Can someone with a 1981 YZ465

81's are nearely flush at the top triples. Not a good pic of mine, but they don't stick up a couple inches like the earlier 1980 models.



1981 YZ465H



Better pic.



1980 YZ465

I have a 79 YZ 250 and did the same switch. Yep, they are shorter but as Newman said they fit pretty flush. BTW Newman your right about the XYZ clamps. Works of art.

Those triple clamps look better than any of the aftermarket clamps I've ever seen for modern bikes.

I have had my rear shock re done by race-tech and it came back with less travel. Is this normal for having the new springs and gold valves done? This post just reminded me as ive had to move my forks up to make it turn.

I also had my rear shock rebuilt by Race Tech on my 81 YZ250, did the dual rate spring kit and gold valves but I don't think it shortened my travel.. Do you feel it has less travel because it sets lower in the back or did you measure the shock before and after the rebuild?

One thing you might check is the spacer that separates the two springs, that spacer has a flange on each side that runs underneath the spring on each side and the flange on one side is almost twice as wide as the flange on the other side. It's very important to have the separator turned in the direction to have the narrow flange on the short spring side. If the wider flange is on the short spring side it will cause the flange to bottom out on the spring retainer on the other side of the short spring. If that happens, your spring rate will become too stiff to soon and also reduce travel.

The only bump in the road with my rear shock set up was that after I got it back I was trying to set my sag to 4 inches but could only get about 3 and quarter inches. Talked to a guy at Race Tech a few times and he messed around for a few days and told me he couldn't understand why I couldn't get 4 inches of sag with the springs I had. Finally, about the third time I talked with him he had checked with the guy who built the dual rate spring kit for the bike and he told me that the kit was designed to only get 3 and quarter inches of race sag.

The bike feels fantastic with the stiffer springs and gold valves front and rear.

The travel of the rear is short just by looking at it. I know there is a couple different grooves in the body and one of them must be for an IT. So mine must be there. I checked the spacer between the two springs and mine is installed the wrong way. I have to say Race Tech stuff works great, but quality control is ummm, lacking. This isn't the first issue Ive had. o well.

Yeah, my spacer was turned around the wrong way on my RT shock also, made for a harsh ride.

Regarding the travel of the rear shock, it's hard to understand how it could be shorter...they use the same shock body and the same shaft and and I can't see how the gold valve would effect how far the shaft moves. Not saying you're not right, just don't understand how that could be the case.

As you can tell, thegrooves you mentioned in the shock body are just another way to adjust spring pre-load (in addition to the adjusting the shock shaft nut. The groove used can be changed while the spring is still on the shock and the shock is still on bike by having a buddy compress the spring (by hand) and remove the ring clip out of the groove and moving the ring clip to the other groove. With my RT shock, in order to get 3 and quarter inches of sag, I had to use the groove with the least amount of pre-load and back the spring pre-load nut on the shaft almost all the way out.

I also had to adjust the damping almost all the way firm ( about 4 clicks out) in order to get enough rebound damping to keep the back from wanting to kick up off the faces of jumps. This results in the compression damping being a bit on the firm side, but better that having the sensation of endoing off stuff.