Varg suspension

[Magoo69]

Agreed. Shipping my suspension out tomorrow to get it revalved. That's what we get for trying to use a moto bike for offroad.

How’s the suspension since the re-valve?

 

[Theo]

Here is my situation:
• rider's weight in underwear: 74 kg/163 lbs
• suspensions setup: 75/80 kg
• use: motocross only

At the beginning, the suspensions felt stiff to me in every track.
Saturday at the track, at 8 hours circa it seemed to me that maybe they had softened a little bit but still not enough, so I softened them by turning the following clickers 2 clicks counterclockwise:
• fork compression
• fork rebound
• shock fast compression
• shock fast rebound
and they felt much better, maybe still a little bit on the stiff side but acceptable.
I cased some middle sized/big jumps and it didn't feel like they were bottoming out.
I will try these settings in other tracks, too.

EDIT written on 4/21st/24:
Actually, when I wrote "at the track", I was referring to a MX park where you can enter more than a track with one ticket and the suspension setup was tested successfully in two tracks.
Yesterday I tried it in another track and I think it was succesul there, too.

EDIT written on 6/9th/24:
Since I still felt the suspensions to be too stiff in certain situations, I have set the compression settings on both fork and rear shock on 3 clicks counterclockwise from stock setting; I didn't modify the slow settings of the shock, just the fast ones. Rebound is still 2 clicks CCW from stock in the fork and in the fast setting of the shock.
I like a firm feeling but I don't want the bike to be too tiring to ride because of excessive stiffness and this setting seems to be the proper compromise.

 

[RJS]

Here is my situation:
• rider's weight in underwear: 74 kg/163 lbs
• suspensions setup: 75/80 kg
• use: motocross only

At the beginning, the suspensions felt stiff to me in every track.
Saturday at the track, at 8 hours circa it seemed to me that maybe they had softened a little bit but still not enough, so I softened them by turning the following clickers 2 clicks counterclockwise:
• fork compression
• fork rebound
• shock fast compression
• shock fast rebound
and they felt much better, maybe still a little bit on the stiff side but acceptable.
I cased some middle sized/big jumps and it didn't feel like they were bottoming out.
I will try these settings in other tracks, too,

What were your starting settings?

 

[Theo]

I don’t know for sure since I haven’t counted how many clicks I was out, but the default sttings should be the ones that you can find in this thread.

 

[Magoo69]

I’ll be dropping off my forks and shock at Factory Connection tomorrow for a re-valve. I’m looking for better small bump compliance and some plushness.

l’ll post my impressions in a week or so.

 

[AgileMike]

I had my suspension re-valved by RG3 in Boise. It is night and day better than stock suspension. The stock suspension has an extremely stiff shock and an overly soft fork. The worst part of the fork behavior is diving under front brake use.

I've only got one ride on the new stuff, but I'll post some of my settings after I get three rides in or so.

 

[Foss]

would an a-kit KYB be noticeable compared with starks factory version? Curious if their factory KYB has any extras?

 

[mbw479]

Has anyone removed the rear linkage bolt that runs through the swingarm? I removed both the end caps, then tried to undo the nut by holding both ends of the bolt with 17mm sockets on extensions, but the resistance to undo it was extremely tight so I left it in. It is the only bearing I haven’t greased on the bike.

 

[mbw479]

Has anyone removed the rear linkage bolt that runs through the swingarm? I removed both the end caps, then tried to undo the nut by holding both ends of the bolt with 17mm sockets on extensions, but the resistance to undo it was extremely tight so I left it in. It is the only bearing I haven’t greased on the bike.

Update: I drowned the bolt (literally) in wd40 overnight and the right hand side came out fairly easily, the left hand side is actually a sleeve that the bolt screws into from the right, it has to be undone opposite as it is a left hand thread. Bearing is greased now and it is back together.

 

[Theo]

Update: I drowned the bolt (literally) in wd40 overnight and the right hand side came out fairly easily, the left hand side is actually a sleeve that the bolt screws into from the right, it has to be undone opposite as it is a left hand thread. Bearing is greased now and it is back together.

Would you say that the bearings were well lubed originally?

 

[mbw479]

Would you say that the bearings were well lubed originally?

They were all wet, now they are packed. The bolts and threads were all very dry, some were tight. They are all greased now too.

 

[Magoo69]

UPDATE: I just rode for the first time since Factory Connection did a re-valve front and back. I only ride single track, some flowy fast stuff and some rooty technical stuff.

I was looking for them to take some of the harshness out and make the Varg a little plusher. Well, they did that and then some.

PROS: It‘s like a magic carpet ride over the roots, logs and rocks. It’s definitely not harsh/stiff anymore. It’s very plush…it was very nice not to feel every little nook and cranny in the trails, BUT….

CONS; The Varg no longer has that planted feel it had. It no longer turns well at all. I was bouncing all over the place like a Pogo stick. It was darn near dangerous in the big woops. Traction on rough uphills was awful. It was almost impossible to keep the front tire in rutted turns and in straight ruts, it just didn’t track well at all. The front end was diving in and front traction wasn’t great.

The good news is I’m sure they’ll figure it out and make the proper adjustments to get it right. I think they went way too far on the plush side.

 

[fred900]

UPDATE: I just rode for the first time since Factory Connection did a re-valve front and back. I only ride single track, some flowy fast stuff and some rooty technical stuff.

I was looking for them to take some of the harshness out and make the Varg a little plusher. Well, they did that and then some.

PROS: It‘s like a magic carpet ride over the roots, logs and rocks. It’s definitely not harsh/stiff anymore. It’s very plush…it was very nice not to feel every little nook and cranny in the trails, BUT….

CONS; The Varg no longer has that planted feel it had. It no longer turns well at all. I was bouncing all over the place like a Pogo stick. It was darn near dangerous in the big woops. Traction on rough uphills was awful. It was almost impossible to keep the front tire in rutted turns and in straight ruts, it just didn’t track well at all. The front end was diving in and front traction wasn’t great.

The good news is I’m sure they’ll figure it out and make the proper adjustments to get it right. I think they went way too far on the plush side.

I would start with Rebound adjustments. May need to turn in some.

 

[Foss]

Has anyone removed the rear linkage bolt that runs through the swingarm? I removed both the end caps, then tried to undo the nut by holding both ends of the bolt with 17mm sockets on extensions, but the resistance to undo it was extremely tight so I left it in. It is the only bearing I haven’t greased on the bike.

I can confirm, every joint needs to be re-greased. I took my swing arm off, removed all sleeves for the knuckle and the linkage and it was bone dry with a little nasty yellow grease; it wasn’t packed.

 

[mbw479]

I can confirm, every joint needs to be re-greased. I took my swing arm off, removed all sleeves for the knuckle and the linkage and it was bone dry with a little nasty yellow grease; it wasn’t packed.

Yeah it is necessary, I am surprised Stark don't have a manual on this because it is a very common thing to do. Especially with the left hand thread, someone will get too keen and strip or break it eventually.

 

[Foss]

Yeah it is necessary, I am surprised Stark don't have a manual on this because it is a very common thing to do. Especially with the left hand thread, someone will get too keen and strip or break it eventually.

Right, whoever is their supplier for the swing arm needs to rethink their strategy lol. They are adding bare minimum lubricant… and the grease they use is this crappy yellow smelly material which belongs no where near a bike lol.

 

[Josh422]

Had mine done by Race Tech. Gold valves too. Was the stiffest setup I’ve ever had, even rode another Stark back to back. Night and day difference. Clickers didn’t make much of a difference at all, couldn’t ride it anywhere but maybe a ramp and AX stuff the way it was.

 

[mlbco]

Just rode mine for the first time today and I agree, WAY too stiff for an older off-road rider. I'm 170lbs and 60+ y.o. so not super fast but I occasionally race B class off road. This bike beat me up real good today, I need it fixed!

The best suspension I ever owned is my 2021 KTM 300 retuned by Kreft Moto, but unfortunately they are out of business now. I would love to find someone who can set up my Varg to be like the Kreft Moto suspension on my KTM.
Steve

 

[Philip]

I got my Varg about three weeks ago. I pumped the rear end on the dealer's floor, and it felt like the slowest rebound setting that I have ever experienced.

FYI, a suspension that is overdamped in rebound is set up this way primarily for slow riders who hit small bumps not very often. Fast and pro riders have their rebound set more loosely.

What I also noticed is that the bike has very little traction. It spins the rear wheel a lot and it slides a lot in turns, sometimes with both wheels. The bike feels easy to control, but it is slow in turns.

I get arm pump on small braking bumps, something that I haven't had in a long time. This is all due to a slow rebound.

In addition to the above, my bike came with some shock clickers messed up. The High-speed Rebound (the clicker at the bottom of the shock) had 12 clicks on in instead of 15. It messed me up really bad, I didn't know that this adjuster even existed until after a couple of practices a friend pointed at it. I thought all the shock adjusters were at the top, LOL!

CHECK YOUR CLICKER SETTINGS, guys!

Stark Varg Factory Suspension Default Settings

I got this from Stark support.

electricdirtriders.com

 

[Philip]

The good part is that the rear shock has four clickers. I am optimistic that working with the rebound clickers this bike can be made way more rideable than it comes from the factory.

The compression settings appear to be in the ballpark.

The spring rates are good for intermediate level motocross riders.