Honda CRF450R 2020, Owner'S Manual & Competition Handbook

Page: 156 / 199

Suspension Adjustments for Track Conditions
Adjustments for Competition
151
Suspension Adjustments for Track Conditions
Soft Surface
On soft ground, sand, and especially mud, consider
increasing compression damping front and rear.
Sand often requires a bit more rebound damping to
minimize rear end kick. Although sand bumps are
usually larger, there’s more distance between
them, giving the shock more time to recover.
You may want a little bit stiffer front suspension
for sand tracks to help keep the front end up and
improve straight-line stability.
In a muddy event, stiffer optional springs front and
rear may help, especially if you are heavier than
the average rider. Your CRF may be under-sprung
because of the added weight of the clinging mud.
This additional weight may compress the
suspension too much and affect traction.
Hard Surface
For a fast, hard track with no large jumps, you can
probably run the same spring as normal, but run
softer damping both ways-compression and
rebound. If you run softer rebound damping, the
wheel will follow the rough ground and small
bumps much better, and you will hook up better.
With a lot of rebound damping, the wheel returns
very slowly and doesn’t contact the ground quickly
enough after each bump. The result is a loss of
traction and slower lap times.