Gas Gas Txt 280 Suspension

[declan1999]

My mate has a 2001 TXT280 and the suspension is very soft and it bottoms out quite often but we don't know how to adjust them and make the suspension stiffer. There is a red cap on the right fork and a black one on the left, do you just turn them or is it harder? Thanks

[totty79]

The adjusters are for minor damping changes. Going by my 99 321 red is rebound and on the right.

I'd advise stripping the forks and checking for a broken spring if it bottoms easily.

[jse]

My mate has a 2001 TXT280 and the suspension is very soft and it bottoms out quite often but we don't know how to adjust them and make the suspension stiffer. There is a red cap on the right fork and a black one on the left, do you just turn them or is it harder? Thanks

You didn't say how much your mate weighs. This might be a good time to change the fork oil and you can make some adjustments while doing that. You can make a slightly longer preload spacer (5-12mm, depending on rider weight) and add a little more oil, of a different viscosity, to each fork. The preload spacer is inside the fork at the top or sometimes the bottom of the spring and is usually a grey plastic tube. Those forks take 300cc's of 5-weight oil each and you could try 310 to 320cc's of 7.5 weight oil. The volume of oil affects the "oil level" in the fork, raising it. The oil level affects the last third of fork travel and the higher oil level will help prevent bottoming.

The adjusters at the top of the fork fine-tune the damping but usually only in the "high-speed" mode ("high speed" as to cartridge piston movement, not bike speed), which is why most riders can't really feel the difference from the adjustment changes. They do work, just not the way most riders think they do.

Jon

[declan1999]

Thanks for the advice I will tell him and he'll replace the oil. Thanks