Forks or Shocks?

[Tahitian_Red]

Which do you think is more important on a Vintage/EVO MX bike? 

I've always tried to go with the best rear suspension I could run.  On tracks with whoop sections and big jumps (Modern style) I would think the forks play a bigger role, but as long as your forks dampen well (re-worked holes) and are sprung correctly things should be fine on a Vintage/Evo track. I only run emulators on my YZ400D.

I started out racing VMX on a bike with Ohlins shocks and Fox Factory Forx.  Since then I have raced and won on bikes with great rear shocks and just re-worked and tuned stock forks (77 RM125B,Can-Am MX-6 and '83 CR480*).  The Fox Factory Forx work well and are great "bling", but I'm just as fast with stock forks that are tweaked a bit.

*
RM125B- Spent time coming up with the right ratio of oil level to air pressure.
MX-6B- Cut slots in the damping rods like Works Performance did back-in-the-day.
CR480- Welded up and then re-drilled holes in the damping rods as per an MXA article.

[Lozza]

Good forks will make standard/reworked shocks feel like shit, same goes if you use a new set of aftermarket shocks immediately the front feels worse. New shocks and emulators for me.

[Tahitian_Red]

Lozza,

That was my fear with the emulators; That they would make the rear of the Yamaha feel worse.  So, far the rear with the Works Performance monoshock, feels just as good as the front.

I think what I was attempting to say and may have gotten off track, was that on the "watered-down" (tame) tracks we race on most of the time, perhaps the rear suspension is more important.

 

[Lozza]

Don't know why you would want underperforming forks for the sake of $160 and drilling a few holes.

[brent j]

I used to have a theory that the back should be better. My reasoning was this.

If you hit an unexpected bump (dusty track etc) and the front gets over it without throwing you off, then the back will get over it too.

If the forks are much better than the back and you hit the same bump, the back may well pitch you off.

Which ever end you improve the most will always make the other end seem worse
Now I just try and keep improving both ends so the bias of which is better is always changing. 

[Kenneth S (222)]

TR,
I think to answer your question as I understand it, the rear is more important to have right and by right I mean predictable first and plush second. I think the rear is much more important to "invest" in than the front. The rear is where most of your weight is so if it works well, less chance of a major get off and the rear is where you get your traction from, so a well working rear gives better hook up through and out of corners. Although it is uncomfortable to ride, I can get by much better with an average front end than an average back end and still keep up a good pace with an average front end. The right oil and a bit of air pressure to compensate for soft or saggy springs is a cheap way to compensate. Of all the bikes I owned the one I hated the most was the one with the rubbish back end. It kicked and bucked all over the place and sent me to hospital twice in a year. The best bike I ever owned had the most predictable rear end, maybe not the plushest, but the most predictable rear end, with OK forks and if you ask me that's where its at 'PREDICTABLE'. If I know what the rear end is going to do when I inevitably bite off more than I can chew, then I feel more comfortable getting closer to the edge and it is more fun too.
KJ

[Nathan S]

For an enduro bike, forks are definitely more important to me. Being able to turn the bike and have confidence that its not going to deflect (or whatever) is worth a ton of time and effort.
I can put up with other parts of the bike being sub-standard, but the forks have got to work properly and the bike's gotta steer right.
 
For an MX bike, I'd still make the forks the priority, but its easier to ride around problems with an average front end on most MX tracks.

[tony27]

I'd say rear is more important, I've just swapped to ohlins on the rear of my CZ in place of the works performance billet trackers that had been on there.
I'd had quite a few people comment on how stiff the bike was & how the wheels were off the ground way too often. With the softer correctly valved shocks the forks feel better as well
My YZ465 needs doing now, will do the shock first to stop it feeling like it's low in the back & worry about the forks later on since they feel pretty good already

[dalesween]

Im with ya Nathan on the enduro bike thing,having a front end that is plush on tree roots etc but still absorbs the "vee-dips" at speed combined with a good front tyre is where the confidence comes from.

cheers Dale.

[evo550]

Good forks by a mile.
Bad forks = Bad arm pump = no control = no fun.
Good forks = no arm pump = fun.

[holeshot buddy]

both but if i had to choose it would be a
quality shock or shocks
you can set standard forks to preform well with little mods

[Tahitian_Red]

HB,

If you could only fix one I'm with you, for VMX, fix the rear.  PD valves and Emulators are a bargain for what you gain though and I'll probably put them on all the bikes I continue to race.

I was originally thinking about the '78 Yamaha and Honda SX teams that ran basically stock bikes and Hannah and Tripes did pretty well with just new holes drilled in their dampers.  The Honda team riders did run Ohlins and Fox Shox on the rear. 

I wonder if the full on works forks back then were even as good as forks with PD Valves/Emulators?  Their "Trickness" seems to be in their light weight and strength over anything OEM.  The machined look was super cool too!.

[Nathan S]

The guys who are rating shocks as more important than forks: Do any of you ride with the modern style of putting lots of weight over the front? Or are you still going Bob Hannah style?

(Not saying that I ride with any style - unless you count "old woman" as a style...).

[Kenneth S (222)]

The guys who are rating shocks as more important than forks: Do any of you ride with the modern style of putting lots of weight over the front? Or are you still going Bob Hannah style?

(Not saying that I ride with any style - unless you count "old woman" as a style...).

Hi Nathan, good point! Most of the weight over the middle to back but I have noticed how far forward the modern guys get. Perhaps if your forks worked as well as modern forks seem to, you'd feel more comfortable. Prefer to fall off the back than over the front though. Is there a theory about why they ride so far forward?

[tony27]

I ride a coffin tank CZ, it's not possible to get over the front & still have a voice that humans can hear