Technical background

A compact cheat-sheet: the FIRST things to reach for when the day is not the dry, standard base you set up on. Start from your saved base setup, make ONE block of changes for the condition, then test. Clicks are count...

Brakes are safety-critical. This is a deeper companion to "Brakes: pads, lever feel and braking setup" (slug: brakes-and-braking-setup) - that article covers lever feel and the setup-serves-technique idea; this one go...

Brakes are a setup item, not just a service item. Small changes in pads, lever position and fluid transform feel and control.

Your contact points - handlebar, brake lever, clutch lever, footpegs - are where every input reaches the bike. Getting them set to your body is one of the cheapest ways to gain control and reduce arm-pump and fatigue....

Cross-references: for fork height, ride height and trail see chassis-geometry-basics; for the tankslapper cause tree see sbk-symptom-trees and symptom-cause-trees. This article does not repeat geometry setup.

The clutch sits between engine and gearbox. Pull the lever and a stack of friction plates and steel plates is separated so the engine is disconnected from the rear wheel; release the lever and springs clamp the stack ...

Geometry is the balance between agility and stability. Two small adjustments move it a long way - change one at a time and feel it.

Stock springs are chosen for an average rider, usually around 75-85 kg in gear. If you are significantly lighter or heavier, no amount of clicker adjustment will fix it - clickers control how fast oil moves, springs c...

A carburetted two-stroke is jetted for air density, so the same bike needs different jetting as temperature and altitude change. Getting it close keeps power crisp and the engine safe.

Hard, slick ground - dry hardpack that polishes into shiny blue-groove - has very little grip and it does not move under you. The instinct is to stiffen the bike up. That is the mistake. On hard ground you want COMPLI...

This guide is the deeper, cited companion to "Chain and sprockets: slack, care and when to replace" (chain-and-sprocket-care). For tooth counts and ratios see the gearing guide (gearing-guide). Every number here trace...

The final drive is cheap to maintain and expensive to neglect. A dry or misadjusted chain robs power, wears sprockets and can lock a wheel if it fails.

Clickers fine-tune DAMPING - how fast the suspension is allowed to move. They do not change how stiff the spring is. Sag and spring rate first; clickers after.

Note: clicks are counted out from fully closed. + means further open (less damping), - means turning in (more damping).

The fastest riders adapt to the surface. The same setup and lines do not work everywhere - read the track and adjust.

Modern bikes let you tune the engine's character as much as the chassis. Used well these are grip and confidence tools, not just power settings.

Sag is how far the suspension compresses under the bike's own weight (static sag) and with the rider on board in full gear (race/rider sag). It positions the suspension in its working range - every clicker setting bui...

A new or new-to-you bike is set for an average rider, not you. Ten minutes before the first ride makes it feel like yours and is the cheapest performance you will ever find.

Companion to the 450 MX card. Block A are Keefer TESTED baselines (target rider ~68-82 kg; stock deviations noted) - use for plausibility, not as stock values. Block B are FACTORY values from owner's manuals - usable ...

Factory baselines for cross-checking per-bike base values in the catalog. Source: Keefer Inc. Testing 01/2025 - confidence high. Clicks = out from fully closed.

This guide covers what a tyre is made of, what the compound codes mean, how to scrub a new tyre in, why race tyres "wear out" by heat cycle, and how to read the story a used tyre tells. Pressure and choice-by-conditio...

Pressure changes contact patch, carcass stability, and temperature build-up - it is the highest-leverage 2-minute setup change, and the most often neglected one.

Every numeric pressure below is traced to a named web source (a tyre maker or a vehicle manufacturer). Where a number could not be validated from such a source, only a direction is given and it is marked as a principl...

Plausibility anchors for per-bike base values; engine deltas move within these bands. Affected keys: tirepressurefront, tirepressurerear.

Pressure fine-tunes; the right carcass/pattern/compound is the step change. Pressure bands per category live in tire-pressure-reference-values.

Every number below traces to a named manufacturer manual or suspension authority (KTM, Ohlins, Race Tech, MXA/Bones Bacon, Enduro21, Bud Racing). Where sources disagree, both the range and the sources are given. Where...

Deep sand is soft, energy-sapping ground that moves under you. The whole game is SUPPORT: keep the bike riding up in its travel so it floats on top of the sand instead of digging in and knifing. You are not chasing pl...

The biggest mistake with mud is treating it as a single setting. Mud is context-dependent - it can be soft, sucking, slippery, sticky, rutty or hard-edged - and those call for opposite setups. Before you touch a click...

Wet riding is won with grip and smoothness, not stiffness. The same principles apply across disciplines, with a few discipline-specific tweaks.

- Tight / technical tracks and climbs: one tooth MORE on the rear. Shorter gearing gives more drive out of slow corners and up hills where the engine would otherwise lug. - Fast / flowing tracks: one tooth LESS on the...