Stock varg suspension revalve?! Enduro & Trail riding


Aleksandar13

Active member
Likes
27
Location
Uk
Hi all,

Trying to find out from owners experiences if the suspension get softer and after how many hours of riding?!

I've got my stark recently and I really enjoy it a lot, on byways and fast sections it's ridiculously good but in technical terrain I feel that I'm getting hammered and it feels harsher than I'm used to.

I'm no pro rider, 104kg without gear and medium springs as per my dealers recommendation.

I'm tempted to go to a specialist shop and get it revalved. Planning some ebduro days next year, maybe starting in January.

Would love to hear some thoughts about people who have done it on the stark or other similar bikes.

Thanks Aleks
 

AL_V

Well-known member
Likes
132
Location
Canton, Ohio
Hi all,

Trying to find out from owners experiences if the suspension get softer and after how many hours of riding?!

I've got my stark recently and I really enjoy it a lot, on byways and fast sections it's ridiculously good but in technical terrain I feel that I'm getting hammered and it feels harsher than I'm used to.

I'm no pro rider, 104kg without gear and medium springs as per my dealers recommendation.

I'm tempted to go to a specialist shop and get it revalved. Planning some ebduro days next year, maybe starting in January.

Would love to hear some thoughts about people who have done it on the stark or other similar bikes.

Thanks Aleks
I have about 150 hours on mine, it loosens up a little bit early on, but it's still valved for MX.
I am planning on a revalve over the winter.
 

Aleksandar13

Active member
Likes
27
Location
Uk
I have about 150 hours on mine, it loosens up a little bit early on, but it's still valved for MX.
I am planning on a revalve over the winter.
Spoke to a shop today,they said to get sag numbers to him and get the sag at 105mm and then we can talk about how it feels
 

Upinsmoke57

Member
Likes
9
Location
Alameda,CA
I'm exhausted researching this myself as well. What I gather after searching the internet, looking through the racetech bible, talking to a few friends who know KYB sss very well and a few suspension shops is that everyone has a separate answer. But this is my approach as I am in the same boat. First thing is to be in the range of the spring so you know you're starting at the right height in the stroke. I weigh 175 without gear and 200-205 with gear and I was also told to go medium. The bike was unbearably stiff when new. Literally from just sitting in a hot garage for 10 days while I was on vacation I could tell the difference. I have 2 rides on the bike and it has softened an amazing amount. The first thing I did was to take the seat cover off and make a hundred holes in the foam. I was waiting for seat concepts to release theirs and as of now it is available online. Honestly that didnt make that much difference drilling the holes but it did help. My sag was at 38/104. Slightly below the 40-45 static but on the low end of the rider sag which is what I was told to do. I removed 20cc of fork fluid through the bleeder hole. I will test that tomorrow. I've heard this is only noticeable after the first 3-4" travel. I had originally reached out to Super Plush in SF and they wanted over $1250 for the forks and shocks. They also were really busy. I decided to just buy all the necessary tools and planning to tackle this myself. Really it's not a technically hard thing to do, the whole game is knowing how many of what shims to add/remove. One could spend a lifetime playing with this stuff. Here's what I have gathered, averaging out information from many sources. For what we ride, slow technical hard enduro, we should be fine starting with the removal of 50% of the compression face shims. I have no idea what the outcome will be and have never done this before. I can report back when I do. The main thing to check before yanking your shock apart is to see if you have someone local that will fill it back to 150 psi with nitrogen. I've heard you can use air from a high pressure bike pump but I want it done right. A friend said he went to the costco tire center and they were able to get it to 80psi and he filled the rest with air. Up to you. I have a connection that can do it properly but make sure you got that all planned in advance. Also, I have my comp clickers al the way out(+1 in just so it's not literally backed out to the last thread). I have my rebound in 6 clicks. That's measured from turned all the way out. Having your rebound clickers all the way out will make a pogo stick out of your bike. Not sure what other options there are as these are MX forks. The KYB is nice that it has a very useable range with the clickers. I felt like all my WP forks had a very small noticeable range in comparison. However I'd kill to have my KTM 300 XCW suspension back!

So to recap:

Tubliss-lower tire pressure.

seat foam. Guts and Seat concepts have soft foam inserts

remove 10-20cc fork oil.

comp clickers all the way out

rebound clickers in 5-6 from all the way backed out. Same for low/ten and high rebound on shock. Shock high reb has over 40 clicks! Maybe just more increments. I don't get this if someone can please explain.

make sure the spring is the right rate for you as a starting point. The Race tech calculator and site is a very valuable resource. I'd be more inclined to trust them over the Stark spreadsheet or specs for recommended spring rates.

get sag in range

remove 40-50% face shims on the comp stack fork and shock. maybe 1 mid face shim after crossover? I haven't seen what's inside there yet.

Last resort, put it back how it was and take it to a pro :)
 

Aleksandar13

Active member
Likes
27
Location
Uk
I'm exhausted researching this myself as well. What I gather after searching the internet, looking through the racetech bible, talking to a few friends who know KYB sss very well and a few suspension shops is that everyone has a separate answer. But this is my approach as I am in the same boat. First thing is to be in the range of the spring so you know you're starting at the right height in the stroke. I weigh 175 without gear and 200-205 with gear and I was also told to go medium. The bike was unbearably stiff when new. Literally from just sitting in a hot garage for 10 days while I was on vacation I could tell the difference. I have 2 rides on the bike and it has softened an amazing amount. The first thing I did was to take the seat cover off and make a hundred holes in the foam. I was waiting for seat concepts to release theirs and as of now it is available online. Honestly that didnt make that much difference drilling the holes but it did help. My sag was at 38/104. Slightly below the 40-45 static but on the low end of the rider sag which is what I was told to do. I removed 20cc of fork fluid through the bleeder hole. I will test that tomorrow. I've heard this is only noticeable after the first 3-4" travel. I had originally reached out to Super Plush in SF and they wanted over $1250 for the forks and shocks. They also were really busy. I decided to just buy all the necessary tools and planning to tackle this myself. Really it's not a technically hard thing to do, the whole game is knowing how many of what shims to add/remove. One could spend a lifetime playing with this stuff. Here's what I have gathered, averaging out information from many sources. For what we ride, slow technical hard enduro, we should be fine starting with the removal of 50% of the compression face shims. I have no idea what the outcome will be and have never done this before. I can report back when I do. The main thing to check before yanking your shock apart is to see if you have someone local that will fill it back to 150 psi with nitrogen. I've heard you can use air from a high pressure bike pump but I want it done right. A friend said he went to the costco tire center and they were able to get it to 80psi and he filled the rest with air. Up to you. I have a connection that can do it properly but make sure you got that all planned in advance. Also, I have my comp clickers al the way out(+1 in just so it's not literally backed out to the last thread). I have my rebound in 6 clicks. That's measured from turned all the way out. Having your rebound clickers all the way out will make a pogo stick out of your bike. Not sure what other options there are as these are MX forks. The KYB is nice that it has a very useable range with the clickers. I felt like all my WP forks had a very small noticeable range in comparison. However I'd kill to have my KTM 300 XCW suspension back!

So to recap:

Tubliss-lower tire pressure.

seat foam. Guts and Seat concepts have soft foam inserts

remove 10-20cc fork oil.

comp clickers all the way out

rebound clickers in 5-6 from all the way backed out. Same for low/ten and high rebound on shock. Shock high reb has over 40 clicks! Maybe just more increments. I don't get this if someone can please explain.

make sure the spring is the right rate for you as a starting point. The Race tech calculator and site is a very valuable resource. I'd be more inclined to trust them over the Stark spreadsheet or specs for recommended spring rates.

get sag in range

remove 40-50% face shims on the comp stack fork and shock. maybe 1 mid face shim after crossover? I haven't seen what's inside there yet.

Last resort, put it back how it was and take it to a pro :)
Good luck with everything, once I have my sag setup which I will tackle tomorrow I will go out on a ride and report back here and to the shop that I have been in touch with.
From his experience sag should be 105mm and then see how you like it etc.

Ball park figure for me to drive in and out with no springs and he re-valving the units it would be around £300 and if springs required than up to £500. I have learned in the past not to mess around to much with suspension as it's a bit of a black art, so I will take it to this shop who is renowned for enduro prep in the UK.

Aleks
 

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