Suspension help, again (need a softer ride!)

[thesnowgod]

Hey folks! Getting to be that time of year!
Over the summer I've managed to lose almost 80 pounds and by the time the snow flies I'll have lost about 100 pounds total putting me in the 200 pound range or less. :exc:

While I'm still somewhat of an "aggressive" rider, I'm no sledneck. At about 300 pounds last year, I STILL found the sled to feel too damn stiff. The last few years we've been riding almost exclusively in the Old Forge, NY area (read: very nicely groomed trails). I used to ride in the Tug Hill area on Sundays which meant standing up and riding it like a dirtbike all day but that's rare now.

Can someone point me to some softer settings to at least get me in the ballpark? The Floats up front seem too stiff no matter how little air I run in them too. I plan to totally change the settings in the back and at this point, I don't even remember where I have everything set (rebound, compression, etc).

Sorry to be long winded but I hope this helps someone here help me get this a bit more dialed in.


Oh, its a stock '08 Anniversary Edition. Fox Floats up front. Already added dually runners and shimmed the skis under the spindles (huge difference and NO darting!) but otherwise no suspension mods.

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[raginyamaha]

rtx shocks are set up too stiff. id send the shocks out for a re-valve from a good company- hygear, etc who will set up the shocks for your weight and riding style. a little pricey but most say its worth it. Im deciding if i want to do the same. im not unhappy with mine but i think there is room for improvement.

 

[sorenson1610]

rtx shocks are set up too stiff. id send the shocks out for a re-valve from a good company- hygear, etc who will set up the shocks for your weight and riding style. a little pricey but most say its worth it. Im deciding if i want to do the same. im not unhappy with mine but i think there is room for improvement.

Check out pioneer too, they are in your neck of the woods. Look in the sticky section, there are suspension charts and what other members setups are. Really nice, takes a lot of the trial and error out it......but there is still some. Helped me a lot this last year. Im going to send all four of mine to carver performance sometime soon for a complete rebuild/revalve. Pretty excited to see how it will ride this year! Good luck

 

[sleddingfarmer]

You can adjust your shock settings all day but if they are still valved from the factory its not going to ride nowhere near as good as the shocks should.

Have your rear shocks revalved by a reputable shop, for your weight and riding style, and it will ride far better than you'll ever achieve by just adjusting them with the stock valving.

You don't have to spend a fortune doing it, When I did mine it cost 146 bucks for the rear shocks.

I don't know what to tell you about the front Floats. Other than if you want them to be great trail riding shocks, upgrade to the Float X with adjustable compression/rebound or sell them for some coilovers. Upgrading to float 2s I've heard is an improvement, and adding additional air canisters I've also heard is an improvement ...over the factory Floats.

 

[thesnowgod]

Thanks everyone for the tips. Was hoping to avoid having the stock shocks rebuilt but it sounds like it'll be the best investment.

As far as those Floats go.... I remember reading about them when they came out thinking to myself that they seemed to be the wave of the future. It didn't take many miles on them before I was scratching my head wondering what the heck Yamaha (or Fox) was thinking when they built them. They should be fully adjustable at least.