My riding:
I am interested mostly in technical riding with ruts, small to large rocks, roots, tight twisty trails, up and down a lot in moderately steep sections with little run up. Mostly I go slow because I am still building skill and endurance - to the point that I am often paddling instead of standing. Sometimes stopping. I often come across trees across the trail from a few inches to almost two feet in diameter or other obstacles of similar size.
By the end of short sections of these trails I am worn out and my arms numb. I know I am working too hard and probably hanging on too tight, but it wouldn't hurt to have something that is quickly adjustable to help with keeping me going the way I want to go while not interfering with being able to make quick direction changes. I also want something that is not going to degrade the reliability of the bike - I have heard of at least one brand that may not seal the steering head bearings well.
To cool down from the technical trails I sometimes ride up and down a gravel road, itself sometimes has some bumps and large rocks.
On the highway my bike gets twitchy and light in the front end above 50 MPH. Not bad, but noticeable. I am sure some of that can be due to the suspension needing to be setup for my weight, some of it could maybe be remedied by the newer offset, and some by a damper. I have noticed that if I intentionally try to upset the front end at any speed above 30 MPH by giving the handle bars some input intended to induce front end shake (light jerking on one side then the other), the bike feels like it could easily go into an oscillation.
None of this is upsetting to me because it is a dirt bike after all - but I would like to improve the bike and most people fit a damper on their dirt bikes to handle hitting rocks/etc. at speed, and I do intend to take my bike in to have the suspension worked on and setup for me.
So, which one?
I am leaning towards this one:
http://www.motosportz.com/MZ-SLD-info.htm
I like some of what they say about it, but I haven't heard anything regarding other people using it.
I provided a poll, but what I really want to hear is why/why not you like/dislike a particular product and any experience you have with it.
Budget is not really a problem - I assume they all cost around $500 or so.
Besides something that works for my purposes, I would like it to be easily adjustable, versatile, reliable and to not interfere with other steering accessories I may want to add - like those Fasst handlebars or risers, etc.
Thanks for your feedback.
I am interested mostly in technical riding with ruts, small to large rocks, roots, tight twisty trails, up and down a lot in moderately steep sections with little run up. Mostly I go slow because I am still building skill and endurance - to the point that I am often paddling instead of standing. Sometimes stopping. I often come across trees across the trail from a few inches to almost two feet in diameter or other obstacles of similar size.
By the end of short sections of these trails I am worn out and my arms numb. I know I am working too hard and probably hanging on too tight, but it wouldn't hurt to have something that is quickly adjustable to help with keeping me going the way I want to go while not interfering with being able to make quick direction changes. I also want something that is not going to degrade the reliability of the bike - I have heard of at least one brand that may not seal the steering head bearings well.
To cool down from the technical trails I sometimes ride up and down a gravel road, itself sometimes has some bumps and large rocks.
On the highway my bike gets twitchy and light in the front end above 50 MPH. Not bad, but noticeable. I am sure some of that can be due to the suspension needing to be setup for my weight, some of it could maybe be remedied by the newer offset, and some by a damper. I have noticed that if I intentionally try to upset the front end at any speed above 30 MPH by giving the handle bars some input intended to induce front end shake (light jerking on one side then the other), the bike feels like it could easily go into an oscillation.
None of this is upsetting to me because it is a dirt bike after all - but I would like to improve the bike and most people fit a damper on their dirt bikes to handle hitting rocks/etc. at speed, and I do intend to take my bike in to have the suspension worked on and setup for me.
So, which one?
I am leaning towards this one:
http://www.motosportz.com/MZ-SLD-info.htm
I like some of what they say about it, but I haven't heard anything regarding other people using it.
I provided a poll, but what I really want to hear is why/why not you like/dislike a particular product and any experience you have with it.
Budget is not really a problem - I assume they all cost around $500 or so.
Besides something that works for my purposes, I would like it to be easily adjustable, versatile, reliable and to not interfere with other steering accessories I may want to add - like those Fasst handlebars or risers, etc.
Thanks for your feedback.
