Hard rear suspension
 

Hi all.

I bought a XT660X 2009 in March so I'm still new into these bikes. I've lurked around here and read about certain mods.

Mods so far:

Removed the snorkel
Raised the CO-level from 20 to 35
Yamaha original handguards

But to my question. The stock suspension is set to almost soft. Just one notch from the softest setting. I've turned the spring-preload to the softest. And I'm still think the suspension is pretty hard. I'm 80Kgs and I don't have passengers on my bike. The chain is rolling on the lower rubber chain roll all the time. I guess that bearing will be toast pretty fast :)

Are you experience this "problem" ?

I,ve got mine set too nearly the hardest setting

your chain should run on lower rubber its normal http://www.xt660.com/images/icons/icon14.gif

80kg is fine, im 14.5 stone (92kg) and only find that its the most roughest of roads that causes me to feel the suspension is hard. Ive just turned my suspension up 2 clicks as i found ive bottomed out the rear suspension once or twice and even got my bash plate to touch the ground on a few outtings:icon_cool:.

I cant think of a solution to soften it up un less you want to add more wieght to the rear of the bike to try and create more load on the suspension to soften it off. either that or a new softer shock but dont think you wanna go there���

Strange.

I can't push down the rear suspension more than an inch or two. If I put a passenger on. We're able to push down the suspension almost all the way.

Maybe the later XTX:s has harder suspension than older models.

I often bottom out after landing a jump, with the suspension set at the second notch.
i find it is about right there for me even with the occasional bottoming out as otherwise its to hard for off road.
But for on the track i click it it up one notch for stiffer back suspension, better grip and find it to be a bit more responsive out of the corners when laying down the power.

Hi Guys,
One thing to remember with most bikes that can carry a pillion is that the shock linkage is often designed to allow good compliance in the first third of shock travel and then really load up the shock via the linkage ratio.
This is a result of the huge load range that a rear shock has to deal with on a bike that carries a pillion. (a common problem with guys that race production bikes)
I weigh 70 kg and run the preload on the hardest setting on my XTX using the bike 95% on the road, I find that gives the most compliant ride as it's using the shock over the more sensitive part of it's stroke, (first third).
Adjusting the spring preload mainly alters the ride height rather than the spring rate, which is determined by the spring specs, if you keep bottoming out, you'll need a stronger spring. Cheers.