Suspension Adjustments Relating To Specific Track Conditions - Honda CR250R 2004 Owner's Manual

6. SUSPENSION ADJUSTMENT
Air Pressure Adjustment
The air pressure should be adjusted according to the
altitude and outside temperature.
1. Place a workstand under the engine, so that the
front wheel is off the ground.
NOTE:
•
Do not adjust air pressure with the front wheel on
the ground as this will give false pressure readings.
2. Remove the pressure release screw.
3. Check that the O-ring is in good condition.
4. Install the pressure release screw.
1
(1) PRESSURE RELEASE SCREW
(2) O-RING
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SUSPENSION ADJUSTMENTS RELATING TO SPECIFIC
TRACK CONDITIONS
On soft ground, sand tracks and especially muddy
tracks, you want more compression damping force
front and rear. On harder ground you run less
compression damping.
Sand tracks require a bit more rebound damping force
as well. The bumps are usually bigger, but have more
distance between them so the shock has more time
to recover. And you don't want the rear end to kick up
in the sand.
The spring force requirements probably won't change
much between a hard track and a sand track. 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 race, you want a stiffer spring front and rear
because your CR becomes much heavier with the
accumulation of mud.
If you don't compensate for the additional weight of
the mud that collects during the race, then your CR will
be undersprung and handling will deteriorate. The
2 suspension will be compressed too far most of the time
and the bike won't hook up very well.
If it is 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.