Suspension ???

[Luzinski]

I'm in the market for some suspension, but I have a couple of questions. I'm looking at either Elka or Works. I've read that the Elka's are better quality and give a better ride, but is there a big enough difference that I would notice. I do mainly trail riding and some desert racing. Most of the terrain that I ride in has rocks that like to tear up the under side of my 400EX. I have Holeshot XCT's that are an inch taller in front and 2 inches taller in the back. If I go with the elka's and SSD, how much will it lower my quad? I'm a pretty big guy at 5'11" and 265lbs. I know that they will set the shocks up for my riding and weight. Will the Works shocks do the same?:confused:

[cdalejef]

Yes, there is that big of a difference. Your quad will drop around 1.5" but only at the frame and not at the swingarm skid which is were you hit rocks most of the time.

[QuadTrix6]

go with works, i hear way to many problems with elkas not being setup right, and thats the main thing about the shock..so IMO go with the best works :macho

[Ex'r Marlin]

If you are running XCT tires both front and rear, and you are hitting the front end and middle section of your frame on rocks with stock shocks, I would not recommend the "Self Sagging Device" or anything similar.

I consider myself a big butt... And I too run XCT's most of the time with the Elka SSD setup... Love it very much!:) , but then again, I am over here on the Right Coast.

I have Works on my 300, and I have seen Works on 400's and other machines... Still a very nice shock in my opinion, and a huge improvement over stock!:cool:

In my opinion, any aftermarket shocks should greatly improve the handling of your ride. I too am one that likes to hear input from guys on Exriders.com!:)

FYI... I went with the Elkas for one major reason over a year ago; Works did a price increase just when I was going to order their Pro Series Piggy Back shocks.:grr

Good luck!:)

[wilkin250r]

Originally posted by Jeff@QuadShop
Yes, there is that big of a difference. Your quad will drop around 1.5" but only at the frame and not at the swingarm skid which is were you hit rocks most of the time.

Yeah, the lowest point on your quad is the swingarm skid plate, and this is where I imagine you're hitting all your rocks. This height is set by your tire size, not your shocks, so a SSD or ZPS shouldn't cause any problems.

If you ARE hitting rocks on your frame and other spots, then you don't need to change your shocks, you need to change your riding style:D

Something to consider (and I might REALLY get flamed for this one): I had extended a-arms and stock shocks for long time on my 250r. The extended a-arms really softened the shocks up and I had a very smooth ride, and it improved the handling tremendously. It caused problems when I started jumping big, but up until then, it was awesome. I've ridden quite a few quads, and until you start jumping, I'd say the extended a-arm/stock shock combo is much better than the aftermarket shock/stock a-arm setup.

[QuadTrix6]

Originally posted by wilkin250r
I've ridden quite a few quads, and until you start jumping, I'd say the extended a-arm/stock shock combo is much better than the aftermarket shock/stock a-arm setup.

i would definetly go the other way around i had PEP shocks and stock a arms and the handling was 1000x better even though they were setup for +2 a arms, if you run stock shocks you are definelty gonna bottom out going off of anything and the handling is gonna be way to soft, so IMO don't go +2's first

[wilkin250r]

and the flames start :D



yes, people are going to disagree with me, and that's ok. I'm just giving my personal opinion. I've ridden quads with stock a-arms and aftermarket shocks, and I always thought the general riding characteristics weren't as good as the setup I had. However, that didn't include jumping!! Jumping is a different issue.

I could always land anything less than 4ft of air without bottoming. It doesn't seem like much, but that's chest high.

[Luzinski]

I eventually would like to get new a-arms. Because of the tight trails that I ride and race trough, I don't won't to go any wider. The race that I did was D-37 and it was set up for motorcycles and not quads. So a lot of the trails were so thight that at stock width I only had a little room to get through. So the question is, if I get new suspension, will they be set up for certain manufacturers? If I set them up for stock and then put on aftermarket, stock width, arms, will the shocks have to be re-valved?

Thanks for all of the input!

[Ex'r Marlin]

Originally posted by Luzinski
If I set them up for stock and then put on aftermarket, stock width, arms, will the shocks have to be re-valved?
If you go with stock width aftermarket a-arms, I could be wrong, but I can not see why you would need to go with a revalve.

If you went with a +1" or more a-arm, then yes, I might see a need to get a revalve, buy only after trying them out before sending them out to get revalved.

[wilkin250r]

I can't see them needing to be re-valved if you get stock width a-arms. There may be a very small issue if you decide to get +1 forward, but I doubt it. Of course, I've been known to be wrong before.

This would DEFINITLY be a question to ask whomever is selling/setting up your shocks.

[cdalejef]

+1 doesn't make hardly any difference in valving so don't worry about it. Get you some 4+1 offset front wheels if you go the +1 route.

[Luzinski]

What would be the reason to getting 4 +1 offset wheels? Why not just get stock width????

[Luzinski]

I guess I should clarify my last question. Why would I want to get +1 A-Arms and then 4 +1 wheels? Is there advantages to doing that?

[cdalejef]

With wider arms, you have more arc to the travel and with the 4+1 wheels it brings the width back in and steers better with that offset.