Re-Valve Your Forks with Gobblers: A Comprehensive Guide

Quick Start Version

The first step is crucial.

Write down where your adjusters are set before you start!

Many riders hesitate to adjust their clickers too far. If you don’t document your starting point, you won’t know where to return. Hello? Please go too far with your clickers! You can always revert to your original settings, and you’ll learn so much in the process. Don’t go full throttle when testing until you’re close to fast, safe, and confidence-inspiring settings.

XPLOR & Open Chamber Red Wave Gobblers

Compression adjusters, both Re-Valve and low speed, are located at the bottom of the forks.

Rebound adjusters are at the top of both forks.

• Re-Valve: 10mm hex tool

• Low Speed: 3mm hex tool

  
  

Start with These Settings:

• Low Speed (3mm hex): 2.75 turns “out” from soft (close clockwise).

• Re-Valve (10mm): 1.5 turns “in” from all “out.” (Warning: Do not fully close the Re-Valve adjuster with force.)

• Rebound (Top of forks): 15 clicks “out.”

  
  

Now, ride!

If you want more bottoming resistance, turn the 10mm Re-Valve adjuster 1/4 turn clockwise and ride again. If you prefer a more plush feel, turn your 10mm Re-Valve adjuster counterclockwise by 1/4 turn and ride. You have about four full turns available, and many riders notice a change with just a 1/16 turn on the Re-Valve adjuster.

Take notes on the best settings for your riding area. Remember, you are the tuner!

Closed Chamber Settings: KYB SSS, Showa 49mm, WP 24+ Xact, WP Aer All, Kove 49mm

For these models, both compression low speed and Re-Valve adjusters are located on your red fork cap.

Start with These Settings:

• Low Speed Adjuster: 12 clicks out.

• Re-Valve Adjuster (4mm hex): Set at 3 turns out.

  
  

Now, ride!

If you want more bottoming resistance, turn the Re-Valve adjuster 1/2 turn clockwise and ride. For a more plush feel, turn your Re-Valve adjuster counterclockwise by 1/2 turn and ride. You have about four full turns available, and many riders feel a change with just a 1/4 turn on the Re-Valve adjuster.

Long Learning Version: How to Adjust Your Motorcycle Clickers and How They Work

Compression

Low-speed adjusters are bleed adjusters. If your motorcycle has adjusters, 99% are bleed adjusters. This is a fine-tuning adjuster. It consists of a 2mm to 3mm hole that allows oil to flow freely past the restriction of damping by sneaking past your piston and shims. When you adjust the low-speed adjuster clockwise, you’re literally threading a needle into the 3mm hole to restrict this free flow. This forces the fluid through the shims, stiffening your damping. Close the adjuster, and the fluid must bend your shims away from your piston to flow, instead of easily squirting through a bleed hole.

This is called bleed adjustment.

Because the low-speed bleed hole is only 2mm to 3mm, only so much fluid can flow. When you hit small bumps, the ability to bleed a little fluid on initial impact allows the fork to move with less resistance, making the bike feel more plush. However, if you hit a sharp edge quickly and hard, that bleed hole cannot flow enough oil, and you’ll almost immediately experience full damping through your shims and valving.

What Happens When You Turn Your Compression Bleed Adjuster Clockwise Too Much?

You close off the bleed circuit. On lighter bikes, the forks become harsh, and you’ll feel the smaller bumps and rocks in your hands. When you’re flying through rough terrain at 65 mph, you may feel less harshness because the bumps are so fast and hard that the shims bend away from the piston aggressively, allowing for immediate flow from high-speed impacts. This helps you push through the harshness.

Consider a rocky hill climb. If your compression damping is too tight when hitting a rock, the front end will bounce into the air, especially since the front is light from acceleration and angled with weight on the rear. Reduce the low-speed compression damping counterclockwise and open your Re-Valve damping, and your front end will stick to the ground, allowing you to accelerate up a rough, rocky hill climb.

What Happens When You Open or Turn Your Low-Speed Compression Adjuster Counterclockwise Too Much?

More fluid is allowed to move freely. This can make the forks harsh because they may bounce up and down rapidly without control. For instance, if you’re going through a big smooth G-out, and your suspension compresses while on the gas, the open bleed allows fluid to flow freely, causing the suspension to compress deeper into the stroke. This can be problematic during jump landings, which often transition into medium to high-speed compression events.

Rebound

Rebound slows the fork down when extending. You want the fork to extend and return to the ground for traction, but you don’t want the bike to come off the ground after a jump landing. Finding that happy medium is crucial. Our valving design helps the fork get back to the ground quickly while providing more high-speed rebound damping. This keeps you grounded after a landing and helps hold the front end down while cornering for added traction and stability.

What Happens When You Have Too Much Rebound?

When the fork and spring are fully extended, they are at their softest point, allowing for easy and soft compression when hitting a bump. Just push on a set of forks when they’re off the bike, and they move easily. But try pushing them deep into the stroke—good luck!

Consider a series of bumps. You hit the first bump, and all is good, but the fork doesn’t have time to extend before hitting the second bump. The second bump feels harder because you’re not at the plushest extended part of the stroke. It takes more energy to get the fork to move, and you’ll feel that in your hands.

Hit the third bump, and the forks are further compressed because the rebound is holding the suspension down. This makes the bumps feel sharp, harsh, and jarring. You won’t see improvement until you lighten up the rebound, allowing the fork to return to its softer state between bumps. This phenomenon is called packing; your forks get lower and stiffer.

What Happens When You Don’t Have Enough Rebound?

Let’s talk about cornering. You approach a corner on the brakes and then accelerate out. If you lack enough rebound to hold the front end down, it will lift, making steering accuracy difficult. The bike will steer away from your intended direction while losing traction. By holding the front end down with rebound, you’re much more likely to navigate that corner like a pro.

Similar to too little compression, insufficient rebound can create a busy, chattery ride, losing traction and causing harshness from rapid up-and-down movements.

When landing off a jump, if your front end lifts off the ground, you lose traction, which reduces acceleration in the rear shock. In extreme cases, your forks may extend so quickly that they clank or knock. This is called topping out. Sometimes, it’s simply a loose steering bearing, but topping out can also occur due to too little rebound. Clunk.

Gobbler Re-Valve Adjustment

The Gobblers are an additional adjuster that is very different from any forks made today. The Re-Valve adjuster is the magic component that can transform your forks from too plush to too firm, and everything in between, in just a few seconds. “You are the tuner!”

Don’t quit testing until you know the range available to you! Most riders simply don’t realize how good this suspension can be, even when it’s not clicked optimally.

So, are you ready to take your motorcycle's performance to the next level? Let’s get tuning!