Harry Balzonya

Same promo purchased through Elka

Some of the builders I talked with said they would change a bunch of the valving components. Clark Johnson quoted me 370 front and rear to change necessary components and custom setup. He did a great job on my OEM rear.

I don't think they are necessarily that much better of a shock in terms of parts but the precision in tuning when they leave the factory and show up at your door is way better. What I've gathered from the builders I've spoke with is that if you're Joe Shmoe you get a cookie cutter setup from elka. The assurance I've received is once they are set up for me they will perform comparatively to any other 4 way adjustable shock. Contrary to what this douche bag that keeps chiming in says, I'm willing to pay to have them redone if that's what it takes. The disappointment on my end is that Elka isn't set up to send a more refined product out the door to their non sponsored paying customers. In the end, I'll have a pretty good ride when it's all said and done. Just a lot of BS and time to get there.

Wow, there's dumb, stupid, mentally retarded, and then there's you. I wanted stage 4 Elka's. The fact I paid half for them than the countless other riders at the track that bought them 1 or 2 seasons ago is completely irrelevant. A friend that works for a welding supply company recently got me the machine I wanted at his cost. Because I saved 25% does that make me a cheap ass or should I be expecting that machine not to work as well as the ones that were purchased at full price? I know this example may be difficult for you to digest since there is a very real possibility that you have no real friends outside the internet.

There was no shock dynoing going on over there. They backed off the preload, took the old spring off and put the next heavier one on. After days of arguing they finally credited my card for the price of shipping them back. Asked them if this was all you were going to do, why didn't you just ship me the spring? long silence... Then I asked wouldn't it have made sense while it was in your shop to verify all the internals were right? Another long pause followed by we didn't think we needed to. This is my favorite part right here. Did you check to make sure it's charged right or that it's not leaking nitrogen? Longest of the three retard pauses. No we just put the spring on. So now after 4 months and a trip back to the factory I still don't know if their valving just sucks that bad or is this shock not right internally. Talked with a handful of builders this week and the common thread is that Elka doesn't know shit about setting their own stuff up. 3 out of 5 said all different valve stops and crossovers need to be used to make their stuff perform correctly. 2 were able to point out my biggest issue with this valving. In regards to this Zillafreak guy. Did you eat lead paint chips as a child? Just because you buy something on sale doesn't mean you're cheap. A stage 4 Elka setup was comparably priced with other manufacturers 4 way adjustable shocks a year ago and people gladly paid it. Way to out yourself as that kid growing up that nobody listened too or gave a shit about and now you can be heard behind a keyboard on an internet forum.

Shocks are back off the bike, boxed up and ready to ship out. Front rider sag was set to 8.75" at front motor mount and 8.25" at pegs. Front collars were 9 turns down and rear collar was set at 7 turns.

Got them back from the factory and all they did was swap for stiffer springs. Still the same non progressive shitty valving them came with originally. After all the issues I've had with these shocks you would have thought they would at least open them up to verify the internals were right. Now its on my dime to send them to another builder to have them set up right. Elka is a joke.

Got my shocks back from Elka. All they did was put stiffer springs on. Now it's just stiffer with the same non progressive shitty valving they came with. After all the other things that have been wrong with this setup, they didn't even open them up to verify the internals were set up correctly. What a joke. Now it's on my dime to send them to a builder to have them set up correctly. Will never buy anything from them again.

Riding buddy I've been friends with for 25 years. MT told him he wasn't the only one that had this issue. No questions asked sent him new petals. Great service but apparently they had a bad run.

Yep. You can't tell me QC didn't suffer a little trying to get all these orders out the door.

I would disagree to some extent. The 3 to 4 gap is way bigger than the 4-5. Not having front rebound is a huge limiting factor IMO. I don't think there are many riders that could justify needing a 5 over a 4. And if you can, you're probably already sponsored by a suspension company. In the end when this thing comes back I hope it kicks ass. Thinking it should blow away my rebuilt stocker isn't an unreasonable expectation I don't think. Shock was selling for 1400 a couple years ago and people were gladly paying that. Just because it was significantly discounted should have nothing to do with the performance.

If you're referring to the 799/999 stage 3/4 promo, yes.

Think they had a bad run of reed petals not cages.

Would agree at the OR dunes for sure. I bounce off a lot of shit with my stock rear width in the trees. At the track I'd be 50 up front 49.5 rear if its sanctioned.

The most annoying thing is they've been a bunch of jerk offs to try and deal with on this. Tried to tell me the other day that it's because I'm running a +4 and I should change to either a +2 or +6. Funny how an "inferior product" handled everything I threw at on the same +4 setup. Anything is going to be an upgrade vs OEM fronts but this rear situation has me wondering if I drank the wrong kool Aid from the start.

I paid 899 for my true stage 3's in 2012 and 275 for my rear for a grand total of 1175. Considering prices have gone down at Elka, I'm sure you could build this kit for the same if not less now since they are just trying to get rid of old parts. It's a reasonable option if you want tuning synergy front and rear.

Exactly, I have a set of stage 2+r's that are what a stage 3 should be (pre, low, and rebound). So far the new 4 rear is junk compared to my old OEM. Now I'm appreciating even more how well it handled.

I'll give you guys some alone time, don't worry.

Having fronts with no rebound is pointless. Elka's stage 3 kit is a stage 3 rear with stage 2 fronts. Now that the 4's are gone its pointless to buy the 3s. Spend a little extra on some 3 way fronts and have a good builder work on your OEM rear. Thats the point, genius.

The point I'm making and what you're talking about are in different time zones guy.

Stage 3s are pointless. 2 way adjustable up front and 3 way in the back. That makes sense...

I'm really hoping in the end it out performs my OEM rear. If not, It won't be hard to sell I guess.

That was a one time deal. That rear alone was $1099.00 when I had J6 do mine 3 seasons ago. Most other aftermarket 4 way adjustable rears are in the 1k realm. For people looking now, the rebuilt OEM is a great option. And it was $275 to be exact. 100 for the spring. 50 for the seal head swap and 125 for oil and revalve.

I've been screwing with these ding dongs since I got them in early May. Rather arrogant bunch I might add. Now it's mid July and they have finally agreed to send an RMA and evaluate them. But of course they won't be able to look at them for at least 4 weeks. My main point in these threads I responded to was to inform others about the performance and value you can get out of a correctly rebuilt OEM. If my big ass can jump 70'+ on an OEM, the average Joe could get a pretty good setup for under $300.

Aware of this. Raced MX for 20 years. Set up more shocks and forks than I can count.