2014 300 Baseline Settings?

[95jersey]

New to Gas Gas with a 2014 300. I am a 185lb hare scramble racer. How are you guys setting up your suspension on the late models? Only older models in the sticky.

Right now I am at 18 clickers out comp and 16 out rebound (front and rear). I have the fork preload turned all the way out then 1 turn in. I have about 8 hours on the bike. I ride in soft - intermediate conditions (no rocks, all dirt, sand, and some roots).

I don't jump anything larger than some rollers or whoops, just want progressive plush sharp cornering suspension for quick paced trail riding.

Also, my sag is about 1" after race sag 4". Are the stock springs OK for my weight?

[Simmo737]

Originally Posted by 95jersey

New to Gas Gas with a 2014 300. I am a 185lb hare scramble racer. How are you guys setting up your suspension on the late models? Only older models in the sticky.

Right now I am at 18 clickers out comp and 16 out rebound (front and rear). I have the fork preload turned all the way out then 1 turn in. I have about 8 hours on the bike. I ride in soft - intermediate conditions (no rocks, all dirt, sand, and some roots).

I don't jump anything larger than some rollers or whoops, just want progressive plush sharp cornering suspension for quick paced trail riding.

Also, my sag is about 1" after race sag 4". Are the stock springs OK for my weight?

Your clickers/pfp are in a good starting spot.

Sag wise you are on the money, the new chassis has a slacker steering head angle and noticeably looses grip and steering beyond about 102mm but it's gradual, like suzukis it shakes it head with too much sag as well ( counter intuitive). I haven't ridden a 14 so I can't comment on the shock, but if your doing quicker riding you will find going In on the clickers actually plushens it up.

If you are mechanically able the beta stock valving is an instant improvement on the zokes, plenty of info at betariders.org. Plenty of info on fork service /revalve
In suspension section.

Hope that helps.

[Jakobi]

Is that weight nudey or fully geared up?

I weigh in a touch less and went up to .44kg/mm fronts, and 5.4 rate rear spring. Its firmer than stock, but I would rather run a heavier spring with less compression damping. Personal preference.

What is the bike doing at the moment which you seek to improve?

[95jersey]

185 is geared up. I am currently 180lbs. When the bike was new the forks felt very stiff just sitting on the stand, but surprisingly felt great out on the trail. I expected new suspension to be stiff and not as compliant, but that was not the case. I was immediately faster than on my other bike with KYB SSS valved by Factory Connection with 48f and 5.6r.

I ran 16 out initially and no preload (in forks), set race sag to 4" and got 1" of free sag as a result.

After about 6-8 hours I noticed the forks feeling a bit harsh, where as brand new they felt more plush. This is completely counter intuitive to what is typically normal. There were a couple of occasions where I hit the face of a large whoop and just slammed into the thing and almost when over the bars. Part of that was my sloppiness, but I am thinking that maybe my forks bottomed out and then dug into the face of the whoop causing the bike to be unsettled??

I was thinking of adding 2 turns of preload and backing of the compression and rebound to 14 clicks? What do you all think?

Eventually I may get it revalved, but I want to put some mileage on her first.

[Jakobi]

I'd leave your comp and rebound where they are, and simply add PFP 1/4 turn at a time until the bike feels nice.

These forks chew oil too. The fluid level in the outer appears to drop over time, and the fluid in the inner works hard and degrades quickly.

Your fork sag measurements when new will be somewhat skewed as they have so much stiction out of the box. I'd suggest measuring them again. Race sag being more important than static. Take a few measurements and average them out.