Greater-Than-Average Dirt Bike Rider Setup - Dr. Dirt

7.Race Tech felt that Gold Valve suspension pistons ($159.99 for either front or rear) and new shim stacks at both ends would be required for best results. The Gold Valve shock piston is installed with a new piston band. Race Tech has video instruction on how to do all this shock and fork service as well as the tools to accomplish the work. For sure, the shock mod is best left to confident mechanics, and the fork requires special tools and knowledge. Race Tech charges $100 for the shock and $110 for the fork.

8.The next step is to select the shim stacks. Race Tech's Ronnie Williams has worked with another fast motocross rider who is living large, so he had a good direction for the shims he wanted to use. The Race Tech piston and shims are on the left, and the stock valving and piston are on the right. These are the compression stacks, and it is hard to see much difference. The size and thickness of the shims are not the same, and this shock will be much stiffer.

9.These are the shock rebound shims, and again, the Race Tech ones are on the left, and it is hard to detect much difference without measuring each shim.

10.These are the fork parts. Here the stock parts are on the left and the Race Tech parts and Gold Valves are on the right.

11.These are the pistons from the midspeed valves in the fork. These pistons are not replaced, but Race Tech laps the sealing surface to make sure it is flat and will seal well. The one on the right has been surfaced.

12.Finally, the parts are cleaned and readied for reassembly. Note that the shock shaft has a new shock bumper ($18.99) installed. As with any other rubber that has an extreme life and exposure to sun, heat and chemicals, it wears out.

13.Williams pointed out that the bumper is beginning to come apart inside. Obviously, this bumper no longer works as it was designed to.

14.Before final assembly, the 6.0kg/mm shock spring had one coil cut off, and the end of the spring was reshaped. This required machining a spacer for the spring to allow the preload adjuster rings to work correctly. Race Tech offers this service for $50, and it stiffened the spring rate to 6.2kg/mm. It would be better to begin with a stiffer spring, but we didn't have that option.

15.After the shock was assembled, Williams assembled the revalved fork and filled the outer chamber with the proper quantity of oil. A quart for each leg at $24.99 each.

16.Once the bike was back together, we had the sag numbers we wanted, and the Honda looked balanced instead of squatted-out in the rear.