txblueshee Posted May 19, 2006 Report Share Posted May 19, 2006 if you think they valved a shock around your email or phone call your high 517846[/snapback] Good call...You could talk to the guy for 3 days... unless he watches you ride your shock is all a crapshoot... Yes it will be badass... You don't dish out 2g's for nothing... but they won't even come close to a shock that's been tailored to fit... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Duece Posted May 19, 2006 Report Share Posted May 19, 2006 thats what im talkin about mike, if we ripped our elkas apart and miked the valves we could be twinns........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer Posted May 19, 2006 Report Share Posted May 19, 2006 thats why i love me rear shock. if i want to revalve i order new spring, and a quart of oil and its done. bam. maybe its because my friends dad is the best racetech guy for the next few states around, but who knows. all inkow is my shit work like i want, and when it doesnt i take it to him, tell him that i want some more high comp damping, and wamooo, its done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justintoxicated Posted May 20, 2006 Report Share Posted May 20, 2006 (edited) well again thats my point you dont have a custom shock, you got the shit off the shelf, custom means you got some special shit, designed just for you and yes when they asked you for your weight and arm length they did go in the back and grab your shit, if you think they valved a shock around your email or phone call your high 517846[/snapback] I think your wrong. period. Show me a shock company that is going to drive their ass out to Cali to custom valve a shock for someone who isn't even pro or a sponsored. They did not "Grab it out of the back" they custom ordered it from elka. They had shocks in stock that did not suite my needs. When I got the box it was marked with the things I requested. Your basicaly saying that less than 1 % of the population of riders has good shocks thats a bunch of BS. I can adjust the High speed dempening low speed dampening etc right on the shock, no realy need to "send it in to someome" unless I need to have something majorly changed like if I gain 30 lbs. Again I don't know of a single person willing to come out and custom valve a shock for me in the middle of the desert. but I don't have the off the shelf shocks that most store sell where the only difference is the springs. The shocks I have are already setup with a different high speed dampening solution made to take the dune chop and give less fatigue. So they are not COMPLEATLY custom by your definition but they are the one size fits all either. Your crazy if you think the only difference from one elka to the next is the sticker on them. I doubt they would still be in buisness if the Documentation provided, Advertising, etc was all bulshit. Edited May 20, 2006 by Justintoxicated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mxbanshee Posted May 21, 2006 Report Share Posted May 21, 2006 (edited) Hey guys, I have a couple of comments. First, lets make peace and simmer. I come on here to do some reading and maybe learn a thing or two. With so many personal comments its hard to get any learning done. I think that when discussions get out out of hand it is time to get back to basics and clear some things up. So, some basics; 1. Shocks are valved. 2. This means that there are internal "valves" of different sizes that regulate oil flow 3. These reside on the shaft with oil on both sides of the valves. 4. As the shock moves the oils passes through the vavle. 5. The smaller the hole the more force is requiered to move the shaft. So, without springs on the shock the wheight of the quad alone would compress the shock forcing oil through the valve and would bottom out. In this simple sentence lots of things are happening. All of which pertains to force and geometry. The way the weight of the quad is distributed from front to back. The angle of the shocks. The length and posission of the shocks. Wow, that's lots of stuff. We also need to take into effect the wheight and temperature of the oil within the shock. Now add springs to the shock to keep the quad up and then add the weight of the rider with ridding gear and ridding style and we have many many more variables. Simple things like total weight and more complex things like how far forward a rider has to be on the seat through a corner to provide traction to the front tires. I can go on and on about the variables. Back to some basics; 6. Valving is dependent on the springs that are paired to the valves. 7. Length of the shock and the angle of the shock change the force applied to the shock, and therefor change the valving. Where am I going? Well, I said all this to prove that the valves are the foundation of the shock and therefor the suspension system as a whole. It's kinda like the "building your house on a good foundation thing". Start with poor valving and no amount of compression and rebound tunning will get you a great ride. So, I'd like to say that Elka is the leader in suspension sales and service. I say suspension and not shock because there whole philosophy is not to sell someone a shock but a suspension package. They understand the "build your house on good foundation" moto. They want to valve a shock for your particular set up. These are not off the shelf. Each shock is built to get you a valving system that matches your set up. No one should complain about this. No one. They try their best to build you a shock that will work for you. There are complex mathematics involved that none of us can come close to dulicating to build shocks. Think of all the variable I mentioned above before mentioning springs. Now think about a-arms, like lenght +2 etc., and angle. Now with srpings we have sag, free sag, spring size and positioning, and on and on. A company could simply build huge amounts of shocks all with the same valve set up. Does Elka build the PERFECT shock every time? NO WAY! Do they try there best? FOR SURE! As many people on here have stated that they have filled out extensive forms and talked at lenght to people at Elka about their requierments. This is a top notch company providing excelent customer service with the sole intention of building you the best shock for you. That's awsome! If you get it and it's totally wrong, which is highly unlikely but possible, I'm possitive that they will fix it for you. All this talk about a company comming out to "watch you ride" is absolutely ridiculous... come on! If somebody is lucky enough to know a shock builder or has the cash to pay someone like Noleen to build their shocks with valving of their choice, go for it. Take this into account. Elka has a R&D team commited to building the best shocks possible for their racers, eg. Natalie. Guys like this ride a shock then tell Elka what to do to the valving to make it better "for him". Then Elka makes adjustments. This goes back and forth, hence the name R&D. Do you not think that Elka learns what is requiered. O.k, you have the exact same set up as him, same TRX, same Roll arm etc., and tell this to elka but also say that your a beginer MX racer that wheighs 210lbs, do you not think that they are capable of interpalating what is requiered for your valving. Of course they can. What is my point here? They truly try their best. Any comments appreciated. Edited May 21, 2006 by mxbanshee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slayer1018 Posted May 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2006 Coming from the person w/ the nicest MX quad on this site Thanks for the information! Much appreciated.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Duece Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 I think your wrong. period. They had shocks in stock that did not suite my needs 518246[/snapback] yeah sure they did ive known eric at elka since they opened there doors he read your email and either gave you an agreesive shock or a soft shock based on your comments, if you think your riding some kind of custom one of a kind shock your fuckin nuts pal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justintoxicated Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 yeah sure they did ive known eric at elka since they opened there doors he read your email and either gave you an agreesive shock or a soft shock based on your comments, if you think your riding some kind of custom one of a kind shock your fuckin nuts pal 519030[/snapback] So your saying Dune Eddition, and shocks valved for MX are the same thing witha different sticker? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Duece Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 So your saying Dune Eddition, and shocks valved for MX are the same thing witha different sticker? 519945[/snapback] no.......... thats what you said....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 well in essence ya. just got thicker washers on the MX'ers. stirring the pot..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Duece Posted May 25, 2006 Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 well in essence ya. just got thicker washers on the MX'ers.stirring the pot..... 520099[/snapback] yeah but when that guy installed those washers he was reading his email, those washers were specially milled for his riding style, they used the custom "Justin" bit when they drilled them out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justintoxicated Posted May 25, 2006 Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 (edited) yeah but when that guy installed those washers he was reading his email, those washers were specially milled for his riding style, they used the custom "Justin" bit when they drilled them out 520446[/snapback] Damn straight he did these shocks rock Maybe you need to pickup one of their catalogs, and read up on there different valving offerings. Such as Dune Specific Valving and Sand Optimized Springs. Oh wait just the sticker is different these are all lies... Obviously their Track series is a bit different since you can adjust the point between which the high and low speed adjustments meet, oh and maybe it is more than the sticker because of the huge Track knob sticking out the side? Just a guess. Edited May 25, 2006 by Justintoxicated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RNBRAD Posted May 25, 2006 Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 I see it this way. If Elka asks Justin his weight, a-arm length, type of quad, riding style, terrain etc. and they send the next guy the same set that has a totallty different wieght, riding style, terrian etc, then no they are not custom. There are countless spring and valving combo's for shocks. I'm sure Elka has plenty of experience with track and ride testing shocks that they do not need to watch a person ride a quad to figure out what works best under these different variables. I'm sure they do like many shock manufacturers, they put in the variables in the computer and it shoots out a specific valving spring combo for their riding style. Now if that combo happens to be on the shelf, great, if not then they will have to make them. That to me is a custom fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer Posted May 26, 2006 Report Share Posted May 26, 2006 they used the custom "Justin" bit when they drilled them out 520446[/snapback] ugh, who uses drill bits? they were custom CNC machined with the Justin code. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slayer1018 Posted May 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2006 Will be recieving them Friday! Can't wait! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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