Front end issues

Stiff_Bubba said:

The bike: 2003 501

The rider: 33 year old male 220 lbs (yes I'm fat) with maybe a novice to intermediate ability

The problem: It feels like my front springs are too soft. When I ride trail whoops the front tire and suspension suck up a lot more than the rear. This makes the back end start to buck a bit. I could ride a little faster, but if I screw 'em up and stuff the front end into one, it gets ugly. The back seems to be good, maybe a little more rebound damp, but not much. What are the springs that come stock? What weight should I switch to?

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I would guess that .42's are stock. I would say that you need at least .46's for your weight. That is what I am running in my '05 and they are still borderline soft.

I recomend a 4mm lowering spacer for the rear, and get your forks valved properly...

Precision Concepts

come on stiffy - have a look at our suspension guide in 'the doc'! someone has got to look at it!

what type of riding are we talking and where?

at 220 pounds you need 48s front. i weigh 200 and run 48s, they were a big improvement over 46s.

on the rear i run the heaviest PDS spring available from WP - a PDS4 which is 85/111 and it's still too soft. it's not bad but i know that it's too soft!

a straight rate spring is required. tom "115EXC450" from k-talk suspension is 220 and he runs 46 front and 94 rear. he has bought a 98 rear convinced the 94 isn't doing the job. i believe him. he's tryiong it imminently as we only spoke at the weekend. i want a 96/98 myself and i weigh as said just 200.

if you have an FE you're running a 71/90 rear and 42 or 44 front which are hopelessly low. the parts manual will tell you what you have. go find your year and check the part code and the numbers will have either 42 or 44 in them. the parts books are in downloads.

when looking at a PDS spring, forget the second number just think of the basic spring rate - the first number. so: '71' or in my case '85'.

hope this helps. bet you do nowt about it but it does gi9ve me a chance to waist another 15 minutes of my time. :lol: :lol:

regards

Taffy

48s in the front, PDS8 in the rear, that's what I have (6', 240 in gear -I've got big bones!!!).

Think about some goodies, like Enzo subtanks. I have some. Great improvement (will post photos and ride report when the gods of heat decide to lower the thermostat).

Stiffer forks help during turns too, not just in the whoops section.