Harsh Rear Ride and Hard-to-Reach Rear Preload

Testers riding the DS625X on broken surfaces report the rear feeling harsh on the standard settings, with a sense of the rear bottoming out over sharper hits.

Symptoms

• Jarring over expansion joints, potholes and patched tarmac.
• A feeling that the rear runs out of travel at speed, especially two-up or loaded.

Cause

The KYB rear shock is fully adjustable for preload, compression and rebound. The preload collar sits where you cannot get to it with the shock fitted, so setting preload means dropping the shock out of the bike. The bolt-on rear subframe makes that job easier than it would otherwise be. From the factory the damping is set firm.

Fix

Preload is the setting that matters most and it needs the shock removed to adjust, which is a dealer or competent home-mechanic job. Set it for your weight and your usual load.

Compression and rebound are reachable with the shock in place. Backing off some compression and adding a little rebound at the rear calms the ride over bumps noticeably. Aim for front and rear that compress and rebound at a similar, controlled rate rather than pogoing.

Sources

• Bennetts BikeSocial review, which describes the harsh rear, the bottoming-out sensation, and the preload adjuster being inaccessible without removing the shock.
• MCN review.
• Visordown review.

Riding a DS625X with this issue? Send your settings and impressions so we can refine this with owner data.