Your Race Tech shock spring and weight?

[evanB]

I'm thinking of ordering a Race Tech spring for the rear shock.  If you have one can you answer some questions?

1. Which spring did you buy?

2. What's your weight?

3. What type of riding do you do?

4. What did you set your race sag to?

5. What did the spring preset length end up being?

6. Did you do other suspension work at the same time (valving, fork work, etc.)?

7. Any regrets?

 

Thanks for your time!

[Atolduso]

Just making sure you are aware of the racetech spring rate calculator. It's on their site and will tell you what to get for your weight. 

[74jimbo]

I am fat. 6.6kg.

[bucket list]

I'm 180 lbs and have a 5.9 kg rear spring. I know Racetech has 5.7 and 6.0 kg springs, but a lot of guys here like going a little on the high side of RT's  recommended rate. I also run 85-90mm of sag to keep it " up in the stroke". If you run too much sag (100mm) or too light a spring the bike seems to get into the ramped up raising rate linkage too quickly and doesn't feel good imo. And I like a bike to steer quickly so I also raise the fork tubes almost an inch up in the clamps. I also bumped the hi-speed compression in the shim stack of the shock. 

But the best change I did to the suspension was to revalve the front forks with much more hi-speed compression damping. I'm a 60 year old ex PRO MX'r that still sometimes like go at a good clip on rough narly roads and now the bike no longer bottoms and gets out of shape when a surprise dip or obstical come up on me.

No regrets, the bike is still plush on the little stuff, but now stays composed on the big shit at speed.

Edited July 15, 2019 by bucket list

[evanB]

10 hours ago, Atolduso said:

Just making sure you are aware of the racetech spring rate calculator. It's on their site and will tell you what to get for your weight. 

Yes! but thanks for checking.  All the reading I've been doing on the subject has some people happy with the recommended spring, some people saying it was way to soft, and some people saying it was way too stiff.  Those seem to either be from other suspension tuners opinions or the rider's own opinion of the ride quality after install.  I was thinking that since there's a solid consensus about recommended race sag (~90mm) and an known midpoint for spring preset length in the repair manual (10.16") then we should be able to get the "correct" spring to work with this shock for a particular weight.  Some guys might prefer a stiffer or softer spring and that's fine, at this point I'm just aiming to get as close to the recommended spring preset length as possible so that I have room to tune to my liking as I develop the ability to do that.

 

10 hours ago, bucket list said:

I'm 180 lbs and have a 5.9 kg rear spring. I know Racetech has 5.7 and 6.0 kg springs, but a lot of guys here like going a little on the high side of RT's  recommended rate. I also run 85-90mm of sag to keep it " up in the stroke". If you run too much sag (100mm) or too light a spring the bike seems to get into the ramped up raising rate linkage too quickly and doesn't feel good imo. And I like a bike to steer quickly so I also raise the fork tubes almost an inch up in the clamps. I also bumped the hi-speed compression in the shim stack of the shock. 

But the best change I did to the suspension was to revalve the front forks with much more hi-speed compression damping. I'm a 60 year old ex PRO MX'r that still sometimes like go at a good clip on rough narly roads and now the bike no longer bottoms and gets out of shape when a surprise dip or obstical come up on me.

No regrets, the bike is still plush on the little stuff, but now stays composed on the big shit at speed.

Thanks for the input!  You're miles ahead of me.  At this point I'm aiming for "works right".  Hopefully down the line I'll be able to learn my handling preferences as well.  

 

Here's the info I put in their calculator and the recommended shock spring rate is 6.09 kg/mm.  I was thinking of ordering the 6.0.

[rustynut2]

go heavier on the rear for sure, first one i bought wasn't enough

[bucket list]

The nutty one is right there, if you have any asperations at all about improving,  riding rougher stuff, or carrying any weight at some point you will be happier with the 6.3kg spring. It will still feel plush for you and it will give you that extra strength down the road.

But if your just doing light off road stuff, the 6.0 will be an improvement over stock. And there's no such thing as "works right" in suspension, everything is a compromise, you just have to lean towards which action and feel you want.

[bweighmaster]

Remember , with age weight comes easy ,  but does'nt come off as easy ..

[C. LAWRENCE]

I am fat. 6.6kg.

Did you have to buy the adaptor collars? I need the same spring.

We’re just “big boned”

[74jimbo]

if you get spring SRSP-672766 you do not need the collars.

If you get the alternate spring you do need the collars.

 

 

Edited July 16, 2019 by 74jimbo

[evanB]

8 minutes ago, 74jimbo said:

Not if you get the regular spring.

If you get the alternate spring yes.
 

Really??  On their website it says one is required if listed and it's listed in that section.  I suppose it's not listed directly below the primary spring but below the alternative spring.

[74jimbo]

1 minute ago, evanB said:

Really??  On their website it says one is required if listed and it's listed in that section.  I suppose it's not listed directly below the primary spring but below the alternative spring.

let me try this again. 

 

17 minutes ago, 74jimbo said:

if you get spring SRSP-672766 you do not need the collars.

If you get the alternate spring you do need the collars.

 

 

 

[evanB]

11 minutes ago, 74jimbo said:

let me try this again. 

 

 

Thanks for the edit to clarify.