Suspension school?

[JoePA]

Does anyone know where these suspension guys go to learn how to rebuild and tune shocks? I've looked and looked but never find anything solid. Would love to do this as I hate not getting shocks to perform the way i want and have to pay someone to do it.

Joe

[05450r]

I would assume they are factory trained for the line they carry?

[rablack21]

I would assume they are factory trained for the line they carry?

I believe this is right. I think they have to take a class with the vender to be "factory certified" for certain brands.

[JoePA]

Agree but a shock is a shock unless its a fox or an Axis proair. you change the seals, seal head etc but when it comes to shims and spring rates that's what gets me plus how much nitrogen do you put in? Also where do you get the parts?

[JoePA]

Ok going to call Axis, cuz they are close and see what they say.

[05450r]

Correct, Im sure once they get factory trained, and become a dealer for that brand, they just apply that to other brands. Shock parts then become available separately since your a dealer. Some builder also machine their own custom valving.

[rablack21]

Agree but a shock is a shock unless its a fox or an Axis proair. you change the seals, seal head etc but when it comes to shims and spring rates that's what gets me plus how much nitrogen do you put in? Also where do you get the parts?

From what my shock builder told me, those specific companies give them a build sheet on what shock setup should fit your weight, setup, and style of riding. From there they fine tune according to their own experiences. You buy the parts directly from the manufacturer. They verify the shock builds with a shock dyno. The amount of nitrogen put in also comes from the manfacturer's recommendations.

[jamieg45]

There is a pep shock guy in PA bud and he does a good job. I will give him a call and see if he will sponsor you bud. What shocks do you currently have on your R.

[JoePA]

Jamie,
    I currently run Axis. After riding that 450R with the fox floats I know my front and rear shock were not set up properly. Those shocks ate up the landings oh so nice! i'm sure a finly tuned shock will work the same but I just can't seem to luck out with shocks and this is why i want to learn to do it myself so I can dial them in. I really do appreciate it jamie as it means a lot for doing that. I like to support the local guy if I can but hard to find anyone that does it near me but you got the hook up!!

[zcarlson12]

I'm not sure if he still does them but Andy @ Maul Tech used to do shock schools. Give him a call.

[JoePA]

He does and I put in for a 2013 call but nothing materialized. I guess not anough intrest. Only problem with that is it's a 12+ hour drive for me so fuel, hotel plus the cost of the class was what was a tough decision. I do like the fact that he offers it and has several level of classes. I text Andy often and a great person to deal with.

[05450r]

Andy is a great guy, I always wanted to take the class, plus hes only an hour away.

[Burns363R]

I think andy and Maul tech has done schools in the past. Hes an Axis guy at heart to.

[Burns363R]

Opps seen that was already posted.

[andy@maultechatv]

Well here is my story.  I can't speak for any of the other shops but this is how I learned what I know.  

I raced MX and wanted my local shop that I was buying parts from to do my shocks (works at the time) and he always had an excuse why he couldn't.  I knew suspension (bike setup wasn't even considered back then) was where I needed to improve to go faster.  So I called Custom Axis in California (when Mike Hallock still ran it) and setup a trip to learn what I could.  All that I learned out there was how to service a shock and put new seals in it.  The guy put a shock on the dyno but he had no clue what he was doing.

I began dealing through GT Thunder (around 12 years ago) and started asking questions about suspension.  I knew from talking to him that he was the go to guy.  He told me a lot over the phone and started using his valving stack setups.  I also began changing my suspension and customers bikes too.  I started to see how important linkages were and understanding what they did along with correcting the up and down travel of the suspension.  It took a lot of thinking and trying different setups to see what I thought worked best.  You really have to put your head down and just dive in.

I then drove to PA to Penske (custom axis) with a friend who was wanting to start his own shop for another class with Andy Lambert.  I was hoping to pick up something but it was really more of a rebuild class again but I did get introduced to different piston designs and how they function differently.

I was fortunate enough to have a couple of really good riders close to me that I worked with and still do to this day for testing and feedback too.  Two of which run in the pro class now.  One of which completely understands just about every aspect of suspension setup (which is a rarity with pro riders).  

Laz at GT began offering classes so I was one of the first to sign up.  I didn't really learn anything from this because it was a beginner class but everyone else in the class had their heads spinning by the end of day 1 of 3.

The new fox shox came out so I tore a set apart and figured them out but I couldn't buy parts so off to California I went for a 3 day class.  I learned absolutely nothing out there and the guy teaching me saw that there was no need for the 2nd and 3rd day so I pretty much roamed the place and hung out in the bike setup/mockup room.  Definitely by far the largest manufacturer in the ATV industry I've been too.

Laz offered more classes so I went out and took the 2nd and 3rd classes.  To my surprise there was only 1 other guy in the 2nd and I was the only one in the 3rd.  So it was one on one for 3 days and I can say I learned more in those 3 days than I had the past 6 years.  Finally got to put my theories to use and learned all about a shock dyno along with building a shock linkage from scratch.  I actually purchased a shock dyno while I was in Ohio.  Everything started to make sense from all the past years.  I began building programs to calculate so many things from spring rate per rider input to progression rates etc.  

With the dyno I can now change internal valving and actually see what I'm doing without riding the bike.  As long as I'm supplied with the "correct" measurements I ask for I can make your bike work just as good as our best setup.  Everything is just a leverage ratio and can be calculated on paper (or in a program).  Your valving is DIRECTLY related to spring rate which is DIRECTLY related to leverage ratio!

I like to give information out so I can limit phone calls due to being way too busy in the shop so I started offering classes of my own.  I've had classes at the shop and at the track.  Most of the classes at the shop were people starting their own suspension business.  We have a Beginner and Advanced School that are 3 days each.  I've been very happy to work with them and talk with most on a weekly basis.  The classes at the track were intertwined with some of my pro riders with riding tips and their setups.  Mostly TT racing.

I unfortunately have been WAY too busy in my shop to teach another class lately.  I would like to host another one this spring but there is no guarantee.  If you're interested please send me an email and I have a folder I drop your name and contact info in so if I am going to host a class I know where to find your info.  If I don't respond to your email you may have been automatically sent to my junk mail and I might not see it. So please call me so I can keep an eye out for it.  There should be a class syllabus on our website if you're interested in seeing what we offer.

I guess in closing - you get out of it what you put into it!  There's only so much someone can show you but hard work and dedication will eventually pay off.  Hope this helps