Rear shock adjustment

[LxMxL97]

My rear shock needs adjusted it is "bucking" which way would I turn the adjustment needle?

[2001400exrida]

here's the best you can get with stock shocks. these words come straight from nick the old owner of jet suspension....he knows his stuff


there are some problems with stock shocks in stock form, that is why we do what we do with them.
Fronts are generally too stiff initially, and too soft on G-out, quad too high in the air, rear rebound too fast even if you screw all the way in, motion ratio of the rear linkage isn't great and compression adjusters don't do much when you dyno them. I am lucky to feel a noticeable difference between full hard and full soft. Rebound adjustment is a different story. All of these are addressed except for compression adjuster when we do our JET mods.

Spring preload adjusters adjust ride height - not sure how much you weigh but for woods and trail riding stock shocks, I would back off the preload adjusters until there is little or no preload on the springs (you can feel when quad is off the ground and just pulling down on the spring itself to feel the tension on it). Rear - the same unless you weigh above 225. This lowers the quad and gives a softer ride.

S = soft / H = hard (i'm sure you knew that)

Front and rear shocks, back off compression all the way until you get them modified.

Front rebound - slow enough so when your pushing down on the front with you hands it doesn't spring right back at you.

Rear rebound - screw all the way Hard easily (don't cram on this or you will damage it) then back off toward soft 1/2 to 3/4 turn. You never want to run the rebound all the way hard since this closes off the bypass needle inside ...which affects low speed compression as well! and we need the compression free so it can absorb all those little hits, rocks, cross ruts and roots and still maintain some plushness.

That is about all you can do with stock since they need some work, but the shocks themselves are a good platform with the steel tube and are fairly easy on oil for stock shocks.

KEEP THOSE shock bearings lubed!! You need help further, you can email me. Now I got to get back and build some shocks...

Nick @ JET

[LxMxL97]

Thanks and if I'm not mistaken aren't there 2 adjustment needles one on the top by the reservoir and one down by the bottom shock mount?

[2001400exrida]

that is correct there is the rear rebound, the rear compression and also the preload adjusters which are the large spanner nuts on top. it's almost impossible to get rid of the buck completey on a stock shock but if you do what i did it does make it as good as i can get.

[LxMxL97]

Yeah I understand this but I know that it can be better than it is

[ridered32]

If you want a real improvement have the shock revalved and set up for an aftermarket link.

[602racer]

When does it particularly buck? The buck is created when the rebound (bottom adjustment) is too fast. Sometimes if your shock bottoms out (top screw all the way to soft) it can hit bottom and then throw you up creating a buck feeling. Don't ever put the Compression adjustment (top screw) all the way soft. Move the compression screw all the way to soft the turn it to hard 3 and a half turns. Ride it over all types of terrain them make 1/4 turn adjustments. Do the same to the rebound as well at the same time.

[ben300]

When does it particularly buck? The buck is created when the rebound (bottom adjustment) is too fast. Sometimes if your shock bottoms out (top screw all the way to soft) it can hit bottom and then throw you up creating a buck feeling. Don't ever put the Compression adjustment (top screw) all the way soft. Move the compression screw all the way to soft the turn it to hard 3 and a half turns. Ride it over all types of terrain them make 1/4 turn adjustments. Do the same to the rebound as well at the same time.


you can adjust the compression and rebound all you want with the stock shock and you'll never get rid of the buck. the "buck" comes from hte wrong geometry in the rear end of the quad in the stock hondas. the shock mount point on the link is to far foward. with this being to far forward, this progresses the shock to fast through its stroke, putting it to far into the hard compression. If you look at this on a linear curve, instead of being gradual and then dropping off at max stroke, the curve is super steep. This is why its harsh and the rear end has no other option but to "buck" back because its almost full compression which is counter acted by the rebound.

The only way to fix this is to change the link that gives the rear end the correct geometry.

[602racer]

you can adjust the compression and rebound all you want with the stock shock and you'll never get rid of the buck. the "buck" comes from hte wrong geometry in the rear end of the quad in the stock hondas. the shock mount point on the link is to far foward. with this being to far forward, this progresses the shock to fast through its stroke, putting it to far into the hard compression. If you look at this on a linear curve, instead of being gradual and then dropping off at max stroke, the curve is super steep. This is why its harsh and the rear end has no other option but to "buck" back because its almost full compression which is counter acted by the rebound.

The only way to fix this is to change the link that gives the rear end the correct geometry.

I understand you can't eliminate the buck completely, however you can greatly reduce it to the point where your not training to be a bull rider.By adjusting it the way I said it will reduce the bucking feeling by a substacial amount. The best way to reduce it is to revalve and respring the shock and get a different link.