trading the rex this sunday

[Greg Roberts]

Continuing the questions I have concerning my recent '93 KLR 650 (is that an A-7?) purchase. I'm 250 lbs, out of shape, and have a 28" inseam. Use to ride off-road a lot and was competitive a few decades back, but haven't ridden off-road much at all in the past few years. Among other goodies my bike has Progressive (name brand) fork springs, and the fork tubes have been dropped about 1" in the clamps. Bike has a Rick Mayer saddle, built on a Corbin pan. (I also have the stock seat.) The stock shock is installed, with preload set to "5". A set of Quality Engine R&D lowering links are installed. Between the lowering links, the seat and the dropped fork tubes I can get on and off the bike OK, and I'm fine once I get on it. Problem comes when I try and ride it. Most any small ditch on a dirt road has me bottoming out the rear suspension. Even decent-sized dips in paved roads will bang the muffler against the swingarm. This just isn't going to cut it. I don't see me losing weight back down to the 175 I weighed back in the early 80s. I don't really want to spend a bunch of money on a high-dollar shock (though Joe has an excellent buy on a Progressive 420-1044 here on the list). So I'm looking at springs. According to the FAQ the stock spring is 10" long and is rated 300 lbs. A recommendation in the FAQ lists the Progressive 1159-20GT spring as a good choice for those over 200lbs, as it is rated 500-560 lbs, Free length is listed at 9". Question -- With a free length of 9", does this spring stay seated on the shock? At 250 lbs of rider, plus crap in the Givi topcase and upcoming panniers (not sure yet whether I'll use Pelican cases, some sort of aluminum cans adapted for service as panniers, or if I'll go with soft saddlebags (bike has Happy Trails SUV mounts installed) is this spring going to be strong enough to keep from bottoming out all the time when I run dirt & forest roads, and forest trails? Studying the Progressive catalog I see another spring that looks like it might work. Has anyone tried the Progressive Suspension 01-1160GT? This spring is slightly shorter at 8.62" free length, and considerably stronger at a progressive 600-700 lbs per inch. I weigh enough, and will frequently have enough junk on the bike that I don't think the spring will be too strong. My biggest concern will be that the spring isn't long enough to keep some expansion pressure on the shock at full extension. (I've already had the KLR on the local MX track and it isn't happy there.) Any guidance and comments will be appreciated. Greg Roberts XL250R K1100LT KLR650

[Judson D. Jones]

--- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "Greg Roberts" wrote:

> Continuing the questions I have concerning my recent '93 KLR 650 (is that > an A-7?) purchase. > > I'm 250 lbs, out of shape, and have a 28" inseam.

Those are about my specs. Use to ride off-road a

> lot and was competitive a few decades back, but haven't ridden off-road

much

> at all in the past few years.

I have done a fair amount of off road riding in recent years, but I never did as a kid, never was and never will be competitive

> > Among other goodies my bike has Progressive (name brand) fork springs,

and

> the fork tubes have been dropped about 1" in the clamps. Bike has a Rick > Mayer saddle, built on a Corbin pan. (I also have the stock seat.) The > stock shock is installed, with preload set to "5". A set of Quality Engine > R&D lowering links are installed. Between the lowering links, the seat and > the dropped fork tubes I can get on and off the bike OK, and I'm fine once I > get on it. > > Problem comes when I try and ride it. Most any small ditch on a dirt road > has me bottoming out the rear suspension. Even decent-sized dips in > > According to the FAQ the stock spring is 10" long and is rated 300 lbs. A > recommendation in the FAQ lists the Progressive 1159-20GT spring as a

good

> choice for those over 200lbs, as it is rated 500-560 lbs, Free length is > listed at 9". > > Question -- With a free length of 9", does this spring stay seated on the > shock? At 250 lbs of rider, plus crap in the Givi topcase and upcoming > panniers (not sure yet whether I'll use Pelican cases, some sort of aluminum > cans adapted for service as panniers, or if I'll go with soft saddlebags > (bike has Happy Trails SUV mounts installed) is this spring going to be > strong enough to keep from bottoming out all the time when I run dirt & > forest roads, and forest trails? > > Studying the Progressive catalog I see another spring that looks like it > might work. Has anyone tried the Progressive Suspension 01-1160GT?

This

> spring is slightly shorter at 8.62" free length, and considerably stronger > at a progressive 600-700 lbs per inch. >

The 9" 500-560 will work fine. Even with the shorter spring, your ride height will be more with preload on 2 than with the stock spring on 5. With stock links, I would find a 600-700 spring too stiff. With longer links, I dunno. But why not go back to stock height? You have enough experience to deal with the height, and the ground clearance would do you good.

[Devon]

I've tried a few different setup on the rear, so here's my $.02 1- The PS420 is not a high-dollar shock. It's not revalveable, and is only rebuildable by Progressive. Like most Progressive products, it's works mostly well for most riders most of the time. I wore the chrome off the shaft in 8,000mi. I haven't gotten around to sending it in to have the shaft replaced, or rechomed and reground. I had fade problems on long trail rides. 2- The Muffler isn't supposed to hit the swingarm! This is WRONG. When the bike properly bottoms, the bottoming bumper hits the end cap on the shock body, and crushed down until the bottom end of the shock hits the cap. The wheel isn't supposed to hit the wheel well, the muffler isn't suposed to hit the swingarm. This is why any suspension tuner will tell you that lowering links aren't a good idea for offroad riding. All they do is shift the wheel further up, but they don't change the travel so they shift the wheel right into the bike at full compression. 3- The stock spring is under almost 1.5" (450lb!) of preload when installed on the stock shock. A 9" spring in a much heavier weight, will fit properly and work much better. Normally a straight-rate spring is much better (eshocks.com) but if you aren't going to lose the lowering links, then a progressive spring on top of the progressive linkage would help avoid bottoming a bit better. The PS 500-560 spring is actually 2.5" ID but works fine. A 9" x 2.25"ID spring is the "correct" size. 4- If you're buying a shock, have a suspension tuner fit a topping-out spacer (AKA "travel-limiting spacer") inside it, and then reinstall the stock links. This will leave the bike at the same lowered ride height, but you won't have the suspension fouling the bike at full compression. 5- I have a Corbin dip seat. I love that I can get both feet on the ground but didn't sacrifice ride height. Might help you, but if you're accustomed to a plush seat you'd find it very firm. 6- For the cheapest fix, I would try a 450lb straight-rate spring, and have a tuner fit a lowering spacer inside the shock. Have the tuner replace the oil with 10w instead of the stock 5w suspension fluid. Gary at gps-suspension.com may be able to help you. Normally I would suggest a 500 or 550 straight-rate spring for a a big rider, but with the lowering spacer installed you will have about 3/4" of preload on that spring even with the adjustor set to 1. Devon ironbt01@... wrote:

>Continuing the questions I have concerning my recent '93 KLR 650 (is that >an A-7?) purchase. > >I'm 250 lbs, out of shape, and have a 28" inseam. Use to ride off-road a >lot and was competitive a few decades back, but haven't ridden off-road much >at all in the past few years. > >Among other goodies my bike has Progressive (name brand) fork springs, and >the fork tubes have been dropped about 1" in the clamps. Bike has a Rick >Mayer saddle, built on a Corbin pan. (I also have the stock seat.) The >stock shock is installed, with preload set to "5". A set of Quality Engine >R&D lowering links are installed. Between the lowering links, the seat and >the dropped fork tubes I can get on and off the bike OK, and I'm fine once I >get on it. > >Problem comes when I try and ride it. Most any small ditch on a dirt road >has me bottoming out the rear suspension. Even decent-sized dips in paved >roads will bang the muffler against the swingarm. This just isn't going to >cut it. > >I don't see me losing weight back down to the 175 I weighed back in the >early 80s. I don't really want to spend a bunch of money on a high-dollar >shock (though Joe has an excellent buy on a Progressive 420-1044 here on the >list). So I'm looking at springs. > >According to the FAQ the stock spring is 10" long and is rated 300 lbs. A >recommendation in the FAQ lists the Progressive 1159-20GT spring as a good >choice for those over 200lbs, as it is rated 500-560 lbs, Free length is >listed at 9". > >Question -- With a free length of 9", does this spring stay seated on the >shock? At 250 lbs of rider, plus crap in the Givi topcase and upcoming >panniers (not sure yet whether I'll use Pelican cases, some sort of aluminum >cans adapted for service as panniers, or if I'll go with soft saddlebags >(bike has Happy Trails SUV mounts installed) is this spring going to be >strong enough to keep from bottoming out all the time when I run dirt & >forest roads, and forest trails? > >Studying the Progressive catalog I see another spring that looks like it >might work. Has anyone tried the Progressive Suspension 01-1160GT? This >spring is slightly shorter at 8.62" free length, and considerably stronger >at a progressive 600-700 lbs per inch. > >I weigh enough, and will frequently have enough junk on the bike that I >don't think the spring will be too strong. My biggest concern will be that >the spring isn't long enough to keep some expansion pressure on the shock >at full extension. (I've already had the KLR on the local MX track and it >isn't happy there.) > >Any guidance and comments will be appreciated. > >Greg Roberts >XL250R >K1100LT >KLR650 > > > >List sponsored by Dual Sport News at www.dualsportnews.com. List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html >Unsubscribe by sending a blank message to: >DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com . > > >Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > >

[edhill_2006]

I will be trading my ZRX this Sunday for an 07 KLR with only 1k miles. I can't wait.