the second most forward position because I’ m tall – all of which was a mistake. The track was mainly third or fourth gear and MX-style‘ whoop’ rough, so the shock was way too soft for my size and the conditions. Also, I felt less comfortable with the bars in that forward position. It gave a slightly overcentre feel in turns that required a reasonable amount of lock and felt odd, even though the extra room was appreciated when going straight. One lap done I hit the pits and quickly adjusted the shock back to standard settings. Straight away it was a massive improvement. Now, with the shock riding higher in the stroke with more control and a heap more bottoming resistance, the whole machine felt better. The shock feels a little softer than last year overall and very plush. Given that I’ m over 100kg suited up, I think a younger / lighter racer would be very pleased with the shock’ s action. Up front the Showa SFF Air TAC fork is pretty plush and has decent bottoming resistance. The fork is highly adjustable and I found the action stable for the whole race. Air spring forks do feel a little different, in that air is more progressive in action than a wire spring... so they can be softer initially and still man up enough for the big hits. However the difficulty is getting the balance correct so they’ re riding high enough in the stroke and
KIWI RIDER 41