Do I need to change my springs??

H

hallam76

New member
I have been trying to figure out why my suspension is feeling harsh, I have come to the conclusion that the bike is riding too low in the stroke, I have a 2010 250EC and weight 200lbs without riding gear :o, any suggestions as to what weight springs I should run??
 
I weigh 205 without gear and LTR recommended a 5.6 rear and 4.6 on the forks and it worked out perfectly. My bike is a 2003 EC200
 
Check the function of your rear shock too. On my 2010 ec300, the sachs shock faded after only 15h of use, and it was replaced by my dealer.
 
I am trying to source some springs here in the UK but our main dealer is not very helpful! can anybody confirm if the fork springs the same as anything else? I have worked out that the back spring is the same as most kx and yz springs so that should be easy to source. Any help would be welcome:)
 
I have fitted 4.5 and 5.4 just not had chance to ride it yet working away at min will let you know how I get on when I get back.
 
I am around 240lbs and running a 5.6. It is firmish with not alot of preload on the spring to get the right static & rider sag. At 200lb I am surprised you can get the right rider sag on the bike.

I have ran 0.45 in the forks but now trying 0.47's. But I run Showa forks so that is probably totally different to the Sachs or Zokes.
 
Stainless,

Lowering links make the progression curve steeper. Have you tried shortining the shock a few mm ?
 
Well I finally got out on the bike over the weekend, i ended up with 4.5 and a 5.4, i managed to get the sag and preload in spec for back shock so was happy that i had gone for the right weight, up front i removed one shim from the mid valve after reading other posts, left the base vale std and set the air gap to 110mm. I can say i am quite disappointed with the whole setup, the bike just seems to beat me up, where we ride has been quite wet and muddy but this last time its really dried up and become very hard, i am sure that if it had still been wet then it would have felt much better. I tried adjusting the clickers as i started with std settings and although this made things a bit better it still not giving a nice action, it does however feel better on square edge roots etc and doesn't feel quite as harsh. What has made thing worse is i had ago on std 2011 ktm 300 a 2011 ktm 400 and a Husaberg 390, and in comparison the action of their suspension is just a different league it like a magic carpet compared, although still not as stable as the gasgas!! So i am now confused as which way to go, is there any mileage in playing around any further or do i go for a 2011 model with the marzochi ohlins, i refuse to have a KTM but i know my present setup is making life harder than it needs to be?? Any Advise welcome:(
 
KTM is one of the best off bikes on the planet and they are a tough act to follow.

I think you, like a few of us, are finding the Zoke forks to be a POS as far as specs. I hate to tell you this but you need to pull the forks apart and look at the pistons and the rebound dampening shims. My piston holes were not drilled out properly, the base valve stem was slightly blocked when they peened it over to hold the nut on, and I just recently have discovered the rebound dampening circuit sucks squirrel nuts.

Here is my suggestion: pull the forks apart and inspect the piston holes to see if they were drilled correctly. IF not, finish the job. You may want to remove the heavy shim on the mid valve too. Inspect the stem ends where the nuts are and make sure they didn't push material in there as well.
This one is important and I didn't do this: my rebound dampening was non-exsistent. The forks just spring back with no restrictions. I am just getting into this now but I can tell you this has likely been my problem the whole time. I added a 16, 18, 21 x .10 shim to the rebound stack on one fork and moved the 11x.10 transition and the dampening is still a little too fast.

Honestly I have no clue if stock shims would have been ok or not with the mess I have been dealing with. Also, the zoke fork was set up for 7.5wt oil. If you run 5 wt your rebound will be even worse.

I am 170, geared up 195, and I am running .46/5.4. .46 give me 25-30mm/50-55mm sag on the forks.
 
While there are some things I don't like, I have to say that the Zokes are the best technical woods racing fork I have ever ridden. One reason I have not been going nuts for a 2011 is because my '07 works so well. You have to go through them, valve them right, spring them right, and don't over do the preload. It makes a world of difference. They are also simple to work on, no special tools required. Brent, the problem is the freebleed in the valving specs. If you can't get the rebound slow enough with valving plug the bleed hole in the piston, them its just like a Husky spec Zoke. Honesty though that only affects low speed rebound (fixed orafice) like the needle, but makes the needle less effective.
 
Does it "stiff up" and gets increasingly more harsh over time, say 15-20 min into your ride? Then you might have a problem with the sachs shock absorber fading. This is a common problem. Mine virtually lost all damping capabilities 15 min into the ride, and went pogo stick on me. This started to appear when bike had say, 15h on it. I have a 2010 EC300, which is now equipped with the ?hlins shock from my ol 450. My dealer replaced the faulty unit, but it went into the 450 instead, I don't know if I dare swap it back..
 
I had a different suspension guy help me last night. The shim stack I built for the LS rebound is real close to what MX Tech and this guy would recommend. (They did a lot of work on Husky forks.) Originally it was 1 21x.10 shim. I added a 21, 20, and 18. Additionally, we looked at the base valve and mid valve. The zoke does not have a mid valve stack, just a blow off. So we eliminated that and added a stack. We also revalved the base. Zoke appears to use oil weight and height with a heavy duty base valve to control all compression valving. Since I ride fast desert to gnarly alpine we are trying something for everything. The mx tech spec said 135mm oil height but I will likely try 110-115.

I will test this weekend or sooner if I can get out of the office. So far, bench racing, the suspension reacts much like my WP's. I hope real world is close to bench world.
 
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