Thursday, July 28, 2011

Doug's 2008 YZ250 suspension lowering link question

From Doug: just installed on my 2008 YZ250. Nice product, easy to install. On the subject of the SAG - I weigh 135 lbs without gear and am not in the habit of riding punishing tracks with high jumps (I do not race). My question is: would it be OK to have the SAG at closer to 5 inches than the recommended 3.9 which would give me a slighter lower seat height (fork tubes have been raised) and softer suspension? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks, Doug.

Our reply: Putting in 5 inches of sag is a BAD idea. Why? You will ride too far into the shock's progression and it will actually ride harsher on the smaller items because the shock will "think" you are much heavier and/or going much faster through a larger bump than you truly are, and it will ramp up to prepare for the big hit.

You will also lose an extra inch of overall net travel. You start with about 12 inches. Then do the approx 4 inches of sag. That leaves you 8 inches of usable travel. When you put an extra inch of sag you now have, in theory, 7 inches of net travel.

At your weight and the YamaLink the sag setting of around 100mm, give or take, should be spot on. Maybe play with your high and low speed compression, and make sure the rebound is set so it's not packing up and making the ride feel more harsh.

Try up to 105mm of sag from the 100mm we recommend. Any more than that and the rear will squat too much in relation to the front even if you slide the fork tubes all the way up.

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