progressive spring in place of straight rate for '06

having noticed in the doc and on the bike, an '06 450 that the spring is straight rate.

would fitting my progressive rate spring have any serious downsides.

really i mean will it cause anything to break. shock working poorly i can sort out, shock broken not so easy or cheap.

and to pre-empt some questions

1. swopping springs as the one i have and want to swop is the correct spring weight for me.

2. i don't imagine anything will break but would rather know first.

3. can't remember what else i was going to type..............

Re: RE: progressive spring in place of straight rate for

LeFrog said:

PDS is supposed to reproduce the behavior of a linkage suspension, and it has pros and cons. Some like it others don't and I guess they make it a straight rate for that reason.

Use the spring generator I developed for MX Tech at http://www.mx-tech.com/ and use a KTM like a recent 525, although the Bergs have a less aggressive suspension. Call them and say I say hi.

Click to expand...

don't need the spring rate and i know what pds is meant to do. the main difference between the straight rate shock and the progressive is that it has a different needle profile.

therefore i'll repeat the question. will it cause anything expensive to break?

i don't think it will, but i've been wrong in the past, so thought i'd ask.

RE: Re: RE: progressive spring in place of straight rate for

forgot to add i've used the spring calculator in the past to verify my own calculations on what springs i want and you'll be glad to know we usually agree.

well depsite it being past midnight i decided to go to the shed to see what rear shock spring i had cos all the talk seems to be around the pds4 and i was sure i didn't have that one.

turns out i have the pds8-260 which is a 81-99 rate spring.

this rather surprises me as i can pretty well guarantee i weigh more than alot of the people who are using the stiffer pds4 spring.

yet i only turn the pre-load collar 1 turn to snug the spring down and my sag settings (90-100mm depending) are fine. everything else in the shock is stock. is everyone else over sprung or is my camelback filled with helium?

obviously the above setting were on the now sold '03 400 as i have yet to ride the new beast in anger, see the other thread for the reasons.

found the ansa to my own question..........................it's 42

oh, no, sorry its .....................The Straight rate spring is best with the correct needle and shim stack fitted to stop this 'blowing through' (so that's '06 and onwards then ok?) whilst the progressive spring is a good stand alone item. Fitting a progressive spring to the latest straight rate needle and it's stronger end of stroke damping could be good especially for the heavier rider (thats me then) because there are two things stopping the shock blowing through, and you could then back the valving and the preload off to soften for light bumps.

above was lifted from our very own 'Owners Doc'

knew viking would be the man.