Front spring upgrade?
- Thread starter jeffc
- Start date
S
snorider99
New member
I did it last yr on my rmz450.. I never rode it in the snow with the factory springs but I had no complaints about it with the heavier springs.. and they are pretty cheap as well
wr 450 yamha
went up about 4 steps on my wr450 before I found the correnct stiffness in the forks. Can't remember the numbers, but ended up with almost the stiffest spring in one leg that yam shows in their chart.
the stiffer the fork spring the higher you ride in the fork stroke, the better the track approach angle and the better your rear suspension works.
went up about 4 steps on my wr450 before I found the correnct stiffness in the forks. Can't remember the numbers, but ended up with almost the stiffest spring in one leg that yam shows in their chart.
the stiffer the fork spring the higher you ride in the fork stroke, the better the track approach angle and the better your rear suspension works.
I weigh 80 kg (175 lbs) without clothes and I bought the stiffest springs there was here in Sweden for my wr450 -06 (with a 3,3 gallon Acerbis tank) and that was 0.50 (for a 275 lbs rider) and they still was to soft. I say buy the stiffest u can to make it work when riding downwards etc.
Just my 2 cents
Rob
Last edited:
Any one running a wr450 ,which spring up grade did you find work best ,being the stock fork springs are to soft even clicked up to full hardness
I should have stated year before hand my bad ,Was thinking for a wr450 -09 going with the .5-8 load scale by race tech with a 3.6 gallon tank and full gear
wr springs
what I found on my 03 wr450 sno bike was
go stiff on fork springs
reduce amount of oil in forks and run basically zero weight oil
start with NO COMPRESSION dampening...........most guys have turned up compression dampening to stiffen fork.......not hot setup. big heavy ski in the snow I found I need very little rebound dampening.
If you ride a mtn horse the rear suspension for most is way way tooo stiff which tends to throw weight on forks in bumps. If you revalve and respring your horse rear, you won't need as much spring in the front.
When snow flies I will be testing that theory in more depth.
what I found on my 03 wr450 sno bike was
go stiff on fork springs
reduce amount of oil in forks and run basically zero weight oil
start with NO COMPRESSION dampening...........most guys have turned up compression dampening to stiffen fork.......not hot setup. big heavy ski in the snow I found I need very little rebound dampening.
If you ride a mtn horse the rear suspension for most is way way tooo stiff which tends to throw weight on forks in bumps. If you revalve and respring your horse rear, you won't need as much spring in the front.
When snow flies I will be testing that theory in more depth.
wr 450 springs
I found that on the snow;
stiff fork spring
lower fork oil height down to min and run 0 weigth oil
when you find the correct spring you can back off to nothing the compression dampening. just enough comp damp adjust to keep fork at top top of stroke.
if you ride a mtn horse, many have pretty stiff rear suspension. when I revalved a 2013 and went lighter on springs, forks on a KTM didn't feel near as mushy. so like a bike or sled you can't have stiff rear and soft front or other way around. not sure yet how soft you can go on rear, but on my new sno bike build I have option of rear suspension that works that I can run soft with good travel. going to be interesting this winter.
I found that on the snow;
stiff fork spring
lower fork oil height down to min and run 0 weigth oil
when you find the correct spring you can back off to nothing the compression dampening. just enough comp damp adjust to keep fork at top top of stroke.
if you ride a mtn horse, many have pretty stiff rear suspension. when I revalved a 2013 and went lighter on springs, forks on a KTM didn't feel near as mushy. so like a bike or sled you can't have stiff rear and soft front or other way around. not sure yet how soft you can go on rear, but on my new sno bike build I have option of rear suspension that works that I can run soft with good travel. going to be interesting this winter.
R
Rush44
Well-known member
On my WR450 I went to the stiffest springs my local dealer could order me.... 0.52nm springs and I also went up in fork oil weight (S5 I think? I can't remember, but it was a good bit thicker than the stock fork oil weight). Major improvement and it put a stop to the slow motion front end submarine with the old too-soft springs. My opinion is the stiffer the better up front.
C
Cpt.Ron
Well-known member
Great thread..
I am still a newbie, waiting for our first kits to arrive, however, I have been asking a thousand questions from some experienced MH riders and the consensus that I am hearing is to set the forks up stiff. Stiffest springs you can get, and then 10w oil in forks. I am sure that every rider has their own riding style and prefer their own individual suspension set ups. I intend to order the heaviest springs and maybe try 7w oil to start and do some testing, doesn't take long to change fork oil.
I am still a newbie, waiting for our first kits to arrive, however, I have been asking a thousand questions from some experienced MH riders and the consensus that I am hearing is to set the forks up stiff. Stiffest springs you can get, and then 10w oil in forks. I am sure that every rider has their own riding style and prefer their own individual suspension set ups. I intend to order the heaviest springs and maybe try 7w oil to start and do some testing, doesn't take long to change fork oil.
J
jeffc
New member
I've never ridden ones with anything but stock and on a Kawi 450 I felt like it was very soft on landings and almost made me feel like going over the bars on downhill landings. Thanks for the input and I think I'll go with the stiffest i can get. Will this require tinkering with the TS suspension?
fork springs
i have been doing some research on fork springs for my snowbike build for this year which is a
2007 Aprilia sxv5.5
my stock springs from what i can find are race tech FRSP 4445 .47kg which are the same as 04-07 wr450. looks like i will upgrade to the .52 race tech springs and hope that is enough.
i have been doing some research on fork springs for my snowbike build for this year which is a
2007 Aprilia sxv5.5
my stock springs from what i can find are race tech FRSP 4445 .47kg which are the same as 04-07 wr450. looks like i will upgrade to the .52 race tech springs and hope that is enough.
Totally agree with setup on rear suspension. When I ride in deep pow I have 50 psi in both my dampers (I weight 175 lbs bare) which gives me a very good approach angle for track and has never bottomed out when playing in the pow.
Same goes with rebound dampening in front fork. Set to almost zero due to the heavy ski. Compressiondampening I almost have at max though.
//Rob
