Questions about linkage

[sandt38]

OK, my *** end is harsh on my bike. I spent most of my play money in engine upgrades and other go fast goodies. I followed Nick's advice on setting up my suspension (all stock still), but the rear was throwing me over the handlebars. It is ridiculous. I softened it up even more and it is better (at least I can jump more comfortably), but it is no where near as nice as my buddy's Scrambler or my other buddy's KFX, both are stock :icon_evil:

So while I intend to send my shocks out this winter I am going to ride with them as is.

OK, we ride a lot of trails, hill climb, jump... we really do most everything aside from dune riding. I am ~215#s, and as a general rule prefer a more plush ride (I am a 4th stage cancer survivor, and thanks to my surgeries, all 6 of them major, and scar tissue every ride leaves me in pain, but I am not gonna stop riding). I see a lot of linkages, and see MX, XC, etc. I know what they mean, but how and why do they affect the rear suspension? Which would be best for my "all around" riding situations? Which linkages do you guys use, and why? Are you happy with your chosen linkage? Have you ever run any other linkages, or is this your only one?

I have a feeling that I will be running an XC linkage based on my research. but I just wanted some more input before I make my leap.

 

[rexxtack]

Im still running stock and ride about the same style. Once I hear others chime in ill make my decision which way to go also. Just looking for a smoother ride.

 

[El Mamito USMC]

Ok. Let me shime in since I just did the swap.. send your shocks to http://www.dirtworksmotorsports.com and tell Josh what ur intented riding plan is and your average weigth. He'll set up ur shocks and ur rear with a proper valved shock and his rear link which will give you more travel tha GTT link and make ur ride more confortable. I did this with my Baja quad and love it.

Look at my build and you can see the link and rear set up..

 

[sandt38]

Ok. Let me shime in since I just did the swap.. send your shocks to http://www.dirtworksmotorsports.com and tell Josh what ur intented riding plan is and your average weigth. He'll set up ur shocks and ur rear with a proper valved shock and his rear link which will give you more travel tha GTT link and make ur ride more confortable. I did this with my Baja quad and love it.
Look at my build and you can see the link and rear set up..

That is the plan, but not until winter. We ride too much during the spring/summer/fall and I'm not missing out. I am looking for a quick, effective upgrade to the rear suspension for the time being.

 

[chronicsmoke]

If you ever plan on using a GTT linkage and running 18s get the MX link.. It'll raise your center of gravity when you put XC tires on it but thats the most negative effect. If you run 18" tires with an XC link your frame will hit the ground before the shock finishes travel.

 

[CJM]

I tried the XC link with my 400ex and some 20's and had the shock redone. For me it rode WAY soft no matter what I did. This time around with the R im doin the mx link and making sure I tell them it needs to be setup to handle aggressive riding and handle whoops. XC link overall I found out from others is setup to be super soft, you do any sort of jumps, etc just to soft for some people.

 

[chronicsmoke]

I think it depends how you ride too, that shock could have been built too soft for the kind of riding you do. I've never had a full XC setuop but I know my MX setup does very well through the bush with narroe offset wheels and the low speed comp turned down

 

[sandt38]

If you ever plan on using a GTT linkage and running 18s get the MX link.. It'll raise your center of gravity when you put XC tires on it but thats the most negative effect. If you run 18" tires with an XC link your frame will hit the ground before the shock finishes travel.

I run 20s, and really don't think running smaller would be good for me. Not with some of the terrain we tackle. The quarry has some rough wash outs that we hit pretty hard.

From what I have been learning, I really think the MX will be a better fit for me just based on ride height. But I still want to hear what anyone has to say about it.

 

[sandt38]

I tried the XC link with my 400ex and some 20's and had the shock redone. For me it rode WAY soft no matter what I did. This time around with the R im doin the mx link and making sure I tell them it needs to be setup to handle aggressive riding and handle whoops. XC link overall I found out from others is setup to be super soft, you do any sort of jumps, etc just to soft for some people.

I did see it mentioned that with the XC links you need to suggest to your shock builder that you want stiffer valving to compensate for the overly soft ride.

 

[Dman450r]

I did see it mentioned that with the XC links you need to suggest to your shock builder that you want stiffer valving to compensate for the overly soft ride.

You're exactly right. If you just put an XC or MX link from any of the main suppliers on your quad without revalving the shock, it will be WAY too soft. I forget who I was talking to, either Santo Derisi or Nick about it and they said that unless you were around 120lbs, you could not use the link with the stock shock spring and valving. The leverage ratios are completely different and the shock needs to be set up for it. I run an ARS/FX swingarm and long travel linkage with a custom axis long travel rear set up for XC and it's freakin amazing. It's not cheap but worth every penny in my opinion.

 

[El Mamito USMC]

good word on the advise to do the link and the proper valving of the shck

 

[CJM]

Oh I had the shock redone for my weight and riding style, we used GTT recommended weight setups and it was to soft so we went up 2 weight sizes. I think I had a setup for a 300lb person and Im only 200. It rode ok, but I still think I needed it with a higher weight spring. Problem is the linkage is designed to absorb nearly anything imaginable on a GNCC type course, I rode to aggressive on to varied a terrain for it imho (whoops, washouts, ruts, etc). For riding on a fast paced XC type trail it worked pretty dang good.

After reading alot of info I went with the MX link b/c I dont like the shock that soft and it will handle a varied terrain better than the XC type setup.