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Thinking about ordering a new set of piggy back shocks from Noleen, but I have zero experience with the company so I'm looking for advise. FYI, I considered Race Tech but their shocks list for over 50% more ($1,400 verses $800). The shocks would be for a '79 Can-Am 250 ("15 long) and Noleen does have them listed in their catalog so they should have a reasonable idea of valving. That said, I'm looking for a recommendation on Noleen - are they good to deal with?, are they reliable shocks? Again, I have no experience with them and none of my riding friends have ever used them either.

The standard front shocking is too soft and making my ttr 230 squirrelly and hard to control. I cannot find any way of beefing up the suspension and I cannot find any companies that offer stiffer springs. I weigh 210 lbs. Any suggestions to improve the suspension?

Wow, it's been a few years since I've been on here. Glad to see old farts like greyracer are still on here helping guys out. I recently had an experience that I had to pass along though so I thought I'd log in here and see what's up. I was going through one of my favorite bikes, my "old" '06 YZ450. (I recently rode a couple '17 KTM's and it made me appreciate my YZ even more.) While I was freshening up the suspension, I thought I'd lower it a little bit in the process. I've always been happy with the suspension on that bike so I didn't want to go crazy with big changes, just a little tweaking. Anyway, I needed some shock oil and seals and I wanted to see if anyone local had any in stock. (Something that is getting harder and harder to do. For the local SF Bay Area people, we just lost Zoom Cycles, THE go-to parts and accessories store for the last 45 years.) I do a little google searching and find Dave Johnson of Smart Performance is local to me. I give him a call and sure enough, he has everything I would possibly need for any suspension work I wanted to do. He puts together an order and I drive over to pick it up. I'm greeted by an obviously VERY intelligent, articulate, helpful and nice guy. I show him what I'm doing and he gives me tons of ideas and suggestions. I leave with everything I would need to build the shock and fill it with oil and nitrogen myself. The next day I realize that having a guy that's done hundreds, if not thousands of shock rebuilds purge the oil of bubbles in a vacuum chamber he built just for that purpose would probably be better than me trying to do it myself. I asked him if he would vacuum and charge the shock and he said no problem, bring it down! When I went back to have him do the shock, I also brought my fork parts to ask him about lowering ideas. Again, he gave me a ton of excellent information and some upgrade parts to put into the forks in the process. I left with a filled and charged shock in my hand that I had 100% confidence in it being filled perfectly with all air purged properly. I then spent some time on my lathe making a couple spacers for lowering the forks. Just for the h#ll of it, I thought I'd send him some pictures of what I came up with. AGAIN, he gave me his invaluable input and suggestions and it pushed me to make another set of spacers that I could be absolutely positive would work perfectly and dependably. I'm generally a pretty independent thinker and worker. When somebody influences me to be BETTER than I think I can be or do, that impresses me A LOT. Dave's suggestions and thoughts "pushed" me to do a better job and come up with a better final solution. For that, I wanted to return the favor by letting everyone know my personal experience with Dave and Smart Performance. I know this won't come as a surprise to many here, but I just thought I'd share anyway. I'm a HUGE fan of smart people openly sharing knowledge, and Dave is absolutely one of those people. Thanks Dave! John (aka gmtech16450yz everywhere else on the web. Google search that or "john's sky redline".)

Hi, I have a 2005 kx 85 and I’m looking to but I different shock for it and I was wondering if a shock off of a 2006 would fit? So if any one knows anything it would be greatly appreciated as i need to buy it very soon. Thanks in advance, Caden.

I just picked up my front shocks from being serviced by Rocky Mountain ATV. I noticed the sound of oil trickling in one of them when I picked it up after it had been inverted. I know there is air in the system, but I do not remember them making that sound before they were serviced. Is this okay? Is it normal?

I was thinking just how good John Hlebo's stock shock modification was after I reinstalled it, replacing the CR85. I needed to experiment the difference for my own knowledge. To be honest with you guys, if you're not going out to win races the Hlebo will handle 85% of any condition thrown its way. Sense I motocross my bike often, I needed more shock settings for different tracks. But it donned on me, those who will never see a motocross track, actually don't need the CR85 shock. Nor do they the Hagon, Fox, or Works shock. On the other hand if your plans are to be an aggressive enduro racer, or motocross rider. Hlebo or Bruce Triplett shock isn't the shock for you. Like I said, I recently stepped back in time for a retake on Hlebo's modified shock. I can't stress this fact enough, Hlebo modified shock may work well for most in 85% of all conditions...I say this after reinstalling the Hlebo modified shock. Of course the CR85 shock is better. But is it so much better that I couldn't live with Hlebo?...The answer to that question is hell no! Hlebo does excellent work, tho as of late, his customer service has been in the toilet. The man really know how to build a shock. I say this because a lot of us are chasing our tails, trying to find better. Hlebo may of strayed due to family issues...I don't know. But I'd love to hear John and his family have worked out their personal bugs, so he may get back to work for the new comers. Plus his work saved us a ton of money...This one for you John.

Hey guys just need some experienced help. I bought a street legal lifan dirt bike last weekend and the front shocks are SUPER soft compared to all the other rigid bikes I've drove is that normal for street use? And 2 what is the best way to run the light electrics looking for a short? Cause my brake light shorted out last night and my headlights got brighter.

Hey guys I have an 82 xl250r that I’m prepping for a Baja trip this summer and I want to either upgrade or rebuild the rear shock. From what I’ve found, these showas(c 160) aren’t rebuildable. Any ideas on an alternative or has anyone tried rebuilding these or at least replaced the oil?

I need help figuring out how to improve my suspension. I have an 02CR250 that was setup for a 225lb class A MX rider this past August. I have swapped out the spring for a GNCC 170lb rider. I got a quote to have the forks and shock revalved for $400. Is that a good price? How is the setup for MX different from GNCC as it relates to calving? Are there any other alternatives like ordering valvinh set up for my and I installl?

G'day all. Bought a 2011 KLX450r and slowing going through and fixing all the things that are getting on my nerves left over from the previous owner. The steering was getting progressively unpredictable so that was enough for me to tear them down and see what was going on. They're basically f*&^%d, as you can see from the images the plastic in the base valve assembly has shattered and there's bits of it floating through the whole fork. What I want to know is a) how the hell does this happen, and b) what is this part of the base valve assembly called as I clearly need to order new ones. https://imgur.com/RIf7gn3 https://imgur.com/vNg6fEq https://imgur.com/ryiDv2H Also going through the workshop manual it says not to dismantle the base valve assembly as it will "lead to trouble" but I don't really see anyway around it besides buying a whole new unit and I don't seem to be having much luck finding those either. Any help would be greatly appreciated, Please and thank you

Hello good folks. I did a cheap modification of the rear shock on my CRF250L. It now has higher pre-load and feels perfect !! please enjoy:

I've heard if you put VForce Reeds, properly jet your carb and clean the carb, change the exhaust pipe, clean the airbox and put a new air filter, and properly fix the shocks to match your weight, you can gain a ton of power?

I am currently rebuilding my rear shock on my 2006 Honda CR85R and I was wondering if it is worth it to continue rebuilding my shock or if I should buy a new one. I am not able to get a $200 plus one as of now and I was wondering if there were any other good options for a shock that would fit a 2006 Honda CR85R. If I continue to rebuild it, does anyone have any ideas on how to get the center piece Schrader valve out without a special tool or super skinny pliers?

So this isn't EXACTLY make and model specific, but I suppose if you know what bikes I'm talking about it would help. I have two classic dirt bikes: a 1976 Suzuki RM250, and a 1979 Kawasaki KLX250. Needless to say, the shocks have never been touched and are completely shot. (I'm talking leaking oil and everything) I've never ridden anything else and didn't know better until a buddy rode one and told me he didn't know how I was riding it at all- that there was next to zero control of the rear end. I rode his 2015 Honda and so now I know. Minus the backstory: I have two classic dirt bikes that are in desperate need of attention. A 1976 Suzuki RM250, and a 1979 Kawasaki KLX250. Do I rebuild the factory shocks or buy new ones? thanks!

So just a general question I had about my bike... The front shocks are leaking after a trip to "Busco Beach" here in North Carolina, I was taking the bike off jumps there on their little make-shift motorcross track that is just a bunch of tabletops. It was really fun but I was bottoming out the suspension pretty hard on a few of them, I'm around 245-255 pounds on average depending on what how much I ate the day before and I am ASSUMING the suspension is fully stock. But before I went to Busco Beach, about 5-6 months prior I wrecked the bike pretty bad off a double, I came up short on the landing and ended up hitting the frontside of the second mound with my front tire, went over the handlebars, bike rolled forward over me and landed on it's side. No injuries but was pretty sore for a while after that, I washed the bike off and did a quick check of it to make sure nothing was seriously damaged or leaking and the bike checked out fine. There were 0 leaks, shock and forks still felt normal, and getting the bike up to speed on the road still felt fine. Now 5-6 months later the shocks started leaking after my trip, Busco Beach is a VERY sandy area, and my fork seals have little in terms of protection from such a thing besides just the dust covers and stock fork guards in front. Is there a chance that my shocks were bent in the process of me crashing a while back and only now just started leaking, or do you guys think that sand got up under my dust covers and blew out the fork seals? Anything I should look for in terms of abrasion/damage on the forks? Another thing too... I was thinking about rebuilding the shocks myself when I noticed they were leaking, but watching videos and seeing the need for specialty tools in order to revalve to set up a suspension for your weight class, should I just send them out to someplace to get them redone or should I do it myself? I have rebuild dirtbike motors before and consider myself "mechanically inclined", I can normally diagnose issues and solve problems with vehicles in general, but something like this where if you redo a shock wrong it can easily kill you, seems like I shouldn't really mess with it.. Anyone have any recommendations on where to send my shocks off to if I decide to do that?

Hi guys, This is my first time posting on the forum. I've read a lot of the existing posts and stickies but cannot find one specific to what I am experiencing. I just bought a 2007 Honda CRF 150R and I wanted to adjust my rear shock to best suit my weight. Let me first start off by saying that I am by no means a professional rider, I am not racing or hitting any any big jumps or anything like that. I first noticed that when I sat on my bike it had way too much sag. I figured I must be a little heavier rider than the previous owner so I adjusted the spring tension a few turns and it seems like the sag is a lot better now. However, now I'm noticing that when I sit on the bike the shock dips down about an inch and I don't feel any resistance for that first inch. Is that normal? After that first inch, the spring feels like a spring. Thank you in advance for you help - Jonathan

Hey DRZ Owners, Thinking of upgrading my front suspension components. I have a 2006 DRZ400S and looking to swap or rebuild the factory showa shocks. I had seen what Race-Tech had to offer, but just curious to know from other riders their experiences with other brands possibly. Most of my riding is ADV-like, fire roads, occasional rock/ruts, sand, SoCal terrain type casual to mildly aggressive type riding. Thanks in advance!

I am trying to rebuild a ttr 125le shock. For the life of me i cant find the the parts. except from racetech.com. Are they the only ones to get parts from? Has anyone else tried to do this?

Hello gents. You know how small stone can deflect wheels particularly at low speed. I think it could be great to have lateral shock on axes. Between the axis and the wheel there could be a stiff spring which allows moving the wheel left and right by about an inch. It is not much, but it should help. When a wheel hits a side of a stone it would kind of go around it instead of deflecting. It should improve traction in gnarly slow terrain and generally would make the ride smoother. I think a manufacturer should experiment with this. And report the results here😀. What do you think?

I am 6’3, weigh 220lbs and ride a 2018 KTM 250SX-F factory edition. I am looking for some help with my suspension. I find when I am hitting smaller jumps my suspension is getting maxed out. I am aware I need to upgrade my springs but have no idea where to start. any help is much appreciated.