How a dirt bike Shock Works | Offroad Engineered

The rear shock is probably the most demanding and sensitive component on a dirt bike.
Besides absorbing a major part of the obstacles, it is also responsible for efficiently transferring the power of the engine to the ground.
Do you know how the shock works?
What is the linkage for, after all?
Want to learn how to take full advantage of your suspensions adjustments? Check out our online courses:
stepstopodium.com/courses/fro...
Still have questions regarding this topic? Check out our personalised technical sessions:
www.stepstopodium.com/technic...
If you can, take a look at these Offroad Engineered episodes first:
Ep.1 - • How dirt bike suspensi...
Ep.2 - • How cartridge front fo...
Ep.3 - • The difference between...
0:00 Intro
0:24 The importance of the shock
1:14 Anatomy of a shock
3:09 How it works
5:59 Linkage
8:45 Adjustments
11:19 End
Technical Touch is the official importer of KYB detailed Motorcycle Genuine parts and oils.
Get to know more at:
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Cheers!
#Motorcycle #Shock #Linkage

[@vagelismpounas9014]

Dude amazing videos i sub for all accounts if u keep up like this u are the most famous tip and info Motocross chanel

[@StepstoPodium]

Thank you do much Vagelis!! 🙏 i really appreciate the nice feedback 💪😊

[@Seldoff]

Damn those visualizations are gold!

[@StepstoPodium]

🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@LaTrovanti]

Million thanks. You helped me out of stone age of suspension knowledge. Now have more courage to repair my suspensions.

[@StepstoPodium]

Im glad I could help! 🙌

[@OFFroadOFFcourse]

The amount of effort and detail you put in these videos is superb!...and the results are, of course, awesome! Keep it up Luis!

[@StepstoPodium]

Thank you so much! I'm stoked to have people who understand the effort behind it and value what is being done 👌💪💪

[@russianrouletteracing]

Thank you for the effort done to create the visuals to explain the workings of suspension using logic and visual aid. Too many channels use word of mouth and vague verbiage.

[@StepstoPodium]

👌👌🙌🙌💪💪

[@Jrod_FPV]

Great explanation and explains nearly everything. For complete newbies they may still be wondering what "bottoming" and "base settings" are. Those terms are mentioned but I don't think they were explained. Bottoming is when the shock is fully compressed and can't compress any further. This usually results in a jerk and hard bounce, possibly leading to a loss of control for the rider. You don't want to bottom out your shock, it's uncomfortable at best. Base settings, I think I understand this but someone else could probably explain better. They setting is for example the spring you are using on your shock. The spring rate needs to be matched for the weight of the rider. For example a heavy rider would need a stiffer spring rate than a lighter weight rider. Or maybe the shock oil viscosity /weight could be changed for heavier or light riders as well.

[@StepstoPodium]

Everything you said is correct a part from the viscosity part. You should never, ever, change the viscosity of the oil. You should always use an oil with the viscosity recommended by the manufacturer (there are already too many variables! We don't need another one 😂 besides that, a suspension/shock is designed for one single viscosity, nothing else - at least performance suspensions) To add to that, there is that wrong concept that the hydraulic part of the shock is used to compensate the weight of the rider or the spring does something to the hydraulic, but it's completely wrong. Both work independent from one another but together they provide a beauty of a behaviour. Thank you for your input Jrod! I appreciate your comment 💪💪

[@Jrod_FPV]

@@StepstoPodium very good explanation thank you! I was thinking rear shock could be like for oil, in that you can buy 5wt or 10wt oil. But I understand from you it is not. Thanks for your great videos!

[@Chris-uh3cm]

Shoot . This is the best video on KZbin

[@StepstoPodium]

Thank you Chris! I really appreciate it 🙂🙌

[@nunogens]

You don't stop surprising! Excellent content, excellent graphic explanation and excellent humor. You are by far One of the best KZbinr talking about dirt bikes mechanical content. 💪 O reconhecimento no KZbin ao nível que tu mereces vai acabar por acontecer. Keep going!

[@StepstoPodium]

Muitissimo obrigado Nuno! 🙏🙏 Esperemos que sim! Toda a gente terá a ganhar 😁 Un enorme abraço 💪💪

[@Ben-cb7uq]

you really should do more videos like this - if you also like it. You have an amazing sense of how much information is comprehensible and you can package it very nicely.

[@StepstoPodium]

Thank you sooo much for the kind words! 🙌 I intend to do so 💪already working on the next 2 videos 👌

[@fatpinarellorider]

Very good explanation and visuals. I'm watching to learn how mountain bike rear shocks work, because I think it's the same principle. 👍

[@StepstoPodium]

Thank you!! 😄🙌

[@bsujantob]

Super quality explanation video. The best I have ever found so far.

[@claremckechnie5623]

Best motorbike suspension tech video I have ever seen, thankyou

[@StepstoPodium]

Thank youu!!

[@Jrod_FPV]

Incredible animations and explanation!

[@StepstoPodium]

Thank you so much Jrod!! 🙌💪

[@AntiStressKit]

Always super quality content from Steps to Podium. Luis, thank you for taking the time and effort and putting together this excellent video! Obrigado.

[@StepstoPodium]

Thank you so so much Ariel! These videos are for you guys. If there are people worth thst effort, it's you! 🙏💪

[@wrenchone5003]

Great videos ! Best explanation on shims I've seen yet .love the illustration !

[@StepstoPodium]

Thank you so much man! I really appreciate it 💪💪💪

[@jamesbramblett3346]

I can only imagine how much work you put into this video and of course it shows. Thanks so much and good fortunes to you!!!!

[@StepstoPodium]

I realllyyyy appreciate the kind words James 🙏🙌 it makes all the (ton of) work worthwhile💪💪 my sole goal is to educate the offroad community in order for the sport to evolve 🙂

[@premixpeter1972]

Your channel is criminally undersubscribed. Keep up the awesome work!

[@StepstoPodium]

"Criminally undersubscribed" Loved that 🤣🤣🤣 thank you so much for watching!! 🙌🙌💪

[@gcostanza2115]

Very good video. Suspension is a complicated business, and this video helps to explain it well.

[@StepstoPodium]

Glad I could help! 🙂🙌

[@kevincharlestan7654]

best explanation ever plus kudos to the animation!! thanks a lot mate

[@StepstoPodium]

Thank you for watching mate! 🙌💪

[@samuelperez.44]

I learned a lot, thanks from colombia

[@StepstoPodium]

Thank you for watching! 😄

[@tuskenridertv2678]

Great video. Congratulations! Love your videos!

[@StepstoPodium]

Thank you man! You have a ton more to watch 😀

[@globyboulga1045]

Amazing teacher. Thanks for your knowledge.

[@StepstoPodium]

Thank you! Enjoy all the videos 💪

[@mxengineer1]

Excellent explanations of how suspension works! The graphics make it easy to understand the concepts and what is happening. If possible please make similar videos explaining WP TRAXX feature and Ohlins twin tube rear shock oil flow. Also the WP Cone Valve is a unique valve design for forks. Thanks for the great content - looking forward to your future videos!

[@StepstoPodium]

I'll be doing those for sure! For now i I'm covering the basics and fundamentals and then I'll cover the specificities of each brand 😊😁💪

[@vladi_g]

Thank you. It was very interesting.

[@StepstoPodium]

Thank you for watching!

[@BNAdv]

Fantastico como sempre!! És um rei!! ✌️🏍

[@StepstoPodium]

Muito obrigado!!! Dá uma vista de olhos aos seguintes que também são brutais 😁💪

[@luiscarneiro1669]

Excelente! Continua, o teu conteúdo tem tudo para se tornar viral, no bom sentido...👍

[@StepstoPodium]

Muito obrigado Luis! Vamos esperar que seja so viral na internet 👌🤣🤣

[@bdmktv]

I am watching from Bangladesh.

[@juanpa2102]

Thanks so much!!!! It is very interesting

[@StepstoPodium]

Thank you for watching! 🙌🙌🙏

[@ryanshout8652]

I hereby make this comment offering to the algorithm gods. These high quality videos need more recognition. Thanks Steps to Podium

[@StepstoPodium]

Ryan, you just my day with your comment! 🙌 Just laughed out loud with this one 🤣 I really appreciate your good word and I hope I helped you understand how suspensions work 💪

[@mavrick5006]

Awesome vid i have to say thanks very much

[@StepstoPodium]

I'm glad I could help and thank you for watching! 😄🙌

[@martinhobike]

Great video :) Parabéns

[@StepstoPodium]

Thank youuu! 🙏🙏 obrigado pela visita eheh 😁💪

[@NirHason]

"Put sprinkles over a poop won't make the poop any better - same thing with suspensions" LOL Thank you for this amazing video! Very informative and the visuals - THE VISUALS!! Keep it up :)

[@StepstoPodium]

Im glad you found it funny 😂👌 Thank you so much! It takes a freaking tone of time but it's worth every hour when it helps the community so much 😀💪

[@renatomoreira7902]

Tenho de te dar os parabéns, muito eloquente com o teu inglês, mas impressionado com as tuas explicações , tanto gráficas como a forma simples como as transmites, no monte está complicado chegar ao pódio, mas no youtube mereces o primeiro lugar.

[@StepstoPodium]

Muito muito obrigado Renato! Acredita que dá uma motivação extra ter esse tipo de feedback 💪imagina se um dia também chego ao pódio, ai é que é a loucura 🤣🤣🤣

[@CryoSignal]

Your videos are crazy well edited and produced! Those animations you include are amazing for explanations. The only thing I can recommend is putting a filter over your mic or turning the a/c off. There's allot of fan noise in the background

[@StepstoPodium]

Thank you so much! I know, I know, it's something I've been trying to eliminate but it's not easy... it's not a recording studio, it's my parent's garage, so im trying to make the best with what I have 🤣 but I appreciate the feedback nonetheless 👍

[@CryoSignal]

@@StepstoPodium Hey man thank you for taking the time to reply

[@StepstoPodium]

Any time! Thank you for watching and I hope it helped understand suspensions 👌💪

[@moreirasp]

Show esse vídeo, está legendado para português.

[@xanghetzu1388]

Do you have video for this topic? No linkage vs linkage suspension? whats the difference between this two? pros and cons

[@StepstoPodium]

I'm doing a video about the PDS as ee speak and it will help understand the differences :)

[@JTskates]

This video really helped me visualize what’s going on. It’s still a bit confusing to me why the rebound orifice allows oil to pass through during the compression stroke. Maybe it’s to prevent low pressure buildup under the piston, but at the same time, that would prevent prevent the piston from pushing oil through the compression circuit so idk

[@justincowen441]

Imagine the compression shim stack was removed/closed so no oil could flow on a compression stroke of the shock. This would create a vacuum under the piston and a pressure on the top. This would stall the shock almost immediately and cause huge rebound speeds. (Spring rate + pressure + vacuum)This is why a flow is necessary. It’s minimal that goes through that orifice. But any type of off-road riding will blow through the rebound orifice and get into the compression shim stack almost immediately. Watch his mid speed video and he has a generic damping curve which will show how quickly a shock/fork moves from the orifice and into the shim stack.

[@strifex-suspension-works]

Yeah, I can just agree with another comment - your videos are good and informative. One thing I'd probably suggest is trying to sometimes provide a little bit more associative examples and maybe some more simple explanations (simpler words/terms), but all in all the explanations are already superb, so this is just my view to get them from 95% to 100% perfect :) Anyways, one question - so how does the damping influence the suspension travel used? I'm only now learning about how suspension works, so if I'm incorrect, please, correct me. From what I understand, the spring is the element that influences the travel used on a particular bump, as it is the one actually transferring load between both "sides" of the shock, at least if the oil is viscous enough to move in the shock, as it seems that if it would be unmovable you'd basically have no shock at all, as the load would be carried directly through the incompressible/unmovable fluid, is that correct? If the spring has linear stiffness of 10N/mm, then, when you hit a bump riding at a particular speed and generate a force, let's say of 1000 N, you expect the spring to compress by 1000 N / (10 N/mm) = 100 mm. The shock with its damping properties will determine how fast the spring will compress, but will it determine whether the spring will compress to the maximum at all? Also, as I understand, the spring is the component that determines the total maximum travel possible by the suspension, is it? Thus, if you have a spring that can compress fully to 300 mm, but it is way too compressible, let's say, 5 N/mm and your SAG thus is let's say 120 mm, when you hit the aforementioned bump you'll need travel of 200 mm to "soak" up the bump but because you have too big of a SAG, you don't have enough travel left in your suspension to deal with the bump, is that correct? As I understand something similar happens "on the opposite side of the SAG" - if your SAG is too small, then you'll be OK with the available travel on the compression side of things, but if you "jump off" of a small bump you may not have enough "SAG" to squash the rear (for example) wheel back down to the ground to faster get traction, that is, you'll kind of spend more time "in the air" with the wheel - is that correct? So, if some of this rumbling is correct, does it mean that if you have problems with bottoming out it is the spring stiffness you need to deal with, not the damping settings? And if you have no problems with bottoming out, then you can work with the damping settings? Thanks

[@StepstoPodium]

Damn that's a lot of questions 😅😅 Would you find useful if we scheduled a technical session? 😄 You can take a look here: www.stepstopodium.com/technicalsessions

[@daviddong1286]

loving your videos, a small suggestion, some cheap sound-absorbing panels in your studio/workshop, could really increase the audio quality. Cheers!

[@StepstoPodium]

I really appreciate the tip David! And I know the sound isnt perfect sometimes, but it's my dad's garage and using that isnt an option, so I'm doing the best I can with the resources I have 😛 I hope it doesn't ruin the viewing!

[@ryangreen1588]

@@StepstoPodium Definitely not a problem, amazing work mate

[@StepstoPodium]

In the mean time I learned how to reduce the echo via post production so you won't hear it as much on later videos 😊 (and you have a few o watch! 😁)

[@learnalanguagewithleslie]

You briefly mentioned this linkage thing to make the suspension more progressive. How could the linkage be modified to make the action more linear again (or let's say, less progressive)? Does the linkage need to be longer, or is it the placement of the pivots (or both?). 🤔 Reason being, one day I would like to make a new linkage for my mtb.🙂

[@StepstoPodium]

It's a combination of both! 🙂

[@moreirasp]

Como faço para conseguir um amortecedor como o explicado no vídeo para uma moto Marca Sanyang Motor Modelo NH T300?

[@joepeeer4830]

❤❤❤❤

[@fredradou67]

Took me some years to form the idea to input the right search parameter to find this great video. Shame on me!

[@StepstoPodium]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Thank you for the nice words! There's a lot from where that came from 😁

[@handendaer]

gj thin uni mario bro 👍

[@StepstoPodium]

😊💪🙏

[@mircea1876]

Poți să mă ajuți cu diferențele dintre cross și enduro ?

[@mircea1876]

Cum o transform în suspensie enduro

[@capitalfagulhaenduro]

Olá uma pequena ajuda, que significa em termos de voltas na "hi speed" (1-6/8)?? Obrigado..

[@StepstoPodium]

Olá! Como assim? O valor entre parênteses?

[@capitalfagulhaenduro]

@@StepstoPodiumPara ajustar a hi speed tenho várias opções, 1-6/8 significa ' confort"

[@capitalfagulhaenduro]

É uma volta, mas aquela 6/8 o que significa..??

[@capitalfagulhaenduro]

Desculpa 6/8, assim e que é..

[@StepstoPodium]

São 1 volta e seis oitavos de volta! 😊

[@josejosesalcedocadena707]

Puede escribirlo con imagen

[@elchinotony168]

You mean we better start with a less poop suspensions, agree. i would set it neutral and compensate with body positioning and throttle control...

[@StepstoPodium]

That's a solution as well!

[@RealLordkiffington]

Should have explained pds vs linkage

[@StepstoPodium]

I have another video where I explain everything about the pds and its differences 😉

[@UTPP]

I still don't know what this means in the real world, bike set-up across different riding terrains would be great!

[@StepstoPodium]

These videos are good to give a good understand on how it works to then translate to the terrain, if you are more sensible to the matter. However, we have technical sessions for 1-on-1 back and forth about your particular riding needs! You check out our website :) stepstopodium.com/technical-sessions/

[@juniordovale144]

🇧🇷🇧🇷👏👏🤝

[@liebherr1197]

How about no linkage bike?

[@StepstoPodium]

It's a whole new video! 😊💪

[@Richdany888]

You just show it to people who already know it, but people who don't know it don't understand it at all.

[@mdgeroy]

I like the Poop comment. Good one. Ha ha.

[@StepstoPodium]

Thank you! 😄😁

[@stubikeco]

Most important part of the video..."If the internal settings aren't good, then the external settings are pointless."

[@StepstoPodium]

True indeed! 👌

[@senorboardhead]

WaaaaY too much information. Didn’t want a PhD, just wanted general info.

[@simonrobertsmusic]

Too much information..... for you.

[@Richdany888]

I don't understand your videos and explanations.

[@StepstoPodium]

What don't you understand?

[@Richdany888]

@@StepstoPodium You didn't identify what those accessories represented during the animation. Then I can't see which ones are moving clearly.