At nearly 40K, the suspension on the BW II was getting pretty tired. Not wanting to spend $800-1000 on a fancy new shock, I sent an old one to Traxxion dynamics for a rebuild/re-valve-re-spring. Got it swapped out yesterday and took a short ride today over some notably bumpy roads to see how much difference it made. The ride is somewhat stiffer, but still bump-compliant and fairly supple. Almost seems like the rear ride height is jacked up a little, probably due to the stiffer spring and general newness of the damping unit. I will have to do some experimenting to get it how I like. The settings they set it up with are very close to what the factory recommends as a starting point for the stock shock. All-in-all a worthwhile investment at around $325 shipped.

How long was the turn around?

About 10 days from when I sent them the tired one until I got it back. Might have been quicker but I forgot to put a CC# on the online order form.

Got in about a 50-mile ride today before the rain started. Fork is still not quite as stiff as the shock even with the preload dialed up and the 7-wt. fork oil. When I got home, I backed off the rear preload by about 1/4". Hopefully I can get both ends to balance out.

I suppose you have the bike parked for winter hey, Danno? Ever get that suspension dialed in before the snow flew??

I rode 200 miles yesterday. I've backed the preload off from what TD sent i back with. Pretty satisfied with that, now I'll be tweaking the damping and trying to set the fork up to match. I think I've got a bit much compression damping on both ends at the moment. Trying to remove all harshness while not letting things get too soft and sloppy.

good. Glad to hear you're riding. I'm not even thinking about it for a few weeks.

It was nice here again today, but I had too much crap to do around the hizzle to get out. I did take a short spin to check out some softer settings. The bottom's supposed to drop out again tomorrow and them stay cold for a week. Can't bitch too much when you get two ridable days in a row in February.

especially not this year.

We had a thirty degree day last week. That sure was nice....if you are a polar bear.

Reset the sag today: 30mm front with the preload all the way out and 35mm rear. I'm just about convinced a previous owner resprung the fork at one time. I'll fiddle with damping from there.

What's everyone else running?

* Last updated by: Danno on 2/24/2014 @ 6:17 AM *

35 front / 30 rear has always been a good starting point for me. Wow, only 30 front with all the preload out? Mind if I ask what rate springs are in it?

I wish I knew. I suspect they are heavier-duty than stock, but they were in the forks when I bought the bike, so I'd only be guessing.

* Last updated by: Danno on 2/24/2014 @ 2:29 PM *

That seems pretty stiff. Though there is no "perfect" number for sag, generally you would like to be able to soften the front to have a max sag of 35-38mm. Then be able to add preload to obtain a lesser number. 30mm is pretty much the minimum sag you want to see. There are general ratios between static sag and loaded sag that can give you an idea of the current spring rate.
Most importantly, how does it feel at that number? Moderately stiff? Or does it seem to want to dive excessively under braking? Sport Rider, Race Tech, and GP Suspension all have good outlines on sag and setup. They can be pretty helpful. Not to mention Traxxion themselves.

* Last updated by: rikkitik on 2/24/2014 @ 3:50 PM *

Never had a lot of brake dive and there seems to be even less since I went to the 7-wt. fork oil. For my part, it seems just a little firm, but I like things on the soft side (or just on a hard side of wallowy) I didn't go through the whole drill of pushing down on the front, pulling up, letting it settle each time and then averaging the two, so sag may be a little more than 30mm going that way.

* Last updated by: Danno on 2/25/2014 @ 4:45 PM *

my sag is set at 30mm rear / 40mm front.

40mm seems a bit soft up front. I watched one of those suspension setup vids on Youtube and the guy set the front sag by the exposed fork tube measurement- 3 1/2" I had to dial in another 2/3 of a turn on the adjusters to get that. rode it like that for about an hour yesterday and it seemed a little bit stiff. Can't wait to see what it feels like with the bags clipped on and loaded for a weekend.

40mm seems a bit soft up front.

Some people prefer a bit of brake dive going in to quicken steering, but if you let off mid-corner, the fork extends and makes you run wide at the exit. Everything's a trade-off.