Did I buy the wrong spring?

[Chinookmark]

I'm a fairly novice XR250 trail rider. I'm planning on racing a few hare scrambles this year. I weigh 170 but I figure I'll be up to 175 in the next month or two.

Last night I ordered a set of Eibach .43 springs, but they were out of stock. Being impatient like I am, I switched my order to .44 Race Techs. Reading some posts here tonight, it seems most people would recommend .42 for my weight.

Are the .44 going to be that bad? The suspension is otherwise stock, and I will be putting in 2.5wt in the forks. Or should I try and change my order to .42 Race Tech, or wait for the Eibachs to come in?

[MrShred]

Chinook,

.44 is less than 5% stiffer than .42, and only about 2% stiffer than .43. A minor difference. Set your sag/ride height properly by adjusting the spacer length. You're not gonna have a problem if you're in the ballpark.

[cmanno]

You will be alright if you get it setup the way you like it. (everyone feels things alittle differant) and not let your mind convince you of something the book says should be differant. You can also just throw on another ten pounds or so.

[Chinookmark]

I do have a bad habit of letting my brain get in the way of my riding. I tend to be a little paranoid like that. I wanted to send my suspension to WER and let them work their magic (and not ask any questions), but I can't afford it right now. So now I get to second guess myself.

When I did the forks on my ZX-6R a few years ago, I was right between the 8.0 and the 8.5 according to Race Tech. I started with the 8.0, but it was way too soft. I bumped it up to 8.5, and it was better, but it had a really nasty habit -- If I touched the front brakes mid-corner, the bike would stand up and run straight for the outside of the turn. I ended up putting the OEM progressively would springs back in and had much better results.

Thanks guys.