Rear spring

[WingnutApex]

I bought my first dirt bike, 08 klx450, could someone run me through the best way to get to the spring adjustment on the rear shock? I tried with drifts and a hammer, just no room. Should I pull the air box or drop the shock? Thanks in advance for the help.

First ride last weekend DNC!

[Rome06379]

Screwdriver and hammer bro............that's how most of us have done it. You need to have the bike with all it's parts [weight] on to get the proper sag amounts. It's a pain but I did it from the right side of the bike and had a buddy hold a flashlight in there so I could see what I was doing. If you have a lot of distance to cover on the nut, it might be worth it to pull the shock to get at it better but you'll still need to fine-tune it with it on the bike. Perimeter frames are nice until you need to work on your bike:smirk:

[ben williams]

After I fubared my shock body, I had the shock rebuilt and re sprung for my weight, I was shown to just loosen the top lock with a long brass punch and turn the spring by hand. It will turn the adjuster. It works great.

[DRZ400SK4]

The stock rear spring is designed for a very tiny dancer.

Go hear to the Race Tech website and use their online spring calculator to match the correct spring with your body weight. Unless you only weigh about 150 lbs, cranking down on the stock spring preload adjustment will get you nowhere.

?

[bmeyer2017]

You can use a long screw driver and a hammer once you get too much preload to turn it by hand. but the easiest way to get to it is to undo the lower subframe bolts and flip it up which completely exposes the shock but youll have to deal with the boot on the carb when reassembling.

[BirmKLX450]

After I fubared my shock body, I had the shock rebuilt and re sprung for my weight, I was shown to just loosen the top lock with a long brass punch and turn the spring by hand. It will turn the adjuster. It works great.

word^^ ?

[bigdaddy646]

You can use a long screw driver and a hammer once you get too much preload to turn it by hand. but the easiest way to get to it is to undo the lower subframe bolts and flip it up which completely exposes the shock but youll have to deal with the boot on the carb when reassembling.

I have to agree. Much easier with sub frame flipped up.

[Rome06379]

I have to agree. Much easier with sub frame flipped up.

Definitely easier but in my opinion, too much work to do repetitive times [on, off with subframe] if you're trying to get exact sag measurements. Good idea to get the "rough" adjustment done though!?

[xMANBEARPIGx]

Does adjusting the preload help much with the sag and setting it up for your weight and riding style??

[KLX450-DIRK]

Does adjusting the preload help much with the sag and setting it up for your weight and riding style??

If the spring is correct for your weight...the preload is how you set your sag.

[FORMA MOTO]

Does adjusting the preload help much with the sag and setting it up for your weight and riding style??

Pre-load refers to how many mm of compression is on the spring. You want to keep it below 15mm.

Sag is the distance between extended and compressed suspension.

You aim for 25mm static and 100mm race sag. If you can't achieve both numbers by adjusting spring pre-load, you need to change the spring. You should change the front spring at the same time, to match your increase/decrease in spring rate. If you go more than one step up or down, you should re-valve too.

[Rome06379]

Here's a great website that will help you out with a lot of explainations and directions to help with sag setup:thumbsup:

http://planetklx.org/techtips/sag.html

[DRZ400SK4]

Unfortunately, many people will see all those threads on the shock body, and assume they represent the full range of spring preload adjustment, but in reality there is only about 3/4 of an inch of 'usuable' adjustment range for the spring collar. Crank down more than that and you will only be compressing the spring beyond the range where it can function properly, and you will never achieve the desired race sag set-up, no matter how much you crank down on that collar. That's why matching your bodyweight with the correct spring rate is so critical, before you adjust your sag and preload.

The only exception would be if you weigh within the 140 lb range. In which case the stock 5.0 rear spring will suit you just fine. I weigh 215 lbs, which meant I had to go with a 5.6 rear spring.

[WingnutApex]

Thank you guys for all the info according to race tech my fat *** will need a spring rate of 6 kg for 250 lbs. I have adjusted the spring all to the max tension which helps. 2nd ride on the bike, through the mud loved it!

[DRZ400SK4]

If you weigh 250, and still have the stock rear spring, you're essentially riding a hardtail. ?

[xMANBEARPIGx]

quick question. what's the rating for the stock front springs?

oh and is the shock in the rear a KYB?

Thanks

Edited June 16, 2011 by xMANBEARPIGx

[bmeyer2017]

The front is a .44 kg/ mm and rear is 5.0

[xMANBEARPIGx]

The front is a .44 kg/ mm and rear is 5.0

Thank you