New to racing and have a suspension ?

[matt400ex]

Hi all. First for some background info, seeing as this is one of my first post. I have a 2000 400ex and just started some amateur racing about a month ago. I've been LUCKY enough to trophy at both races and am looking to be more competative. I'm still running a completely stock suspension, and weigh in a about 195lbs. I'm running turf tamers on the rear and Holeshots on the front. Now on to my questions.

I'm having trouble with the quad wanting to roll in corners. I'm wondering if I can raise the 2 spanner nuts on the rear shock and lower the bike without any adverse symptoms.

I'm also having trouble with the bike bottoming out on bigger jumps. I'll admit I'm no pro at launching or landing and some of it, is the rider. How can I tell if my front shocks are toast? I've been playing with the firmness on the rear shock and can feel a difference there, but don't know how to tell if the fronts are still "there". Also, will the front shocks from a Z-400 work on my EX?

Thanks for any info here. I'm planning on racing Sunday and I'll have to admit I've caught the fever. Now I just need to bring home one of those 1st place trophys.

Matt

[Doibugu2]

If you got the racing bug, the best thing you can do is buy a set of aftermarket shocks. There are plenty of used ones you can get. Trust me, this is the best investment you will make in your quad.


As far as moving the spanner nut up, yea you can do it, but if your bottoming out your shocks, this is only going to make that worse. Your going to get a softer ride, and it sounds like you need a little stiffer ride.


I'm pretty sure the Z shocks don't fit the 400. They are different length.

[westcoastmxer]

hey man,if u have the money get some elka ssd shocks.(awsome!).if u dont have that much money go with the works and make suer u get rezziviors!umm,the tippiness can be solvedby gettin +2 a-arms and a +4 axle;)

[terko440]

seriously matt, Ive been racing a season now and have become a much better rider. But even with my experience I dont think I could go back to a stock shock and make the bike land smooth from even a medium sized jump. No matter how you land it will just land super hard, plus your a little heavier than me. You could put them on the stiffest setting up front and it MIGHT help a little on landing but as far as rolling in the corners your not gonna fix it with stock shocks. So when ever your ready to buy some, get a zero preload style shock and if it's beyond your budget get them without rezzies at first. Good luck.

[matt400ex]

Thanks for the replys! Sounds like I need to finish out this year with what I've got and save up some money this winter for shocks. I've semi priced them before and most shocks I've seen with "rezzies", are up there $$$. This set on Ebay seems like a decent deal.......
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=34284&item=2436442439

Money is definatly an object here. But I guess to go fast it takes a little bit of money to get there. Thanks again.

Matt

[westcoastmxer]

man im gunna tell ya the truth.works are alot better than stock but elkas are twice the shock as works.(pm me to find some real good deals!;) )

[Toadz400]

if money is a problem for you, i'd go with Works Triple Rates W/Rezzies, i have that on my 400ex and it gives a little bit more travel which helps in cornering, and when jumping, i've never been able to bottom these shocks out.

[cdalejef]

Slowing down the compression on the rear shock will help with bottoming some. Be very careful buying used shocs, If they aren't setup for your weight and riding style, they will not work well for you.

[Chanman420q]

i would look into some TCS shocks, they seem to be the best all around shock for performance and price, u can get brand new TCS off ebay with every adjustment u want and the SCS for 699.99.

[Toadz400]

Originally posted by Jeff@QuadShop
Slowing down the compression on the rear shock will help with bottoming some. Be very careful buying used shocs, If they aren't setup for your weight and riding style, they will not work well for you.

not true, my shocks are set up for a 230LB person, and i'm 155. they seem to work great for me, even with jumping, never bottomed out and doesn't seem too stiff. of course if i had them rebuilt and revalved to my weight, i'm sure it'd feel A LOT better.

[matt400ex]

Thanks again for all the imput here. This weekend's race had some nice quads out there with some VERY nice setups. I saw a set of those Elkas with the adjustable ride height, but at what they're running I'll have to pass. I talked to some guys that were running the Works triples and they seemed pleased with them. I'm going to do some more research before I can buy anything.

I played with the upper (rebound?) adjustment on the rear shock and didn't bottom out any this weekend. I also think I did a little better on the jumps which doesn't hurt.

Jeff@Quadshop,
My buddy and I ran into someone with one of your stickers on his quad, and he told us you guys were pretty reasonable on your shock prices. I checked out "thequadshop.com" and it's a shop in FL. How do we get ahold of you guys? Might have to get myself a nice Christmas present this year :).

[zfire_28]

you could always buy the elka's without the rezzies for around $500, and then add the rezzies later.

[SLB400EX]

http://www.quadshopatv.com/

Jeff is one hell of a nice guy..gonna be contacting him here in a few months about getting new front shocks for my quad.
:D



p.s. Jeff...I can't get the "price list" (for Elka shocks) to work on your site.

:(

[cdalejef]

Originally posted by Toadz400
not true, my shocks are set up for a 230LB person, and i'm 155. they seem to work great for me, even with jumping, never bottomed out and doesn't seem too stiff. of course if i had them rebuilt and revalved to my weight, i'm sure it'd feel A LOT better. If you've never bottomed out, then they ARE too stiff!!!

[cdalejef]

Originally posted by SLB400EX
http://www.quadshopatv.com/

Jeff is one hell of a nice guy..gonna be contacting him here in a few months about getting new front shocks for my quad.
:D



p.s. Jeff...I can't get the "price list" (for Elka shocks) to work on your site.

:( We're working on that new price list.


Hey Matt, wrong website! ;)

[muff]

yea you want to look into a good set of shock like suggested above

there are many deals out there, just check on ebay and on the for sale section on this site, at the beginning of the year I was able to pick up a set of TCS triple rate zero preload shocks for $450 and then i send the rear shock out to get rebuild at the quad shop and that was just over $300ish and its a great setup, even now i'm still trying to dial it in, it seems like theres a lot of adjustment

[Toadz400]

Originally posted by Jeff@QuadShop
If you've never bottomed out, then they ARE too stiff!!!

well what's your definition of bottoming out? i'm talking about i've never gotten the shocks to fully depress which kinda sucks when you're doing big jumps. they still depress a lot, but never get to the point of fully bottoming out, which feels a lot better than bottoming.

[muff]

hmm even pro mike walsh bottoms out, i think you'd rather have plus suspension that will use its full about of travel then have it to stiff in the begging and mid range

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid81/p77575386c988716c0f9d6afbfc3723ec/fafa1a45.jpg

[Toadz400]

Originally posted by muff
hmm even pro mike walsh bottoms out, i think you'd rather have plus suspension that will use its full about of travel then have it to stiff in the begging and mid range

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid81/p77575386c988716c0f9d6afbfc3723ec/fafa1a45.jpg

yea they probably are too stiff for me, but i'm trading for an R and a ZR snowmobile soon, so i won't have to worry about it. and if i don't do the trade, i'm going to be sending the shock to DeResi and having them rebuild my shocks.

[muff]

sounds like a good plan:blah:

[wilkin250r]

I'm a few days late with this reply, but I didn't see anybody else address your issue about lowing your quad by adjusting the rear shock.

Yes, if you raise the two spanner locknuts on the rear shock, it will lower your ride height a little, but it could also make the shock bottom out easier. You'll have to play with the compression settings to adjust.