Letter Of The Week

I'm 14 years old and weigh 125 pounds, I just switched over from riding a YZ85 to a CRF150R. I race hare scrambles and I found that the 150 has a great motor for hare scrambles because of the great bottom end and the strong mid range pull. But I always bottom out the suspension and I miss the light weight of the two-stroke. Is there any way that I can make the suspension better and make the bike handle like the 85?

Austin Georskey

Chardon, OH

Welcome to moto-adulthood, the state of a perpetual dilemma of choice between four-stroke power vs. two-stroke nimbleness. Now, your bottoming problem can be solved. First, set your race sag and check your free sag, this can tell you if you need to up your rear spring rate. If that needs to go up, I've always found it's very important to match an equivalent rate change in the front to keep the bike's ends balanced (this assumes they are balanced when you start the spring changing). And that leads to your handling issue. If you want to attempt to make your 150R handle like an 85, I'd suggest running the rear sag a little low to shift some weight off the front wheel and onto the rear. That might make it handle a little more like an 85, but you're not going to get that 85's light feel, which is about engine gyroscopicity as much as actual weight. Yes, that is a made up word. Yes, I can do that. - Pete Peterson