Rally Raid Suspension

[EzzySurf]

@Hollybrook So I got in touch with John Mitchinson who suggested that I increase the air gap by 20mm in addition to the lower oil weight - which I did this weekend.

 

I have only had one ride on-road this evening but hope to get a gravel run next weekend. First impressions is that its now super plush and really soaking up these road imperfections and small holes in the tarmac. It really made a huge difference for me and just what I was hoping for.

 

Now, I decided to change the seals to SKF also while I was at it. It turned out that I had a lot of stiction on the rebound leg which was fixed with the new seals and some fine grit sanding of the stanchion. I believe the stiction may also have contributed to the poor performing suspension.

 

I guess its a bit premature to draw any conclusions to whether its the oil or lack of stiction that is making the difference - probably it is a combination of both. Looking forward to get some more riding done and further testing to see where I land with the dampening clickers - first run was 3 rebound and 1 compression.

 

 

Edited October 16, 2023 by EzzySurf

[izkino]

On 7/12/2022 at 9:09 PM, Paolo_Ciro said:

I have a very similar set up to you I have the rally raid open cartridge fronts and the adventure shock on the rear whatever the one that has the preload on it. I'll cut to the chase without explaining to you what I've discovered over the last year riding multiple bdrs including the Idaho Utah Oregon and Colorado trying to dial in my setup.

 

I have 12,000 miles on my T7 with these shocks. Basically these shocks are so adjustable.  Each click really changes a lot.  The default settings for the rear shock and the front forks default is ridiculously stiff.  I'm pretty sure the stock settings are close to a motocross bike. My tail bone couldn't take it so I went on a journey trying to find the most comfortable settings for me keep in mind I'm 6 ft 7 270 lb and I have the springs appropriate for me. 

 

REAR shock:  I have to back the clickers counterclockwise all the way out on high speed and low speed until it stops and then I click both the high and low speed clockwise in two clicks for road riding and four clicks in if I plan on dirt riding.

 

  The rebound on the rear shock (bottom clicker).  Just like the top I back it out counterclockwise all the way until it stops and then I turn it in clockwise only five clicks I have found this to be good for me on both road and dirt. 

 

Ok now the front forks.  I back out both my compression and my rebound clickers counterclockwise all the way until they stop.  If I plan on riding on the road I only turn the compression clockwise two clicks.  Still staying on the topic of compression if I plan on riding on dirt I back out the compression all the way counterclockwise until it stops and then I turn in the compression clockwise four clicks that is all. 

 

Now on to rebound.  I have found that rebound for me is fine if I turn the rebound clicker for the front forks counter-clockwise until it stops and then I turn it clockwise in only three clicks for both road and dirt.

 

When I finally came to these settings I was quite surprised but also please it made me realize I could really load this bike up and the suspension could take it if I wanted to. But for general riding with a light load in my opinion the rally raid is awesome but really needs to be softened from the stock settings. 

Now this was gold advice, just adjusted the suspension I have a TracTive Extreme Shock, but it's basically the same thing and RallyRaid open cartridge kit

 

Shock: HS/LS COMP: 4 clicks IN from fully OUT, REBOUND: 5 clicks IN from fully OUT

Forks: COMP: 4 clicks IN from fully OUT, REBOUND: 3 clicks IN from fully OUT

 

I had fork compression exactly the same, but rebound was waaay in (I think 8 or 10 IN).

Shock was totally stiff, like 10 IN on LS/HS compression.

 

Now it's mega plush, no kicking from the shock, very comfortable setting, I think I might need to bump the compresion one/two clicks IN more on forks, when I jump the bike it bottoms out, maybe I'll put one click on HS Comp on the shock as well. But it's much better now, thank you @Paolo_Ciro 

[Hollybrook]

I believe both Tractive and Rally Raid recommend adjusting the rear shock by starting with the adjusters turned fully in (clockwise) and counting clicks turning out (counter clockwise).  Their recommended settings to begin tuning are:

 

  Rebound                                    10

  Low Speed Compression    10

  High Speed Compression  10

 

While I found these to be generally good off road, they seemed a bit harsh on the street and over chatter bumps on the trail.  I experimented to find something that was better on the street, but would not bottom out on moderate bumps and jumps (no doubles for this guy!).  I am currently running and am happy with:

 

  Rebound                                    11

  Low Speed Compression    13

  High Speed Compression  14

 

The forks are adjusted by turning fully counter clockwise and and counting clicks clockwise.  I am currently at:

 

  Rebound                                    3

 Compression                           4

 

These are the same settings as used by @Paolo_Ciro and @izkino above.  John Mitchinson ( @Ktmmitch) of Rally Raid suggested to me that if I really wanted to soften up the forks, I could lower the oil level, but I have not found the need to do this.

 

 

Edited February 14 by Hollybrook

[r1superstar]

I have ridden the T7 on the pavement stock with OEM tires.  Amazing! 

 

Now that I use it as an Adventure bike, I need stiffer forks and a compliant rear end.  The OEM springs suffered through the IDBDR but it was rideable as long as I didn't push it too hard on the rough stuff.  Jamming through Lockhart Basin outside of Moab on the UTBDR, the suspension is WAY TOO SOFT!  The rear chatters on wash board like crazy!  The front bottoms out on the slightest of bumps. 

 

I ordered Race Tech .71s and Rally Raid 85N springs.  I will swap out the OEM fork oil as well.  This thread has some great information so thanks to everyone for posting it up.

 

 

Edited April 18 by r1superstar

[prowlnS10]

On 10/15/2023 at 10:10 AM, EzzySurf said:

@Hollybrook So I got in touch with John Mitchinson who suggested that I increase the air gap by 20mm in addition to the lower oil weight - which I did this weekend.

 

I have only had one ride on-road this evening but hope to get a gravel run next weekend. First impressions is that its now super plush and really soaking up these road imperfections and small holes in the tarmac. It really made a huge difference for me and just what I was hoping for.

 

Now, I decided to change the seals to SKF also while I was at it. It turned out that I had a lot of stiction on the rebound leg which was fixed with the new seals and some fine grit sanding of the stanchion. I believe the stiction may also have contributed to the poor performing suspension.

 

I guess its a bit premature to draw any conclusions to whether its the oil or lack of stiction that is making the difference - probably it is a combination of both. Looking forward to get some more riding done and further testing to see where I land with the dampening clickers - first run was 3 rebound and 1 compression.

 

 

Do you know what the air gap level was prior to increasing by 20 mm? i.e was it the RR recommended 120 mm for normal riding or 100mm for more aggressive riding?

[EzzySurf]

On 4/19/2024 at 6:10 AM, prowlnS10 said:

Do you know what the air gap level was prior to increasing by 20 mm? i.e was it the RR recommended 120 mm for normal riding or 100mm for more aggressive riding?

I had the RR recommended airgap of 120mm which has been increased by 20mm.

[Tenerider]

38 minutes ago, EzzySurf said:

I had the RR recommended airgap of 120mm which has been increased by 20mm.

Sounds reasonable - the closed cartridge forks run 120mm by default, too - too stiff for my riding. Interestingly, the exact same cartridges from Touratech run 130mm by default. I might increase my air gap as well by 10-15mm (now running 123mm).

[prowlnS10]

I have since increased my air gap from 120 to 140 mm & used 2.5 weight oil in the compression fork & it has improved compliance over bumps, more so mid to big hits...harder to tell how much for  initial compliance changed, but impressed that the RR 35 m open cartridge design has the latitude for such tuning changes. I liken the air gap increase to softening square edged hits to feel more like rounded speed bumps & the change in oil weight to equating to approx 4 clickers of useful adjustment beyond the previous zero compression clicker setting, moving the whole range  to the compliance end. The design has more headroom on the stiffer end than most users would ever use, but impressive that it is there if you need it. My take is that RR could have moved their range of fork & clicker performance envelope about 6 clicks to the compliance side for most users, even with the redesigned compression piston & valve stack designed to flow about 30% more oil implemented in early 2022 & now installed on my 2021 fork kit.

Edited April 22 by prowlnS10