kdx200 hard ride

[charles23]

looking for help to DIY soften the rear and front suspension on my kdx200H3 1997

[cowpoos]

whats your compression settings at??? lower them but don't lower your rebound aswell...

[Motu]

You need to go back to standard settings and work your way from there.If you have no specs,set the static sag at 100mm,set your damping clickers a couple of clicks soft from midway.I don't know if your model has front preload,but if not have a look at the spacers to see if someone has changed them.

[Brian d marge]

Suspension

1 spring rates kg/mm use race teck or other generators ,,,or calc your self ,,,( roughly a 3,4kg.mm rear spring is for a 60 ish kg rider ...and 0.4??kg/mm front cant remember offhand ) not as expensive as you may think

2 set your sag as motu said between 90 and 110 rear and 30 to 50 mm with 5 to 15 mm of preload for a 250 cc ..( u can get good sag numbers with a too soft spring ...just means u have used a lot of preload in order to get there ,,,and the bike will try to fire u off the seat ,,so u set the rebound damping higher ,,which make the oil work more which then fades( gets hot) and u loose all damping ...I can screw damping in a standard shock in less than 20 min ...and I am a limp wristed woofta rider

2a,,You can check the spring by measuring the unladen sag ie with the rider off the bike ...cant remember what they are ,,but little unladen means a softer spring ..upside down I know ,,but there is a lot of info out there

3 compression/rebound I start at 1/2 way ,,,but a site called Eric gorr ,,has better info ..( Note Jap comp adjust and rebound ONLY adjust LOW shaft speeds such as accel over wavy ground ..( oil viscosity will change shaft speed over the entire range ,,I use ATF in both front and rear shocks)

4 ..go for a ride ,,,keep a log book and ONLY change ONE setting at a time ...go for a LONG ride as a quick squirt ) i feel isnt long enough to think about HOW the bike has changed ,,,I use 1 litre of gas between setting changed ...but I am looking for Tiny changes


Finally for a softer ride ...spring rates ,,,oil viscosity ...oil height lower in the front forks ... preloads lower Evenly,, as this effect a whole bunch of other stuff ,,, then comp /rebounds adjust ...

Stephen

[charles23]

[QUOTE=Brian d'marge]Suspension

Hello Brian et al.

Thanks for the great advice, I'm heading out for a ride tomorrow so will have a go at doing some adjustments then.

Cheers

Charles23

[Wellyman]

If that doesn't work go see Tjebbe Bruin or Norm Cobb and get your suspension tuned for your personal needs. I have done that for all my bikes except for my CRF but i'm saving up to get the forks on my bike done real soon.
WM