short, or let off and go right into the face of the next jump, that they were terrible. Even landing on top of the bi tabletop in the middle of the track bottomed them out and i felt it all the way through the bars. I know ideally we would all like to land every jump perfect but this is the real world right? when it would get a little choppy coming out of a turn, the shocks were nothing too impressive. they soaked up some of it but i couldnt ride through it with any type of confidence. again this was the stock a arms and stock shocks.
Today I went to the same track. the layout was a little different but over all it was pretty much the same track i remembered. This time the only difference was a set of used 450R shock in front (no valving or spring changes). Still the stock a arms. When it came to taking the jumps they felt great. on my first lap i cam up short on a small double (one i had some up short on before on my last trip). so i cringed, and braced myself for harsh landing. To my surprise the front end soaked it up Very well IMO. throughout the day i cased a few jumps, landed a little short, nosed into the face of the next jump, over shot and flat landed, and flat landed the big tabletop. overall i think the shocks did very well for what they were. they soaked up the big hits pretty good. with the exception of a fast nose dive into a jump i dont think i ever got that real harsh bottoming i got with the stockers. as for the choppy stuff, they were a little bouncy and stiff (probably due to me only being about 150lbs, stock a arms, and not being revalved/sprung for the 250r). they didnt ride great through the choppy stuff, but they did let me charge through it with a little more confidence than the stockers did.
after comparing the 2 days and 2 sets of shocks i am very happy with the 450R shocks. I think i paid about $100 + shipping, and rented a spring compressor for a day for about $5 i think. they soaked up big hits,landings and jumps far better than the stockers did. in the slowere speed choppy stock the stiffness really showed itself. This i also noticed when i went trail riding after i installed them. so for trail riding they are ok but really need to be revalved. For jumping i think they felt great. overall on the MX track i like them much better than stock. with a revalve and a new set of springs they would be great IMO when you consider the cost. again this is all considering i have less than $150 invested in them.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b347/ballzdeep38/for%20sale/DSC02011.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b347/ballzdeep38/DSC02014.jpg