Just saw this thread.
Suspension! Such a complex subject that defies simplification in terms of following recipes. And that's just the bike. Add in the wide array of 'loose nuts' behind the handlebars and suspension goes super-multi variate, muddled up by assumptions, preferences variability, and confirmation bias.
No wonder people turn to the experts and just have re valving done by them. Much of the time that pays off because stock or screwed with suspension can be really off. But sometimes the experts can 'un improve' suspension because of unspoken assumptions that are mismatched to the rider's usage scenario and skill level.
My preference is distorted by years in trials, where you learn - often the hard way - how the typical rush to noise, dust, and mayhem is counter productive and you have to un learn as much as learn. Many a sacred cow can often ends up as... irrelevant, and the tortoise beats the hare when the going gets really tough.
No matter what bike I ride, I prefer a faster responding suspension, particularly the response time to body loading inputs. My latest project bike, a `21 Husqvarna 701, has needed SO many pricey improvements already, and the suspension is no exception. The thing is ridiculously over damped and harsh. My last WP suspension experience goes all the way back to my `80s KTMs. All those years and it seems that not much has changed! Weird.
My current plan is to base a re valve effort on the Race Tech Gold Valves. These by design have a high oil moving and customization capacity. The last bike I did the Race Tech re valve on I did for a friend with a WR450F. I was commenting when building the shock stacks, "This looks typically over damped." My friend wanted to trust 'the experts' so I went with what their software spit out. Then he wasn't so happy because it WAS over damped! I went in again and followed my gut inclination, after which he was very happy! When I later told Race Tech what I had done, they thought I was 'off my rocker shim.'
No matter how sophisticated your system is it's built on assumptions.
My plan? fix the damping first, then evaluate the spring rates. Over damping in the rebound in particular can give the impression the springs are too soft. We shall see.
If anyone has any specific recommendations for WP Explor on the 690/701 I'm all ears.
