Dirt Bike Suspension Tuning
Setting the Sag
Setting the sag is one of the most important setup aspects for the overall handling and performance of your bike.
The sag affects your ride height, steering, and handling. Properly tuned suspension will put your machine at its top
performance. You can adjust the sag for the rear shock as well as the front forks. And it's something you can either
do yourself or have an expert help you.
The two most common measures of sag are race sag and static sag. To calculate sag you need three measurements in millimeters:
Adjust the race sag first, and always refer to your owners manual to verify proper specs. Also, it can be helpful to
adjust your suspension for whatever terrain you are riding on. Softer terrain can often justify firmer suspension, while
hard terrian may warrant softer suspension.
Different size bikes have different suspension settings, and if you don't want to do the math to figure out the correct
level of sag the table below shows the typically reccomended setting for different size dirt bikes:

- Unloaded: Place your bike on a stand and measure the distance from the axle to a fixed point like the fender or side panel
- Loaded without rider: Place your bike on the ground and measure the distance from the axle to the same fixed point as measurement 1
- Loaded with rider: Place your bike on the ground, sit on it, and measure the distance from the axle to the same fixed point as the other measurements
Suspension | % of available travel |
---|---|
Front Static | 14% |
Front Race | 25% |
Rear Static | 11% |
Rear Race | 34% |
50 - 65 cc | 85 - 100 cc | 125 - 450 cc | |
---|---|---|---|
Race Sag | 70mm | 80 - 90mm | 102 - 105mm |
Static Sag | 25 - 35mm | 25 - 35mm | 30 - 40mm |