Setting up suspension for ADV riding?

[Night Falcon]

Have been trying to get my rear shock set up correctly for my weight and I'm thinking my spring is too small. The stock WP EXC530 spring is a 72 250 which the OM says is for a rider weight of 80-85kgs.

With my gear on and taking into account the 530 now has a bigger fuel load to carry, I reckon I need 95-105kg spring which is an 80-250 spring according to the book.

There is a WP 92 260 spring that's been on an 07 EXC on TM at the moment and the sellers says its good for 82+ kg rider, which doesn't seem to compute? Can any of you suspension gurus enlighten me on how this all works and if this spring would be OK for my weight?

The current spring is pretty maxed out and already 12mm above the suggested rider sag of 105mm and that's without all my gear on and half tank of gas. As an adventure bike it doesn't need to be setup for the Dakar but I don't like the thought of riding with a maxed out rear shock.

Any help appreciated.

[pomgolian]

Have been trying to get my rear shock set up correctly for my weight and I'm thinking my spring is too small. The stock WP EXC530 spring is a 72 250 which the OM says is for a rider weight of 80-85kgs.

With my gear on and taking into account the 530 now has a bigger fuel load to carry, I reckon I need 95-105kg spring which is an 80-250 spring according to the book.

There is a WP 92 260 spring that's been on an 07 EXC on TM at the moment and the sellers says its good for 82+ kg rider, which doesn't seem to compute? Can any of you suspension gurus enlighten me on how this all works and if this spring would be OK for my weight?

The current spring is pretty maxed out and already 12mm above the suggested rider sag of 105mm and that's without all my gear on and half tank of gas. As an adventure bike it doesn't need to be setup for the Dakar but I don't like the thought of riding with a maxed out rear shock.

Any help appreciated.

Less pie's

[Night Falcon]

Less pie's

its all the titanium.....weighs more than ya think

[CrazyFrog]

Have been trying to get my rear shock set up correctly for my weight and I'm thinking my spring is too small. The stock WP EXC530 spring is a 72 250 which the OM says is for a rider weight of 80-85kgs.

With my gear on and taking into account the 530 now has a bigger fuel load to carry, I reckon I need 95-105kg spring which is an 80-250 spring according to the book.

There is a WP 92 260 spring that's been on an 07 EXC on TM at the moment and the sellers says its good for 82+ kg rider, which doesn't seem to compute? Can any of you suspension gurus enlighten me on how this all works and if this spring would be OK for my weight?

The current spring is pretty maxed out and already 12mm above the suggested rider sag of 105mm and that's without all my gear on and half tank of gas. As an adventure bike it doesn't need to be setup for the Dakar but I don't like the thought of riding with a maxed out rear shock.

Any help appreciated.

I had the same issue with my 525, stock spring was 84-250 when I bought it, good and plush for trail riding, but for adventuring, it was too soft. After several bottom outs loaded up with gear and fuel, I needed no further hesitation about beefing the rear shock spring up.
I'm 110kg all geared up (my boots are heavy I think!) so I went for a 97-250, yep stiff as hell off road, but good for the adventure stuff. I'm 6ft 2", so seat height is not an issue for me.
After setting the static sag, the preload has been wound about halfway, with plenty more avail if I need it.
I'm happy enough with it, but am no suspension guru by any means. If I were you, I'd grab the 92 spring while you can, the heavy springs don't come up too often.

I did find this WP spring conversion rate somewhere a while back, which I copied at the time.
It might be of some help to you.
You'll prob find you'll need to go for .44 or .46 weight fork springs if you upgrade the rear shock though.

EXC Shock Spring Standard: 80-250 (80-90 kg rider weight with gear on)

Heavier spring rate:
9121-0005 spring: 84-250 (80-95 kg rider)
9121-0006 spring: 88-250 (85-95 kg rider)
9121-0007 spring: 92-250 (90-105kg rider)
9121-0008 spring: 97-250 (95-115kg rider)

Part # Description Spring Rate Spring Type Spring Color
9121-0001 6.9 - 250 WP SHOCK SPRING 6.9 KG STRAIGHT RATE WHITE
9121-0002 7.2 - 250 WP SHOCK SPRING 7.2 KG STRAIGHT RATE WHITE
9121-0003 7.6 - 250 WP SHOCK SPRING 7.6 KG STRAIGHT RATE WHITE
9121-0004 8.0 - 250 WP SHOCK SPRING 8.0 KG STRAIGHT RATE WHITE
9121-0005 8.4 - 250 WP SHOCK SPRING 8.4 KG STRAIGHT RATE WHITE
9121-0006 8.8 - 250 WP SHOCK SPRING 8.8 KG STRAIGHT RATE WHITE
9121-0007 9.2 - 250 WP SHOCK SPRING 9.2 KG STRAIGHT RATE WHITE
9121-0008 9.7 - 250 WP SHOCK SPRING 9.7 KG STRAIGHT RATE WHITE

[Night Falcon]

Thank you Mr Frog!!

[Night Falcon]

Shock spring arrived today so fitted it straight on - EXC's are so easy to work on compared to 690's

Static & rider sag are now spot on at 8mm preload on the spring Std preload is 9mm so there is plenty of adjustment left for additional weight for the odd adventure trip. Thanks again to Crazy Frog for the WP info - it was spot on






hummm fork springs are still stock

[Gremlin]

hummm fork springs are still stock

And down the rabbit hole you go... never to return to stock suspension

[Night Falcon]

And down the rabbit hole you go... never to return to stock suspension

never .......what does revalve mean?

[Gremlin]

never .......what does revalve mean?

It means you get used to properly setup suspension (in my case Ohlins). Then everything you ride subsequently is below par...

Good way of not falling in love with other bikes tho.

[nzspokes]

never .......what does revalve mean?

Its a black art that only suspension gurus can charge huge amounts for.

Or you can do it yourself for not much.