Elka questions/concerns

[DirtDiggler]

I ordered a set of Elkas about a week and a half ago and I'm pshyched. I've heard a fair share of good things about Elka but I've also found a few things like this on other forums:

I'm helping a friend set up his Elkas, raptor with stock width front a-arms he's around 160 lbs intermediate rider, i'm 200 lbs expert rider.

After 3 - 4 days break in, (during which time the front end was as stiff as ****) we still found the front end to be like a lead brick, damping is way to heavy, the front just does not travel nicely, even with me pounding the **** out of it........... Elka claims it is what they usually supply ????................ compared to my old PEP suspend LT they are crap, my LT would totally blitz this for rideability...................... They suggested a lighter set of springs, well okay, send em......they sent a heavier set ?? (based on wire diameter and coil spacing) so basically I would seem they don't know what the heck they supplied us with in the first place....................

It seems wack to me that they supply them with the compression damping "set" at the lightest setting, so there is no way we can ease them off, would seem alot more logical to have the compression "set" at mid adjustment.

Now they are being less than helpfull, I'm convinced thay screwed up and basically set the things up incorrect, I mean **** it's worse than stock..............

Anyone else had this problem............. these things cost us a fortune down under and are looking like being an expensive set of bookshelf ends..........This is a major pain cause we are 1/2 way around the world from Elka............... so sending back costs us like $200.00 plus


or This:

Pretty much the same story here. I have them at The Quad Shop now hoping they can work a miracle. My $1,500 Elka Suspension is not as good as a stock Honda 400ex suspension. I bottom the crap out of it and it lands like a load of bricks. I am 200 lbs.

I definitely wasted a wad of cash on the rear. The fronts are better than stock but not that much better.


This does worry me a little bit since it took me a long time to save up the money.
Diggler

[forum]

well. some times elka does screw up. But you gotta give them a hand cause there building way more shocks then the others and they get them to you in 2 weeks. I've also heard sometimes they arn't perfect the first time you get them. But elka is more then happy to reset them up for you. ALthough it does happen rarely it does happen. but even if yours are a little setup wrong. you could send them back to elka three times before some pep's would have come in

and if you do need to send pep's back. expect to wait just as long as the initial wait. ANd Im sure people are gonna say well they are set up perfect right from the start. thats imposible. many adjustments have to be made to get them dialed in

[forum]

also. there are alot of pro riders riding on elka's as of the up coming season.

[Pappy]

all of my shocks come thru the quadshop. marty goes over them ...checks them ...sets them ....and so far ...i havent had to do much dailing in.

if the set you got is so stiff....and it came pre set on the lightest compression setting....i would suspect a screw up. could you have them checked locally instead of shipping them back?

[Dave400ex]

My Shocks came from Elka and they are setup great. I only mess with them when we ride different terrian because they were setup for XC, which is normal. Them guys must of just got a bad set, and I bet they are not near as bad as they say...

MIne are perfect too..some dialingin on the rear but that's it...

It might also be that size and riding style was miscommunicated and they were setup for a 240 lb MX racer on stock arms...you never know.:confused: It's not that they're POS's they are not built correctly most llikely..:cool:

[DirtDiggler]

I'm expecting mine in late this week or early next week. Those are a couple of posts I found and copied/pasted. There are a couple of other complaints I've seen as well. I understand if a company puts out a lot of shocks there is going to be a lemon here and there. I was just suprised to see a few people have similar stories. These are my first aftermarket shocks and it took me a while to come up with the cash so I get a little freaked when I see stuff like this.

[DirtDiggler]

btw,
I'm not dissin Jeff or Elka **** I don't even have them yet I was just seeing what everyone thought and if there were any other stories good or bad that's all. When I talked to Jeff on the phone he was totaly cool and I was impressed with his concern and proffesionalism.

[Extremeracer167]

i wont say anything:D Ill be good Rico. COUGHAxis Cough COUGH ;)

i just got my lt peps tonight and god they are nicer than elka and axis.:D

[DirtDiggler]

anyone else? Info on Elka set ups?

i know 3 people with elka tripple rates. 2 of them had their fronts come to soft. 1 had them come WAY to stiff. that made me turn away from buying elka. i do hear though that the quadshop sets them up better than elka and no one has problems with their set-ups.

[400grl]

I have Elka triple-rate 0 preloads.....I'm thrilled with them. They got to me in two weeks, and they have been great through the roughest of our tracks. For the price, I don't think I could have gotten a better shock. However, that will not keep me from tackling the UPS man when he brings my boyfriends AXIS shocks next week .........everyone has their weaknesses!!:devil

[forum]

if the elka's are set up right they can be better then axis. axis has very few options when ordering. while elka got the most.

[Doibugu2]

All I can say is that I have not put mine on yet, and they better be worth the money I spent. I sure hope mine are set up correctly.

[Extremeracer167]

Originally posted by forum
if the elka's are set up right they can be better then axis. axis has very few options when ordering. while elka got the most.

Maybe that is why elkas come all whacked out most of the time:rolleyes: Ive yet to hear a problem from someone that sais, My axis shocks dont move and are hard as a rock. Im not saying Axis is perfect, but did u ever think thats why they are more money?? becuase they dont have stupid goof ups like that:confused:

[forum]

yea. but elka sells more shocks. meaning more screw balls get them. so they have no idea what to do. They could have ordered them wrong. Im not saying elka doesn't screw up more then axis. maybe they do. Actualy i would lean towards elka screwing up more then axis. Thats not what im arguing. Im just saying Elka has more potetial then axis. Elka offers so many options when ordering. axis has very few. actualy the least some might say. offcourse that doesn't matter so much as how they perform. but thats a whole other arguement and Im not going there

[Extremeracer167]

I think all the options ELka offers would be GREAT if everyone knew what they did, lol. There are so many ppl out there that still couldnt tell the differance between a Compression adj, or a rebound adjuster. Then they go and introduce that high speed adj. and these ppl still cant tell the differance between a dual rate and triple rate shock. If everyone was suspension experts then i can see these features being useful, but there may be 10 ppl MAX on the forum that actually know how to properly set up a shock ,lol

[Pappy]

and there is probly only 10 people here that could actually tell the difference between 2 sets of properly set up and tuned shocks. same goes with a arms..stems...swing arms..blah blah blah.

too many personal opinions get in the way of real world expectations and real world performance.

[Extremeracer167]

exactly pappy, and i base my opinions on stuff that i have ridden on. Not for like 5 minutes, but between me and a few of my buddys, weve had ALOT of differant stuff. Some ppl have never seen a set of axis shocks in person and already claim that they arent worth the money. jay Goebel sets my shocks up, and does an AWESOME job of doing it. So i consider myself a lucky one

[Pappy]

ok...i will blind fold any one willing :devil lets race:blah :devil

Guys don't sweat your shocks not performing OK or coming from elka setup correctly...that's like picking up a new 400ex and worrying if it's gonna run ok for the next month...:o I'm sure 1 out of 200 400ex's has motor issues..so 1 set of shocks out of 200 having an issue is not all that bad...We here more about elka problem becuase theres probably 8/1 members with elka compared to axis.. the 9 members we have that run axis probably didn't have a problem....the 600 members with elkas..yeah we'll probably here of an issue here or there..

[Dave400ex]

You guys are to worried about the name on the shock. It's not the shock or the parts they use, it's who sets the shocks up, and that's why everybody likes Axis and PEP. Elka is getting better and after this up coming race season they will have a whole lot of info from the racers and get a lot better. I bet Baldwin could get any Elka to out perform a Axis shock that came straight from Axis. Heck most people don't even know about Derisi and I think he makes some great shocks and would run them before Axis mainly because Santo races XC so who knows better them him how XC shocks need to be? It's not the brand, it's the person that sets them up. IMO

[Extremeracer167]

Derisi Runs Axis shocks. But he sets them up. And to say Elkas set up by baldwin can outperform Axis straight from Axis isnt a comparison. Thats like saying a 400EX setup by TC will outrun a Z-400.....welll......DUH, lol. But u guys are right, alot of the ppl on here are just biased towards the name. Its a shame, cause there are some good aftermarket companies out there that most ppl dont know about. And thats mainly because ppl dont give em a chance becuase there buddies girlfriends little brother new a kid that his parents 3rd cousing had one, but it didnt work that good, lol.

[Dave400ex]

Well I was just trying to give a comparison, but you know what I meant by saying the brand doesn't matter that much. Heck if I ever have my shocks revalved I will have Baldwin or Derisi do it. I think they are 2 of the best. But I also agree there are many companies that have good products that most people don't run because some of the Pro's don't. Heck any chassis parts I get will say Arens or RPM.

[DirtDiggler]

I definitely appreciate all the input folks.

Diggler

[ESR250R]

i also had my front elka's set up wayyyyyyy to hard. it would hit the main spring and it seemed like it wouldnt budge. i was watching one of my races on film and i can see my tip of my helmet almost touch my chest when i did one jump. i sent my shocks out 2 days ago to the quadshop to be revalved and i am really hoping they will do a better job at valving. otherwise i will just run the elka's until my peps come.

Originally posted by ESR250R
i also had my front elka's set up wayyyyyyy to hard. it would hit the main spring and it seemed like it wouldnt budge. i was watching one of my races on film and i can see my tip of my helmet almost touch my chest when i did one jump. i sent my shocks out 2 days ago to the quadshop to be revalved and i am really hoping they will do a better job at valving. otherwise i will just run the elka's until my peps come.

If you supplied Marty with all the accurate details he needs for settin the shocks up for your needs I'm sure they'll work like gold when you get them back..

[ESR250R]

just like the person that originally posted when i recieved my shocks i also had my shocks all the way adjusted to soft so i couldnt go any softer. i would probably agree about the stock shocks being better but my stockers were pretty shot. my rear shock was awesome though, i couldnt say enough good things about the valving done to it.

rico: i am sure that your right about them being great when i get them back. ive heard alot of good things and never anything bad about the quadshops valving.

Originally posted by ESR250R


rico: i am sure that your right about them being great when i get them back. ive heard alot of good things and never anything bad about the quadshops valving.

Well if anything..look at it this way...if ya don't like them I could punch Marty in the arm for ya for free...no charge..;) and I'll make sure to leave a bruise too..:D

[ESR250R]

sounds like a game plan :devil

[Dave400ex]

Well from the sounds of it the Quadshop guys really have their suspension setups down. That's another reason I am really looking forward to a Badlands ride so they can help setting my shocks up better then they already are....

[Mxbubs]

I had Axis, I liked them until I sent them in to be revalved and they changed the springs out. When I got the shocks back, the springs immediately started chipping paint. When I called them about it, they told me I could get screwed. So I sold them and go Elkas. I love my Elkas. I cased a big double hard today, my Elkas let me ride it out no problem.:D