Thinking about shocks & (rider weight)

[Joey_Stacks]

Im thinking about doing banshee fronts and a 400ex or 250r Rear only question I have is who rides a setup like this that weighs around 220lbs?
I would rather not spend the money if Im still gonna be to heavy to enjoy this new setup.
I searched around and found some weight specs but I want to hear first hand from people
oh and please post your weight because Im not gonna believe a 130lb 13year old when he tells me "That setup will be just fine"

 

[sicivicdude]

Particularly with the rear shock, it doesn't really matter what your weight is. The spring has TONS of preload capacity and using a combonation of thicker/thinner oil and the adjusters you can achieve any desired compression and rebound rates you want.

The banshee fronts are an improvement over the blaster shocks. For the money, you cannot beat them as an upgrade. The progressively wound springs mean that even if you have a little bit of sag while riding, it will still hold you up when you do some jumps.

I can speak from personal experience, I might be overloading the blaster by a little bit at 325 lbs....

 

[Whitty21]

i run a 400 ex rear shock, i am 5'10 and weigh 180, if i were u i would go with the 400ex shock cause i believe it is a bit shorter and raises the back less, but with your weight it may be just as well with the r shock

 

[Joey_Stacks]

I got rep for both of you guys Thanks for sharing

 

[Awk08]

no, skip the 250r, it raised the ass end of my sons almost 6 inches, but that was with a +4 swinger, which doesnt compute to a better handling bike, and my boys 230+lbs. didnt squash it enuf , so a new shock mount was needed, which made it awsome, with him, or my almost 200lbs.
plush as hell and almost 12 inches of travel, but only fool with it if you plan on reworking the shock mount

just get the 400ex shock, although i had a 450r, they're the same, and i have yet to bottom it out, even on the biggest jumps i dare to do

and get ken oconnors shock bushings for the top mount, makes it an easy swap

cant speak for the fronts, once i ditch stockers, it's works for me

 

[sicivicdude]

If you have the money laying around, there are better front shocks to be had than banshee shocks but even the highest grade aftermarket rear shock does not have a stark feature advantage over the 400EX rear shock. The 400ex rear shock has all of the major features you could want; compression control, rebound control, threaded spring preload, and rebuildability. The only thing it doesn't have is a progressively wound spring or triple spring rates but for MOST riders those aren't needed anyway.

 

[Joey_Stacks]

Thanks as of right now I do not have the money. I still have to get crank seals and jet my carb. I cant even afford to do that right now. I am just trying to figure out my next purchase after those things are done and it looks to me like 400ex rear shock might be it.

 

[sicivicdude]

Highly recommend it! You can actually get pretty much any of the 400's rear shock. They appear to all be the same showa unit. I know Ken says that someone has tried his bushings on a Z400 shock and it worked. The trick is to go with a low hour unit. None are THAT expensive, 400EX rear shocks go for $20-$30 on Ebay but if you buy the oldest worn one out there you might spend an afternoon rebuilding it. I got mine for $16.00 shipped to the house and when it got there it was half full of oil and no nitrogen pressure left at all. Phragle has a DIY rebuild thread for these shocks and nothing about it is particularly difficult but instead of bolt'n'go you spend an afternoon with shock oil all over everything. If you don't mind tinkering (I actually like going through and monkeying with things before I run them) it's not too bad and can save some green but if you're not up to it, better spend an extra $10-$20 and get a slightly newer and less beat model.

 

[Whitty21]

Highly recommend it! You can actually get pretty much any of the 400's rear shock. They appear to all be the same showa unit. I know Ken says that someone has tried his bushings on a Z400 shock and it worked. The trick is to go with a low hour unit. None are THAT expensive, 400EX rear shocks go for $20-$30 on Ebay but if you buy the oldest worn one out there you might spend an afternoon rebuilding it. I got mine for $16.00 shipped to the house and when it got there it was half full of oil and no nitrogen pressure left at all. Phragle has a DIY rebuild thread for these shocks and nothing about it is particularly difficult but instead of bolt'n'go you spend an afternoon with shock oil all over everything. If you don't mind tinkering (I actually like going through and monkeying with things before I run them) it's not too bad and can save some green but if you're not up to it, better spend an extra $10-$20 and get a slightly newer and less beat model.

from what i heat the z400 is i different shock, i wont say it sucks, cause people get touchy on that, but apparently it is bouncier, whether that is because the z is heavier or something i dont know, but i would stay with the tried and true ex shock

 

[piezzi]

Thanks as of right now I do not have the money.

CraigsList is your friend! I found banshee fronts for $20 and then I found a 400ex for $20 on CL. I bought the ken oconnor bushings & bolt for $25, and so my suspension upgrade only cost me $65 total.

Both people I called about the shocks said, "make me an offer". I offered $20, they stumbled for a second and then said, "sounds good". Of course I agreed .

 

[Paulie B]

For a person of larger carriage the YFZ450 shocks come to mind.
I used to run them front and rear and for my 160lbs they were a tad too stiff.
I imagine packin on a couple lb's would suit them better.

 

[sicivicdude]

It's the $150+ price tag that turns me off of the yfz450 fronts. I love the looks, they look like they'd do a very good job.

I hadn't heard that the Z400 is bouncy, only that they will fit on there. If they're too bouncy, you could change to heavier shock oil to slow them down...

 

[Joey_Stacks]

CraigsList is your friend! I found banshee fronts for $20 and then I found a 400ex for $20 on CL. I bought the ken oconnor bushings & bolt for $25, and so my suspension upgrade only cost me $65 total.

Both people I called about the shocks said, "make me an offer". I offered $20, they stumbled for a second and then said, "sounds good". Of course I agreed .

I hear you about that I got about half my life on craigslist trying to make ends meet. I will be scoping it out. I know for a fact that a couple of my buddies have some 400ex's sitting around as parts bikes.