Suspension for hare and hounds / fast enduro.

[Lennie]

Hi,

I want to get my suspension set up for hare and hounds / fast enduro riding. The tracsk i like to ride and want my bike set up fotr are the type where you ride the mx track and then a fast loop of woods / fields. The bike is a 2007 RM250. The suspension is currently standard but the front forks are soo stiff on the softest setting its useless for long races, the rear is ok but i will get both done to match.

Has anyone had something like this done to their bike?

[Uncle Alpo]

First: get the correct springs for your weight, front and rear, and set the sag.

Second: tune the compression/rebound damping to suit the terrain you will ride in.

[Lennie]

All "the usual" stuff has been done and the suspension has ended up on the softest setting and is still too hard. Some websites that calculate spring weight say the standard springs are fine for my weight some say they are slightly off. The amount the forks are too hard is no way down to a slight wrong spring rate.

[Uncle Alpo]

When are they too hard? Are you trying to make them compress more over big bumps? If you have both the compression and rebound in the softest settings then either the springs are too heavy, the oil volume is too high, and/or the oil is too heavy.

Try reducing the volume of oil in the forks 5mm at a time. The less oil, the more air and the air serves as a "progressive spring." More air means the suspension will be softer at the expense of possibly bottoming out on really big bumps.