Hello all,
I would like to discuss suspension setup of the Timbersled ARO platform:
This is my first year snowbiking...but have been riding dirt bikes for over 50 years...I started riding when I was 6. I also have 2 years of snowmobile riding under my belt.
I have a 2020 ktm 500 xcf-w with most of the power-up goodies, and an 2019 ARO 137 kit, along with a Trio and TSS.
I weigh 245 lbs, and am 5-6" tall...short and stocky (used to power lift in college).
I will start off by saying that I love my snowbike.
I started off with the kit being all stock, with the TSS needle pointing straight down, and 50 lbs in the secondary chamber, and 25 lbs in the secondary chamber of the Trio. In this configuration, I felt like there was a lot of ski pressure, and turning was done mostly by leaning. (Learning curve.) Slow going was difficult because it was really hard to turn.
I played with both rising and lowering the forks in the tripple clamps, and settled on having it at the third line from the top.
My next move was to shorten the TSS about 1/4 inch (5 turns), and that helped somewhat as well with the ski pressure. Studying showed me that the fixed strut recommended length from Timbersled is 1/4 inch shorter than the TSS.
After that I started to look at spring rates, and discovered that my setup came with a 150# spring in the front, and a 175# spring in the rear...which seems to me to be the reason the ski feels so planted. I played with increasing pre-load on the front, and reducing the preload on the rear with little success...but this spring setup seems counter intelligent to lightening the front end and making it easier to steer. I ended up replacing the front spring with a 200# spring, and things started to come into focus. When I finally had about 1" of pre-load on the front spring, and only 1 turn on the rear to keep the spring in place it finally felt what I considered to be ridable. I could go over most things easily...would lean forward to climb, and back to bring up the front end as desired. Because I had reached the max pre-load on the front spring (I could coil bind it on landings) I switched to a 225# spring on the front, and things got even better. (3/8" pre-load on my final ride of the year) I also discovered during my studying that the TSS we are using for the ARO is the same one used on the previous models, but the ARO has more of a leverage advantage. Looks like the TSS definitively needs some valving and/or air chamber modifications. I will try the x-tune over the summer, along with shortening the TSS yet some more.
I also swapped the upper and lower secondary gears on the kit to get some more snap to lighten the front end...and liked the results. Because the 500 xcf-w has a wide ration gearbox, I was thinking about trying to find a 17 tooth sprocket for the top of the secondary sprocket set to lower the gearing down again...anyone know a source for these? And your thoughts?
I am writing this because I would like others experiences with setup on suspension, and recommendations.
Thank you in advance,
Chris
I would like to discuss suspension setup of the Timbersled ARO platform:
This is my first year snowbiking...but have been riding dirt bikes for over 50 years...I started riding when I was 6. I also have 2 years of snowmobile riding under my belt.
I have a 2020 ktm 500 xcf-w with most of the power-up goodies, and an 2019 ARO 137 kit, along with a Trio and TSS.
I weigh 245 lbs, and am 5-6" tall...short and stocky (used to power lift in college).
I will start off by saying that I love my snowbike.
I started off with the kit being all stock, with the TSS needle pointing straight down, and 50 lbs in the secondary chamber, and 25 lbs in the secondary chamber of the Trio. In this configuration, I felt like there was a lot of ski pressure, and turning was done mostly by leaning. (Learning curve.) Slow going was difficult because it was really hard to turn.
I played with both rising and lowering the forks in the tripple clamps, and settled on having it at the third line from the top.
My next move was to shorten the TSS about 1/4 inch (5 turns), and that helped somewhat as well with the ski pressure. Studying showed me that the fixed strut recommended length from Timbersled is 1/4 inch shorter than the TSS.
After that I started to look at spring rates, and discovered that my setup came with a 150# spring in the front, and a 175# spring in the rear...which seems to me to be the reason the ski feels so planted. I played with increasing pre-load on the front, and reducing the preload on the rear with little success...but this spring setup seems counter intelligent to lightening the front end and making it easier to steer. I ended up replacing the front spring with a 200# spring, and things started to come into focus. When I finally had about 1" of pre-load on the front spring, and only 1 turn on the rear to keep the spring in place it finally felt what I considered to be ridable. I could go over most things easily...would lean forward to climb, and back to bring up the front end as desired. Because I had reached the max pre-load on the front spring (I could coil bind it on landings) I switched to a 225# spring on the front, and things got even better. (3/8" pre-load on my final ride of the year) I also discovered during my studying that the TSS we are using for the ARO is the same one used on the previous models, but the ARO has more of a leverage advantage. Looks like the TSS definitively needs some valving and/or air chamber modifications. I will try the x-tune over the summer, along with shortening the TSS yet some more.
I also swapped the upper and lower secondary gears on the kit to get some more snap to lighten the front end...and liked the results. Because the 500 xcf-w has a wide ration gearbox, I was thinking about trying to find a 17 tooth sprocket for the top of the secondary sprocket set to lower the gearing down again...anyone know a source for these? And your thoughts?
I am writing this because I would like others experiences with setup on suspension, and recommendations.
Thank you in advance,
Chris
