- If your bike still feels harsh, unsettled or unpredictable after setting sag and adjusting the clickers, the problem may be the internal valving.
- Common signs of poor valving include harshness over small bumps, excessive dive under braking, suspension packing and unusual tyre wear.
- For most road and adventure riders, a professional revalve can deliver a bigger improvement than simply adjusting the external settings.
Suspension expert Leroy Rich from Darkart Motosport explains why adjusting your clickers isn’t always enough and how revalving can transform the way your motorcycle rides on New Zealand roads.
Last month we talked about why your brand-new sportsbike probably doesn’t feel right straight out of the crate. Most of the time, checking sag, tyre pressures, and playing with the clickers gets you 60% of the way there.
But if you’ve done all that and the bike still feels harsh, wallowy, or unpredictable, you’ve hit the limit of what adjustments can fix. That’s when valving and internal upgrades come into play.
“Most riders get 60% of the way there with sag, tyre pressures and clicker adjustments.”
Clickers Can’t Fix the Wrong Valving
Think of your suspension like a tap and a hose. The clickers on the outside are the tap. But here’s the key: the clicker only controls bleed flow, not mass flow.
Bleed flow is the small amount of oil that bypasses the main shims for low-speed control. Mass flow is the bulk of the oil that has to push past the shim stack when you hit a bump. No matter how much you open the clicker, you can’t make a small bleed hole flow like a fire hose.
And here’s the reality: factory suspension is usually built by an accountant. When costs get cut during development, suspension is the first place it happens. You end up with a one-size-fits-all valving spec and basic oil that’s meant to work for a 65kg rider in Japan and a 100kg rider in New Zealand, on smooth European tarmac and rough NZ chipseal. It’s a compromise, and you’re the one living with it.
“If you tick two or more of these signs, you’re probably past what clickers can fix.”
5 Signs You Need Valving, Not Just Setup
If you’ve set sag correctly and you’re still unhappy, check if any of these sound familiar:
1. Harsh over small bumps
You feel every chip seal chip and tar strip in your wrists and back, even with rebound backed right off. That’s often a compression stack that’s too aggressive for NZ roads.
2. Dives and doesn’t settle
The front dives hard under brakes and feels vague mid-corner. The shock might be packing down and never letting the bike settle.
3. Gets worse the faster you go
On a bumpy road, the bike starts to feel like it’s getting lower and harsher with each bump. That’s “packing” — the suspension can’t extend fast enough between hits.
4. Good solo, terrible loaded
You set it up for commuting, then 2-up with luggage it falls apart. The valving can’t control the extra weight and movement.
5. Weird tyre wear
Cupping on the front, cold tearing on the edge, or the rear looking chewed up in the middle. Often it’s the suspension letting the tyre move too much, not the tyre itself.
If you tick two or more, you’re past what clickers can fix.
Revalve, Cartridge, or New Aftermarket Shock?
Here’s where riders get confused. “Upgrade” doesn’t always mean buying a $3000 Öhlins TTX.
Revalve
This is reshimming your existing forks and shock to suit your weight, riding style, and NZ roads. For 90% of street and ADV riders, this is the sweet spot. You keep the OEM reliability and build quality, but the bike finally feels compliant and controlled. Most OEM Showa, KYB, and even Öhlins units respond really well to this however some standard cartridge forks have very crude pistons inside so we recommend replacing with a piston valve kit this helps achieve a better performing setup.
Cartridge kits
If your bike has basic damper rod forks, like a lot of mid-range ADVs and nakeds, a cartridge kit replaces the internals entirely. Big jump in performance and adjustability.
Full aftermarket units
If your OEM shock is non-serviceable, non-adjustable and genuinely poor. For most road riders, this is overkill but an aftermarket shock can give the best in performance and adjustment. The key is diagnosing what’s actually wrong first. Throwing parts at it without testing is how you end up $2000 lighter and still unhappy.
Why This Matters More in NZ
Our chipseal is rougher and more abrasive than what most manufacturers see in Europe and Japan. Add in touring loads, gravel side roads, and the fact that most riders sit heavier than the 70kg test rider, and you see why the stock setup struggles.
Age matters, too. If your bike has 10,000–15,000km and has never had the suspension serviced, the oil is broken down and the shims may have fatigued. Even the best valving won’t feel right in dirty, thin oil.
“The goal isn’t to make your bike feel like a Superbike. It’s to make it disappear beneath you so you can focus on the road.”
What We Do at Darkart
We start with a test ride and baseline measurements before running the suspension on our CTW dyno. Then we strip the forks and shock to see what’s inside. The revalve is built around how you ride, not a generic race stack from a catalogue.
Most jobs are done in 48 hours in New Plymouth. The goal isn’t to make your bike feel like a Superbike. It’s to make it disappear beneath you so you can focus on the road.
The Bottom Line
Get your sag and basics right first. It’s free and it fixes a lot.
If the bike still feels wrong after that, don’t assume you need to live with it. Just because suspension is one of the areas manufacturers often compromise on doesn’t mean you have to live with it. A properly set-up bike is safer, more comfortable and more enjoyable to ride.
For more info or to get in touch with Leroy, visit Darkart Motosport.
