Is HLS suspension any good?

[Thomas440]

I found a nice pair of used front shocks on ebay for 275 they're HLS, has anybody ever had HLS shocks, and what'd you think of them?

[dxcody]

Yea thats GT Thunders ebay.

I almost bought them a few times, but i just cant pull the trigger.

I made a thread on this a while back.

Everyone i have talked to that has them, love them.

But they only get you so far,

Im still debating on getting HLS or 450R fronts and having them revalved.

Idk.

They have been up for a LONG time. I figured they would be gone by now.

I look at them everyday i just cant ever hit the "BUY IT NOW" button lol

[Thomas440]

It's pretty much between HLS's and 450r suspension, I might have to make an offer on the HLS's, I know they won't be the best but I'm not racing or free styling haha so I should be alright. I just can't stand my stock suspension when hitting jumps.:ermm:

[dxcody]

Originally posted by Thomas440
It's pretty much between HLS's and 450r suspension, I might have to make an offer on the HLS's, I know they won't be the best but I'm not racing or free styling haha so I should be alright. I just can't stand my stock suspension when hitting jumps.:ermm:

I made an offer of 250 and it was declined.

Hope you have better luck! lol

[HondaRacing83]

hls is the cats *** for xc. but i know what ones your talking about i almost bought them but they are non rezzy im like screw that

[dxcody]

The non ressi thing really doesnt help much, besides keeping the shocks cooler and a little bit better adjustment setting.

But The way i see it is, (Those are used and im going to use the Price of New ones)

HLS NON Ressi shocks - $500

450R- say $200 for used, then Top of the line jet rebuilt is $600

For 300 more your getting the same shocks an XC1 pro used to run, it has a resi and it has rebound and compression adjustments so i think ill just save up and buy the 450R shocks.

Now the HLS elite's are a different story.

They are race proven, by people like Jeff Pickens, Dave simmons, Don Ockerman (2008-2010) Johnny G, Traci Cecco, Phillip Odell, Brandon Sommers... Etc.

Another cheap shock you can get if your just a trail rider, Works tripple rates.

They are a good shock over stock, from a rider standpoint. A racer standpoint, they arent all that great.

And there also is another goood thing about the 450R shocks. Say you dont want the Jet stealth kit ($600) you can buy the 450R shocks Like i said before $200 then spend $175 and get the GTT dual rate kit and that also makes a nice set of front shocks.

Thats the reason i am leaning more to the 450R shocks, because they are cheap and you can get a upgrade just by getting them plain, plus you can take the shocks as far as you want.

Hope some of this info helps you in some way, sorry its a little long.

[HondaRacing83]

Yeah i get that. I mean if your a heavy trail rider and want to do a few jumps, by all means save your money and buy those hls because they are like brand new and cheap. Even if you run a race or 2 they wouldnt be bad but if your a competitive racer then go the route cody is saying. But yeah man those elites are slick. the guy i bought my peps off of sold his peps for some hls elites. they arent really that pricey either? ive seen more and more people running hls on 450s and it makes me happy they are supporting a somewhat smaller company like gt thunder than say something like elka where laz at gt thunder supports racing xc specifically which makes me a little biased towards them but hey, you really think elka cares? elkas caring about the money not the customers. buying elka is like givin a ceo another vacation house buying gt thunder is giving laz more money to come up with cooler **** to improve our sport. im not ragging on elka specifically i just used them as an example.

[ben300]

my question to you guys is, if i send 450r fronts to GT thunder or Jet for a revalve respring job, how much of an improvement is it? ive heard from some people its a night and days difference.


the reason why i ask is i plan on running the full AWRCS circuit next season on my 400 (be my first full year) and a couple GNCC's in the sport class, and i just picked up used 450r fronts off of a 2007 for $100! and i want to get them done up by gt thunder or get next winter

[chronicsmoke]

100 is a steal..

I rode with a revalved ST setup for MX on my 450 and it was SOOO much better than stock its hard to believe they are the same shocks. I had dual rates and they were niiice for the price.

If I ever get around to it, and start using it more my 400 is going to get revalved shocks.

[Stickman400]

I just had Jet do the Stealth triple rate extended travel conversion on my 450 shocks and it is deff. a night and day difference. If you get the comp. and rebound adjusted right you don't even feel massive bumps while you're going through trails. And they do really well on big jumps too. Jumps that bottomed them out when they were stock are now nice and soft when landing.

[01boneless]

i just bought a set of hls shocks off ebay (gtt's account) for 295 :). ill let u guys know how i like them

[dxcody]

And i also just bought a set of 450R shocks for around $100

Im gonna do the GTT DIY dual rate kit on mine!

You should consider doing that ben,

[chronicsmoke]

Make sure you do a write up on them.. Ride the 450 shocks stock first so you can compare. I've been looking into this for my hundy

[01boneless]

Originally posted by dxcody
And i also just bought a set of 450R shocks for around $100

Im gonna do the GTT DIY dual rate kit on mine!

You should consider doing that ben,
dang were did u get 450r shocks that cheap! :devil:

[HondaRacing83]

I need to pick up some r shocks soon since i sold my peps which was one of the worst things i ever did.

[chronicsmoke]

Originally posted by HondaRacing83
I need to pick up some r shocks soon since i sold my peps which was one of the worst things i ever did.

Why'd you sell them? Didn't you only have them for like a week?

[HondaRacing83]

I had them for like 2 or 3 weeks. I liked them but I wanted a new bow like now lol so i sold them. Bought them from Zeb400ex and sold yhem to Nacs'22. Both great guys btw. They were starting to leak to. I want to do a 450 shock setup this time around or pick up some custom axis shocks.

[ben300]

Originally posted by 01boneless
dang were did u get 450r shocks that cheap! :devil:


haha some dude on craigslist......i just picked them up on sat and they are super, i mean SUPER beat.... i can see why they were $100 for the pair.....so i may rebuild them or just flip them and get a nicer pair of of ebay...

..im in no real hurry, im only running two races between now and september so i have lots of time to get stuff set up

dxcody....ive thought about doing that, but considering anything i buy's probably gonna need serviced, might as well get them revalved as well

[thebig450es]

I really like my Elite set of shocks from GTT with the XC link in the back, i wish i would have done it long ago

[d90rick]

i ran the 450r up front for a bit. then called laz and asked if i should just get the non resi HLS or revalve the 450r's. He said revalve the 450r's and would be better than the stand. HLS. so i did the revalve, respring and ext. travel deal he does and love them. big difference. get the 450r's and have laz do his magic. or spend bigger $$ and get the HLS with ressies. if you already have the 450r's, spend the extra for the revalve and ext. travel conversion, don't just put the springs on. you will really like the extra travel, especially since the springs will lower it a bit.

[VA400EX]

I bought the one's off eBay for $275. It will be a few weeks before i ride but i'll check in with how they comare vs. stock.

[01boneless]

I am not gonna say anything good or bad about hls just yet. i bought a set off ebay 2 weeks ago and had them fixed and revaled for me (180lbs) and i got them on and went to the track and they more less fealt like they were valved for a 25 lb rider bottomed out BAD on everything. BUT i cant say anything bad about gt thunders customer service laz took them back and is revalving them / respringing them for me for free. well see how they are the next time around

[dxcody]

Originally posted by 01boneless
I am not gonna say anything good or bad about hls just yet. i bought a set off ebay 2 weeks ago and had them fixed and revaled for me (180lbs) and i got them on and went to the track and they more less fealt like they were valved for a 25 lb rider bottomed out BAD on everything. BUT i cant say anything bad about gt thunders customer service laz took them back and is revalving them / respringing them for me for free. well see how they are the next time around

They just arent made to handle a rider like you :D

[01boneless]

Originally posted by dxcody
They just arent made to handle a rider like you :D
ikr :devil:

[VA400EX]

I am worried now because i bolted them on and they feel a bit soft and bouncy. I will ride this Friday and see how they hold up, it would suck to have to send them back.

[01boneless]

Originally posted by VA400EX
I am worried now because i bolted them on and they feel a bit soft and bouncy. I will ride this Friday and see how they hold up, it would suck to have to send them back.

heres a few tests you can try before you ride, mine had all these problems... with preload at half way i could almost (about a inch off) push my quad down to the ground, with 3/4 up preload my springs would just fall off, and if real bad u can take the shock off and compress if by hand of the ground.... either way gt's customer service is great and laz will fix it for you