In
part
one of our project, we let the CRF 230
breathe a bit by opening up the air box
and exhaust, the installed the optional
jetting. The cost was $37 for all the jets,
and dollar for dollar, it was the most improvement
that could be gained from the bike. It literally
brought the bike alive. But
in the process of making the bike much more
spirited, the shortcomings of the suspension
were rather harshly pointed out. Bumps that
were merely tolerated, quickly became rattling,
jarring hits to the rear end when we hit
them at speed. The bike was returned to
the garage and we considered our adjustment
options. Hmmm.
No compression adjustment. No rebound. Just
preload. This meant getting the "sag"
correct was all that we could do. Sag is
the amount the suspension compresses when
you're sitting on the bike in the normal
riding position, compared to the fully extended
suspension position when the bike is on
a stand with the rear wheel in the air. About
one-third of the suspension travel is normally
the amount of sag with the rear wheel. For
example, if your bike has 9 inches of travel,
you'll want to dial in 3 inches of sag.
This is a ball park number and you might
need more or less sag, depending on your
riding style and the terrain you ride on. Here's
how to dial in your sag: first put your
bike on a stand (or a milk crate) so the
rear wheel doesn't touch the ground. Measure
from the rear axle to a point on the rear
fender. This is the extended measurement,
or number. You'll need to have someone help
you with this next step. Sit on the bike
and have a buddy measure the same points
as the extended measurement. You'll find
a difference in the measurement … and
this is the sag. On
the 230 Honda, 3 inches works out about
right. If you have more than 3 inches, you
need to crank up the shock spring preload.
If you have less than 3 inches, then you
don't have enough sag, and you need to reduce
the shock preload. To adjust the shock preload,
you need to loosen the jam nut on the top
of the shock. Use a heavy hammer and a blunt-tipped
drift to loosen the top jam nut, then turn
it counterclockwise, until you can see some
space between the top jam nut and the bottom
jam nut, the screw it up the shock body.
Remove the mud-guard attached to the back
of the air box. Two bolts hold it in place.
Grab the spring and turn it counterclockwise
to loosen the remaining jam nut, or clockwise
to tighten the nut. Adjust the spring preload
and re-measure sag to see where you're at.
When you get the correct sag, screw the
upper jam nut back down to the lower nut.
Re-tighten the jam nut with the drift and
hammer. 
Works
Performance shocks come with all the
mounting hardware and adjusting tools |
Ride
the bike again, and then you'll probably
do what we did. No matter how much we fiddled
with the preload, the shock still left a
lot be desired. Sure, the bike was acceptable
on smooth dirt roads, but then, so is a
Buick. We
opted for a replacement shock. Two
stages of tuning are available from Works
Performance for the Honda CRF230F. Both
the shocks available for this bike are mono-tube
designs that incorporate Works' unique check
ball, spring and orifice valving system.
This design allows the high, medium and
low speed damping circuits to be modified
independent of each other. The shocks are
nitrogen charged and equipped with a bladder-style
reservoir. They each feature threaded spring
preload and 18-position rebound adjustment.
The Pro Series shock also has 22-position
adjustable compression. The
shocks are all built to order to specific
rider weights and intended use. Each unit
is covered with a 30-day Ride Quality Guarantee.
If the rider feels the shock is too stiff
or too soft, Works will re-valve and re-spring
the shock as necessary without charge except
for shipping. When the rider gets the shock
back, another 30-day period begins. This
is done to make sure that the shock meets
all the objectives of the rider. The shocks
are covered with a 90-day warranty against
parts and materials defects whether or not
it is used in competition. Because
of the linkage design and packaging requirements,
the shock design allows a modest increase
in travel from 8.6-inches (actual travel)
to 9.2-inches. The shocks are also equipped
with an adjustable length feature that allows
the ride height to be raised or lowered
without changing the spring pre-load. This
is referred to as adjustable ride height. Construction
features that pertain to both of the shocks
for the 230F: 5/8-inch diameter, hard-chromed,
induction hardened, high-tensile steel shaft;
steel pressure tube welded to a steel body
eye casting; spring wound from chrome silicon
wire, shot-peened, set to solid and powder
coated; and other metal components are machined
from billet aluminum or cold-rolled steel
(grade depends on component). All the shocks
are fully re-serviceable and all individual
parts are available to the customer. Shock 1-- Adjustable Gasser Remote. Hose
mounted reservoir shock with 18-position
adjustable through-the-shaft rebound and
adjustable ride height. Allows adjustment
for conditions: terrain changes, more whoops,
preload changes, etc. Designed for heavy-duty
use. Direct bolt-on. Retail price: $449.00
each. Shock
2-- Adjustable Pro Series. Similar to the
Adjustable Gasser Remote shock above, except
equipped with a 22-position adjustable compression
reservoir. Designed for heavy-duty use.
Retail price: $529.00 Works
also offers a similar pair of shocks for
the CRF150F and for virtually all small
displacement bikes from backyard minis (special
springing and valving setups are available
for riders up to 240 lbs), to 85cc mini
competition. Works makes shocks for nearly
all dirt bikes from present day back to
the late sixties. A catalog and dirt bike
application guide are available for $3.00.
Much of the same material is available online
at the Works Performance website. Source:
Works Performance Products, Inc.
21045 Osborne St.
Canoga Park, CA 91304
(818) 701-1010
Fax (818) 701-9043
www.worksperformance.com After
bolting the new shock (we used the adjustable
Pro Series) on, the bike was taken for a
ride. The difference in the action of the
rear end was incredible! Since I weigh around
200 pounds, the stock shock was near its
limits even under casual riding conditions.
Lest you think that lighter riders would
be happy with the stock shock, be aware
that my old buddy Tom bought a new CRF 230
and was griping about the rear suspension.
He weighs about 150. The
amazing thing was that I never made any
pre-load, or damping adjustments before
I rode the bike, and I don't think I'll
do any until I need them. A call to Ned
Owens at Works confirmed our suspicions;
the shock was set up for my body weight.
Perfectly. While the Works shock is a bit
pricey, it's definitely worth the price.
Rather than spending money on all sorts
of sticker kits and light weight goodies,
the shock swap is a must if you want a decent
bike. With
the rear end working properly, the shortcomings
of the front end became apparent. We'll
have to do something about that in the near
future. Installing
the new shock and removing the old was a
real pain. The job required removing a lot
of stuff and having a bunch of different
blocks to place under the rear wheel to
position it properly. For that reason, we've
included step-at-a-time photos and captions
for those who choose this route. We're
well on our way to making a great bike out
of a good one. Stay tuned. 
Get bike up in
the air with both wheels free | 
Plenty of good
instructions are included with the Works
shocks |
Remove both side
panels and saddle | 
Top shock bolt
can be removed easily |
Set the top shock
bolt aside. At this point the rear wheel
will settle down a bit | 
Remove the bottom
bolt on the linkage |
You'll have to
keep the bolt from spinning by using
another wrench | 
You'll have to
use a screwdriver to tap the rather
long bolt out |
The suspension
linkage hanging free | 
Remove the next
linkage bolt upward |
At this point,
it realle helps to have a bunch of different
sized blocks to place under the rear
wheel to keep it from falling too far | 
Before you attemot
to remove last bolt, loosen and drop
the lower chain guide |
The last - shock
bolt - can now be removed. It's a tight
fit | 
Here's the final
bolt removed |
The stock shock
and a shock link can now be removed | 
Comparing the
stocker and the Works shock |
You can now feed
the Works shock up through | 
Snake the remote
reservoir through first |
With remote through,
let it hang free | 
The shock is now
is position. If you use a non-reservoir
shock, you should not have to remove
the air box. We removed air box for
ease of installation |
With the airbox
out of the way, you can see the shock
installation clearly | 
We found that
the bushings in the shock were about
a 16th to wide |
A small touch
with a grinding wheel on the bushings
got them perfect. Bikes vary a great
deal in the mounting brackets, so expect
some adjusting | 
Here's those blocks
we talked about. During re-assembly,
they were critical in aligning the holes |
Here's the Works
shock in place | 
With the new shock
bolted in place, the airbox can be reinstalled |
Don't try to route
the remote witout the airbox in place | 
Route the remote
hose over the top edge of the airbox.
Mount the reservoir with the supplied
clamps |
With the side
panel back in place, you can't even
see the remote | 
Make sure the
reservoir clears to tire and the mount
is solid |
| 
