I recently purchased a new 800 trail and have not been able to take it yet (only 8 miles on it). I will be taking it to Arizona this winter and have made a few of the improvements suggested throughout these forums, Uni air filter, boxing of the air intake to separate it from engine area dust and heat, comfort items such as front and rear windshields. I am looking to set my suspension and have some confusion. The first setting I come across is for ride height however I am confused as to what the stock ride height should be. The spec sheets for my model indicate a "ground clearance" of 11.2 inches while a measurement of my machine is just 9.25 inches, this with the only added weight being the windshields. Are ground clearance and ride height the same? If they are should I add more preload to raise it 2 inches (is that possible) If they are not the same what should I set the ride height at?

[2015 Z Force 800 53/Trail EPS]

I recently purchased a new 800 trail and have not been able to take it yet (only 8 miles on it). I will be taking it to Arizona this winter and have made a few of the improvements suggested throughout these forums, Uni air filter, boxing of the air intake to separate it from engine area dust and heat, comfort items such as front and rear windshields. I am looking to set my suspension and have some confusion. The first setting I come across is for ride height however I am confused as to what the stock ride height should be. The spec sheets for my model indicate a "ground clearance" of 11.2 inches while a measurement of my machine is just 9.25 inches, this with the only added weight being the windshields. Are ground clearance and ride height the same? If they are should I add more preload to raise it 2 inches (is that possible) If they are not the same what should I set the ride height at?

Hold on. You need to know that CFM measures their ground clearance by jacking up the front and rear until the tires almost come off the ground...or as much preload as is possible with no weight. The only way you will get that sitting there is crank the preload up so high it doesn't move. Don't want that. What you do want is loaded, you want the suspension to sit as close to the center of its total arc to 10% higher. We call that 50/50 up to 60/40. That means out of 100% of the swing, 60% of that is compression and 40% is rebound or extension where if it were in the center it would be 50/50. And..you want the front to be level to not more then 1"(1/2" preferred) lower in the front of the skid plate -v- the rear. That's the large flat one in the center. Most people set the rear first, then the front. Remember, loaded means with all the weight and passengers it will be normally carrying..including the driver.  Shocks- if stock- Compression best if set all the way to fast then 1-2 clicks toward the slow on all that have it. Rebound, the lower one, all the way to slow then 1-3 clocks toward the Fast. Good luck

Thank you for the clarification and setting recommendation. I have checked the spec sheet for my 2021 800 trail and found travel to be listed as 6.3 in for the front and 7.8 inches in the rear.