my elka 400ex experience

[3 Wh33l3r Rid3r]

just wanted to share a little experience i had this week over a 400ex elka shock that i bought off ebay for a good price. i ended up sending that shock back because of its age and what i was gonna have to do to get it right.

first before you ever buy a elka shock they will have a serial number on the shock that when you call them you can give them that number and they can tell you every detail about that shock BUT if that shock doesnt have any numbers it was built before 2003 and they dont even use those type of springs anymore. so if you find some elka shocks on ebay, craigslist or wherever ask for that number and call elka before you buy it and make sure it is what it is and if it doesnt have numbers i would stay away from it no matter the condition. i didnt know about em ever not having a number on em so i screwed up when i bought the shock off ebay, maybe this will help someguys that are like me and dont know much about shocks to keep from making a bad purchase and being stuck with it.

i had a pretty good discussion with the guy at elka when i told him i had a 400ex shock and that i was putting it on a blaster let me tell you the guy basically laughed and said thats a big no no. he said not only would the valving be totally different from blaster valving but the spring weight difference was over 150lbs difference. the 400ex shock also has 2 inches or close to that i cant really remember of shock travel more than the blaster shock so the guys that hit some really good jumps could be bottoming the frame out and that aint good. so basically if you want the most out of your suspension its best to go with whats made for the blaster instead of trying to put something off of another quad, even tho they are the same length eye to eye the shock stroke, valving and spring weight will be totally different than what the blaster would use something i was clueless to before i talked with him. for most of us on here it probably wouldnt make a difference and the other quad shocks we are running will work great and im just saying this for the guys that would be trying to get the most out of their suspension and racing mx or doing alot of big jumps. i would imagine you could use phragles method of measuring for long travel and move your shock mount to the proper location and you wouldnt have to worry about bottoming your frame out with the different shocks.

i dont know much about shocks but im learning as i go so maybe the guys like me can learn a little something from this.

 

[slickerthanyou]

Thank You for this info! This is great! Greenage for ya!

 

[1bad442]

real good information

 

[NEONNIGHT34609]

i think most of us on here just enjoy blasters and playing with them. i cant see putting a 400 dollar shock on a 500 dollar quad. thats why i bought your 40$ shock. its a cheap alternative to a better handling shock over the stock one. he is right each shock has been engineered for that make and model quad. i am sure Yamaha would have something to say about people putting a bigger engine in there blaster frames too.

 

[3 Wh33l3r Rid3r]

i think most of us on here just enjoy blasters and playing with them. i cant see putting a 400 dollar shock on a 500 dollar quad. thats why i bought your 40$ shock. its a cheap alternative to a better handling shock over the stock one. he is right each shock has been engineered for that make and model quad. i am sure Yamaha would have something to say about people putting a bigger engine in there blaster frames too.

your right and i also stated most people wouldnt even know the difference i mainly posted this for the guys that are spending the money to upgrade their suspension to mx or just want the most out of it. im not saying anything bad about any of the shocks just relaying a little information that i thought would help someone else out

 

[Whitty21]

glad u decided to share this with the forum, have some greens brutha

 

[99LRDblaster]

just wanted to share a little experience i had this week over a 400ex elka shock that i bought off ebay for a good price. i ended up sending that shock back because of its age and what i was gonna have to do to get it right.

first before you ever buy a elka shock they will have a serial number on the shock that when you call them you can give them that number and they can tell you every detail about that shock BUT if that shock doesnt have any numbers it was built before 2003 and they dont even use those type of springs anymore. so if you find some elka shocks on ebay, craigslist or wherever ask for that number and call elka before you buy it and make sure it is what it is and if it doesnt have numbers i would stay away from it no matter the condition. i didnt know about em ever not having a number on em so i screwed up when i bought the shock off ebay, maybe this will help someguys that are like me and dont know much about shocks to keep from making a bad purchase and being stuck with it.

i had a pretty good discussion with the guy at elka when i told him i had a 400ex shock and that i was putting it on a blaster let me tell you the guy basically laughed and said thats a big no no. he said not only would the valving be totally different from blaster valving but the spring weight difference was over 150lbs difference. the 400ex shock also has 2 inches or close to that i cant really remember of shock travel more than the blaster shock so the guys that hit some really good jumps could be bottoming the frame out and that aint good. so basically if you want the most out of your suspension its best to go with whats made for the blaster instead of trying to put something off of another quad, even tho they are the same length eye to eye the shock stroke, valving and spring weight will be totally different than what the blaster would use something i was clueless to before i talked with him. for most of us on here it probably wouldnt make a difference and the other quad shocks we are running will work great and im just saying this for the guys that would be trying to get the most out of their suspension and racing mx or doing alot of big jumps. i would imagine you could use phragles method of measuring for long travel and move your shock mount to the proper location and you wouldnt have to worry about bottoming your frame out with the different shocks.

i dont know much about shocks but im learning as i go so maybe the guys like me can learn a little something from this.

In my opinion, he is right.......and wrong. He is right that the springs/valving they use are for specific quads and the spring rates are different in a lot of cases. As far as bottoming out the frame, that sounds like a bit of a exaggeration to get you to buy into purchasing elkas for a Blaster....especially with an extended swingarm. I haven't done the math on how much of a squat you will get from a 400ex/450R rear 9.1" of travel compared to the Blaster's 7.1" of travel, but I doubt it's enough to cause "bottoming out of the frame". I'll even double check. From a rear shock perspective it's fairly easy. Just mount the shock or put the shock where it will be mounted, then mark a static point where the shock will bottom out at, then remove the shock, an drop the chassis down to that static vertical point and see where you are at. Not perfect because you have to account for the front shocks a few other things, but close enough.

 

[Oregondunes]

i would have to agree. I weight 250+ lbs. I initially installed my stock 400ex shock on my lil girls blaster with a +4 swinger. I can tell you without out a doubt, I was UNABLE to bottom that shock out in my shop. Not saying that I might have been able to do it catching air, but I was not even close.

Now with my custom make axis dual rate ZPS and adjustable rear link set as high as I can make it on my EX, I can and have hit the muffler can a couple of times.

 

[Awk08]

i tend to agree with oregon on this one, same as the trx250 shock i have on my sons,
i didnt use any math, i just put it where it sat at the height i wanted, and have yet to bottom it
for the 400's, ya have to take into account it is valved for a way heavier bike and doubt that if it's valved and sprung for close to your weight, minus the extra quad weight, you should be good, even at the wrong angle
i would have put that elka to the test

 

[3 Wh33l3r Rid3r]

awk it wasnt about me putting it to the test, i guess i need to explain a little more of why i sent the shock back because some of you are taking this the wrong way

i sent the shock back because the little dual rate spring was bent and i or nobody could tell until i put it on my ride and set the weight of the quad on it. just as soon a i let it down off the stands with no weight on the wheeler it would squat 3 or more inches from that spring compressing all the way, i could lift the rear up and down 6 inches without the shock even doing anything because of that spring. I didnt send it back because of what he told me because like i said i could have used phragles method with the long travel swingarm im gonna build to account for that extra shock stroke. i sent it back because i was gonna have to upgrade both of the springs to proper ones for it to work right and by the time i spent the 200 to 250 on springs i could damn near have bought a new one set up perfect for my setup which is what i will be doing now. i didnt post this to make everybody think that 400ex shock wont work because it is working. its really not about bottoming out your shock, its a possibility that you might bottom out your frame BEFORE you bottom out that shock. that information i wrote in the first post came directly from him and is good info for a person to set up a bike for MX not everyday rider like damn near all of us.

 

[Awk08]

understood now .