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4rt Front End Grip Downhill


jokerr
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help please. have just had my 1st serious outing on my 4rt after changing from a rev 3 beta. overall the bike was excellent loads of grunt as expected and would climb anything i pointed it at. the only issue i seemed to have was that the front end was far more difficult to get on line when going downhill and was prone to loosing grip on the front wheel. this was never an issue with my rev 3 . is there any obvious front end adustments that should be made based on this info or is this typical of the handling of the 4rt? i am 6 feet tall and 12.5 stone in weight. other than this the bike was awsome.

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I don't know about your part of the world.....but here in Kentucky I have noticed that the ground is really soft from all the frost heave over the winter. I have found that the front wheel easily loses grip on the soft soil - and I was not having this problem in the fall.

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When I first changed from 315 to 4rt had problem with front slipping, I think it is due to the greater engine braking on 4 stroke, with 2 stoke you can roll the throttle off very quickly on desents or slippy stream with no adverse effect but with the 4rt this is like dabbing the rear brake which can transfer weight to the front wheel causing it to slip if not on perfect ground. Try and be smooth on the roll off of the throtle or keep a little power on.

4rt could also be heavier on the front end compared to the Beta compounding this issue

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thanks guys. conditions were as per our norm on a dry day (not that we have that many in scotland) i think your right on the front end being heavier. i was wondering if there was a change i could make to the suspension setup to give a lighter feel downhill. i suppose you cant have it bothways front end is great and light on climbs but i am just about of the back of it downhill. thanks

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jimmys reply is pretty sound. the downhill engine braking will cause the front suspension to load up and dip. three solutions really, lighten the front end by hanging the weight back ( but if following Bernie shriebers mantra about being 'centerd' this is the wrong thing to do) keep the clutch in so that there is no engine braking or increase the tick over or keep a little revs on via the throttle.

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Also check your suspension settings.

I am 13 stone and this was settings on the bike from Sandifords and feels spot on

rear

6 clicks out - spring quiet soft

Front

N/S fork full down on blue allen socket then 6.5 turns out

O/S fork 10 clicks out.

Set up my mates with this and he feels its much better

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great info guys thanks again. jimmy your info on suspension setup is exactly what i was looking for, this will give me a known benchmark to work from. i wont be out on the bike for at least a week but will let you know how i get on . :D

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jokerr -have you had chance to try any changes. Would be interested to know what you find

just returned from holiday tonight so wont be out out on bike untill the weekend at best. look forward to letting you know how it goes. cheers

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jokerr -have you had chance to try any changes. Would be interested to know what you find

bad news and good news on the suspesion front. only checked the front end settings and they were as per your suggustion jimmy. good news is, i dropped the front tyre pressure and rolled the bars back by by about an inch thus making it easier to get my weight over the back end . this and a little more familiarity with the bike seems to have solved the problem. however life is never that simple. all my attention is now focused on my on and off switch that they call a clutch. it never ends does it ? thanks again for all the info. i'm of to dredge the the threads of the 315 master cylinders, mitani clutch systems and something involving a grinder. now where's that beer?

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315 master cylinder definitely a good mod

2006 clutch plates should work well with ATF or the elf oil.

Try and ride the bike with as little use of clutch as possible -much better to roll on and off the throttle.

Don't use the 2 stroke technique of nipping the clutch to get drive -the 4rt will just spin

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  • 1 month later...
Also check your suspension settings.

I am 13 stone and this was settings on the bike from Sandifords and feels spot on

rear

6 clicks out - spring quiet soft

Front

N/S fork full down on blue allen socket then 6.5 turns out

O/S fork 10 clicks out.

Set up my mates with this and he feels its much better

Jimmy!

Is that "out" from fully soft or hard mate?

Cheers,

Jza

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Saw the post for suspension set up for someone weighing 13 stone. What are the bikes set up like for somebody at 9.5-10 stone?

Thanks,

I am just under 9.5st and found the front end fairly dead, I had only two turns of pre-load on which gave me about 10mm of sag from bike off ground to standing on both wheels, however only sagged another 20mm with me in the riding position. That is 30mm in total. General recommendation for trials is a total of 50-60mm with rider in riding position. The standard fork spring measured up at 7.5kg rating, I fitted an Ohlins spring rated at 7.0 kg

I run more pre- load to keep the 10-15mm initial sag but now have a total of around 45 -50mm sag.

Also fitted a TRP shock to the rear as I couldn't source a lighter rear spring here for the Showa rear shock.

Overall much more compliant particularly at the front and has reduced the bang through the bars on smaller rocks and roots particularly on the between sections going.

Adjustment of damping depends really on how you ride and what you want to do, if you want to hop the bike a lot you will most likely use minimum damping. This is also affected by the oil you use, it has been shown elsewhere on this site that there is a substantial difference in the viscosity of the same grade of oil sold by different manufacturers.

Remember you cannot adjust spring rate, only the initial load applied by the spring, it is crazy to expect one rate of spring to suit all from 9 to 15 stone.

That's been my solution the other may be to load up the bumbag with a few stone!!!

I can locate the fork spring part number if you want it, unfortunately they come in pairs.

Good luck

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