Technical Tuesday: RockShox Totem and Lyric Mission Control Damper Mod

Jul 20, 2010
by Mike Levy  
If you have a Totem or Lyric fork that uses a Mission Control damper with the Floodgate feature, but don't take advantage of it and would like your fork to be more sensitive, this is the Tech Tuesday for you. Inside you'll find a great video that guides you through the process of removing the Floodgate for more active suspension.

Read on...Source: Colin "Hummeroid" Alexander

There are lots of riders out there who's bikes are equipped with either RockShox Totem or Lyric forks, and of those a lot of riders don't bother using the Floodgate feature. By removing the Floodgate unit from your fork entirely you can increase your fork's sensitivity which is never a bad thing. The great thing about this mod is that if you don't like the results, it's easy to put it back to factory spec. While performing this job is relatively easy, it does take some basic knowledge and tools to do correctly. It is very important that the parts are reassembled in the correct way and that the oil stays at the proper height. If you don't feel confident that you can do this mod, please hit up your local shop and have their trained mechanics do the work for you.

Tools needed: 24 mm socket or crescent wrench, allen key set, SRAM 24 mm flat wrench (channel lock pliers work, but can damage the L/S adjust), snap ring pliers, and a syringe. Gloves will also come in handy.



Views: 65,278    Faves: 257    Comments: 90

Video by Hummeroid


The guys at SRAM know that riders out there love to tinker and fine-tune their suspension to get it exactly how they want, but it's important to do that tinkering correctly. Below you'll find some tips directly from SRAM that expand on the process of removing the Floodgate component from your Totem or Lyric fork, as well as some technical info about their 2010 dampers.


• Instead of using channel lock pliers, the SRAM flat 24 mm wrench is the correct tool for the job. Channel locks can damage the low speed adjust. Simply turn the high-speed compression knob until you can fit the flat 24mm wrench underneath.

• A note on the "excess oil" - This is NOT excess and should be taken into account when re-filling. Always remember to put this amount of damping fluid back in. You can also lightly push on the shim with a 2mm allen. This drains the damping fluid directly into the upper tube. Oil hight in this system is crucial for proper performance.

• Please do not grab the Pop-it with sharp metal tools. This is technically a sealing surface and should be handled accordingly to prevent any damage.

• The system does not require Teflon tape. The sealing comes from the o-ring at the top of the treads. We suggest that you never use Teflon tape in any RockShox product.

• Please refer to all torque specs when reassembling the fork.


We here at RockShox, understand the diverse conditions, the crossover in this particular category, and the quest for performance. This being said, we are all about choice. We offer three different damper choices for the Totem and Lyric forks:

The best way to educate you guys on the ride quality or feel of the two Mission Control dampers we offer is describing what we changed for model year 2010. First is the re-valved Mission Control damper. The mentality behind this damper stays the same, the floodgate is intact as one of the quickest and easiest climbing tools in the all mountain realm, while we slightly changed the compression tune for better bump performance. The second completely new damper, Mission Control DH, is aimed at the rider who prefers the descent. This option is purely focused on bump performance. The Mission Control DH shares a lot of similarities to the video shown above. We have made some adjustments to the shim stack that really optimizes the ride feel and quality. Both dampers share updates to their rebound damping, which now features a larger displacement shaft and the removal of an internal tube, so a larger rebound piston can be utilized. The third damper is the Motion Control IS. This is an easy to use compression damper that we have used in other forks such as the Domain and Domain Dual Crown.




Past Tech Tuesdays:

Technical Tuesday #1 - How to change a tube.
Technical Tuesday #2 - How to set up your SRAM rear derailleur
Technical Tuesday #3 - How to remove and install pedals
Technical Tuesday #4 - How To Bleed Your Avid Elixir Brakes
Technical Tuesday #5 - How To Check And Adjust Your Headset
Technical Tuesday #6 - How To Fix A Broken Chain
Technical Tuesday #7 - Tubeless Conversion
Technical Tuesday #8 - Chain Wear
Technical Tuesday #9 - SRAM Shift Cable Replacement
Technical Tuesday #10 - Removing And Installing a Headset
Technical Tuesday #11 - Chain Lube Explained


Have you found this tutorial helpful? Share any of your hints or tips below!

Visit Parktool.com to see their entire lineup of tools and lubes.

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mikelevy avatar

Member since Oct 18, 2005
2,032 articles

100 Comments
  • 14 1
 Wow, this was a very well made video. I like the "Blue Peter" style, you will need section at the beginning. No messing around, just the information you need. Excellent use of the syringe to remove the need for fluid replacement. 10 out of 10! Hummeroid for the WIN!
  • 9 0
 Bro, I have to say... that is literally the best diy bike tech vid I have seen to date... anywhere.

Great stuff, great quality, well thought out and prepared. Edited good. Awsome! I really wish someone would have done this for shiv's or marz forks back when. Maybe I will have to donate one for the greater good.

Ride on Smile

btw, I don't even own a set of either... and watched the whole vid. That should say something Smile
  • 4 0
 tup Thanks man!

And yeah, you donate it, Ill fix it hahaha
  • 2 0
 well, i removed it, but i'm not feeling any difference. the lsc and hsc still don't work, or at least i'm not feeling it. what can i do to make the compressions work better, different oil maybe, one with higher "w"?
  • 3 0
 I read that you have to measure your oil-level. Remove the top cap on the suspension side (or air) and compress the fork completely. Then remove the damper and measure the oil level. 73mm from the top of the crown to the oil would be correct.

like this: fstatic1.mtb-news.de/img/photos/1/5/4/0/5/5/_/large/lstand.JPG
  • 1 0
 thanks man, i'll try that
  • 1 0
 Just done this mod to my totems, was fairly straightforward, however the floodgate widget wasnt the easist to flick out. Got it all back together fine and had a little pump around the drive and it feels slightly different. Will go for a blast soon to test fully.
  • 1 0
 Oh yes. This worked awesome. Did lose a little oil that was trapped in all the knooks and crannies of the damper. More than I felt comfortable with. Maybe have to add a couple of cc's. But the fork now is breezing thru the initial travel. The fork was a bit sticky, even right out of the box (09). I was starting to notice the floodgate would back out of it's adjustment during runs til it was completely locked up at the bottom. Kept having to adjust in between runs. Perfect now. May have to bump up 1 more spring size, though. It is a little to soft now.
  • 1 0
 Tx. Mod rocks. 2-step w Mi-Co already amazing. Now perrrfect. Turned low-speed up a couple clicks, high-speed down a click and tiny bit more air w better performance all round. Plush on small stuff but less brake dive. Couple mm less sag means more left for hits. Less bob thanks to extra low-spd & psi = no need for FG anyhow. Shaved 3.6g! YEAH! Lol. One obvious tip. Give your knarb-area a good clean before cracking the damper or knarb-dirt will foul your hole.
  • 1 0
 i know this is an old post but i just came across it looking for a vid on how to change the springs in totems as i have a medium or soft (not sure which is in it atm think its a medium spring) and i also have a firm spring for my totem. i'm in two minds weather or not to change the spring in mine but i guess i'll see how it rides more when my bb7 frame comes.

and not to be negative or anything: but what is the point of removing the floodgate/mission control? i mean doesn't the "if its not broke don't fix it" rule apply here? is taking the floodgate/mission control just to unrestrict the flow of oil in the fork to make the suspension more free? they may be times when you need high speed compression at a more controlable level because wouldn't the fork me more likely to bottom out or something if the floodgate/mission control was took out?

and more importantly is there any drawbacks? (silly question..)

RAMBLING OVER lol sorry for all the questions but there must be downsides to this in terms of compression
  • 3 0
 I would be willing to bet that at least 1/2 of the people using Totem's would benefit from this mod. Why did Rockshox even put a lockout on a DH fork?
  • 3 0
 You forgot to mention that bottle of Dogfish Head 90 Minute as being an ESSENTIAL tool in the mod process!! ;-)
  • 1 2
 Good beer is always necessary, but Dogfish Head is over-rated IMO. All of their brews are too sweet... Go get yourself a Caldera IPA!
  • 2 0
 Best Technical Tuesday I have seen! Keep them coming like this. Did this mod a year ago and never looked back. This video would have been awesome - it was very well done.
  • 3 0
 Would this invalidate my warranty? Because you sure as hell need a warranty with Totems...
  • 5 0
 :cough: fully reversible :cough: Theyd never know. Not that I said that.
  • 1 0
 Haha thanks buddy, might have to look into doing it then...
  • 1 0
 I did this mod a few days ago just after Hum posted the vid up, I think it makes a noticeable difference especially in the small bump when you press on the forks very lightly.
  • 30 0
 Woop! Tech Tuesday just stepped it up a notch! More like this please tup
  • 2 8
flag Borgschulze (Jul 20, 2010 at 10:52) (Below Threshold)
 I have photos in my profile from last year doing this mod.

It definitely feels better, but I then traded the Totem for a Fox 40, and then again for a Fox 36 and a King headset Smile
  • 1 0
 wat does a flood gate do exactly
  • 3 0
 It locks out the fork with an adjustable "gate" in which you can change how much pressure is needed before the fork becomes active again.

It's a lock out, but if you hit a large bump, or a drop, it'll "blow through" it and become active again.

Essentially, the idea behind it is, you can leave it on so you can climb and descend without adjusting anything.
  • 4 15
flag ASPOCKALIPS801 (Jul 20, 2010 at 12:27) (Below Threshold)
 They should a Technical Tuesday on lowering fork I have done this to almost all of my bikes. So need on a Technical Tuesday a lot of people get freaked out when opening up a fork but its simple. I would remove the Floodgate if I ran that fork is seem like a XC fork would work well on the up hill but coming down seems like it would become active when you don't want it to. That's why the have a video to take it out. Hum. . .
  • 25 2
 ^ Anyone here understand this comment?
  • 3 4
 i dont lol wats r u tring to get to jw ASPOCK
  • 1 10
flag ASPOCKALIPS801 (Jul 21, 2010 at 11:19) (Below Threshold)
 I would like to see a Technical Tuesday on lowering forks. I know how to but I would still like to see it on a Technical Tuesday. Dose anyone run this fork? Sounds like a XC fork, not a all mountain. What don't you understand.
  • 11 1
 Last I checked XC forks weren't 160-180mm travel.
  • 2 11
flag ASPOCKALIPS801 (Jul 22, 2010 at 9:34) (Below Threshold)
 You'd think 180mm try 140mm there reason for this Technical Tuesday the Mission Control damper with the Floodgate feature fail. I have 3 friends that this has happened to had to send them back. We had removed the floodgate in one but never felt any real change besides it didn't lock up at 100mm. I have never seen this for travel past 140mm so it is a XC fork in my mind. Shops get sick of my friends bring in this fork again and again, hours after they get them back from Rockshock. Out of the box one of the worst forks I have ever seen. Sorry bro just think this fork isn't worth the time to fix the floodgate feature (aka the lock-out feature). Got to give hats off to Rockshock tech and service teams they are super cool, really do stand by their products.
  • 3 0
 know this is helpful! thanks tech tuesday for a vid on something i didnt know!
  • 2 0
 Nice video, really starting to get something out of tech tuesday now! Has anyone done this mod already, how much of an improvement does it make?
  • 1 0
 i dont know, but id also like to know! Smile
  • 1 0
 woah woah. did you even read the very first comment?
  • 4 0
 Yes, I did, but I wanted to see if anyone else would pipe up, one opinion does not a consensus make...
  • 3 0
 hmmm, I sense great fear in you... =)
  • 1 0
 Did this but didn't get the best result so I tweaked some more and now it's utterly butterly tactic awesome. Here's my vid link to the next step:

www.pinkbike.com/video/408367
  • 1 0
 Are there any consequences if you ride with the mission control in the lock-out position accidentally with this modification?
  • 2 0
 Nope, wont even feel a difference!
  • 1 0
 I just did this mod and it feels incredible. Like a completely different fork. I was having a really tough time using the top 2 - 3" of travel on my fork even with it on the softest setting. Now, it's perfect!
Thanks man. Awesome Vid.
  • 2 0
 Did this mod over a year ago on both my Totem and my Lyrik. Have never missed the lockout and the fork(s) feel way better.
  • 1 2
 Very easy mod, bit tricky with all the sticky oil but not much to screw up on. Or mayb if you drop your mission control damper lol. After a quick street run does seem to be picking up just a bit nicer, less initial force needed to make the fork work. Hope it works on the trail will be testing it out soon.
  • 1 0
 yes did the same, try onto road and seams way better
it's like having a Ndee but with rock shox
wanted 1er to change spring from hard ( yellow) to medium(blue) but don't need to do it know
hope soon a real test
  • 2 1
 That's pretty neat! Is there a way to somehow do this to the 2010 Team and WC boxxer as well?
  • 1 0
 only older lyrik and totem had it, boxxers never did. he's talking about the older totem / mission control that pops out if u press down on silver knob and turn
  • 2 0
 the boxxer dosnt have that flood gate
  • 1 1
 can anyone give some help. well at 2:31 when we undone done that clip where can i get that tool. can i do it with anything else.
  • 1 0
 i've succesfully loosen those kind of clips with a tiny flathead screwdriver. Be carefull not to poke through your hand tho as it slips easely. The tool isn't that special and i'm pretty sure any decent tool shop sells them for like 20$
  • 3 2
 There just tweasers with bent hooks on the end! There really common in all DIY stores especially in electrical shops.
  • 3 4
 They're not "tweezers". They are called "snap-ring pliers", and are a specific tool that can be purchased at nearly any hardware store. Some models may have bent ends, but many models actually come with replaceable tips, so that you can choose between using straight tips, or a variety of differently bent tips. The latter is the recommended tool, since, depending on application, you might need a different length or degree of bend in the tip in order to reach the snap-ring you're trying to remove/install.
  • 4 2
 i know there not tweezers, im just saying tweezers would do the job!
  • 1 0
 can you guys please do a tech tues. on how to remove the spring on a fox vanilla rc shock?
  • 1 0
 That's a really simple thing to do. Look up on youtube. There should be a video.
  • 1 0
 If you can't find, Pm me. I'm going to explain it to you!
  • 1 0
 1:50 to 2:05 in this video found on the web.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4LAV9qUPws

It's not a Vanilla RC, but same thing.
  • 1 0
 thanks for the responses guys! i tried myself but didnt have the tools so i went down to my local shop and they helped me out.
  • 1 0
 Ah well you don't really need tools, I had a feeling that the vid showed too much. The shop will know what to do, make sure you have them explain it to you cause sometimes they don't.
  • 1 0
 Wicked, I just did this to my Totem today and it feels a lot better! Easy fix too..
  • 1 0
 Dude!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No way where did you learn how to do that? Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • 1 0
 i just did this mod and now my low speed damper dial will not turn dose anyone know what has happend
  • 1 0
 Try taking the caps off and refitting them.
  • 1 0
 im assuming this mod wont work for my 2010 totem coils then?? i really want them to feel more sensitive to small bump etc .
  • 1 0
 dose it matter what year fork you have to do this mod and how do people like this mod
  • 1 3
 Totems are absolute pieces of junk. Bought some 3 days ago and have already had to replace the seals, because the clowns at the factory didn't notice that they put a shredded one in my forks. Go with a Marzocchi instead....or a Fox. Save your money and time.
  • 1 0
 I've heard that if you remove floodgate you loose part of compression damping. So there's need to modify shimstack.
  • 1 0
 The point is that Rock Shox wanted to decrease Compression Damping with the new Mission Control DH so the Fork can perform better in rough Terrain.
  • 2 0
 This may sound retarted... but what does the floodgate do?
  • 1 0
 Its a threshold valve that will keep the fork semi locked out until a hard enough bump comes to overcome the threshold setting, then it opens up and acts like suspension again. It also limits oil flow for people who dont care about that lockout feature.
  • 2 1
 is it the same on a reba fork ??
  • 1 0
 No. ONLY the mission control forks with the floodgate feature.
  • 1 0
 No. the Motion Control on the shorter travel RockShox are JUST floodgated, not low and high speed compression adjustable.
  • 1 0
 nm the spring, how about a tech Tuesday on how to do an internal adjustment for rebound an a vanilla RC?
  • 2 0
 Will this mod work on a 2013 Lyric?
  • 1 0
 Good question, I would like to know the answer too.
  • 1 0
 This modification is only for the mission control with floodgate...In a mission control DH there is no floodgate valve.
  • 1 0
 to sum up, if i have rc2dh the modification isn't needed?
  • 1 0
 The rc2dh or MiCodh dampers are already "modified" from the factory... rockshox simply didn't put the floodgate valve on the compression assembly.
So no, you don't have to do anything on yours.
  • 2 0
 Thanks man! Beer
  • 1 1
 thanks that helped alot too, is there a way i can remove the floodgate from motion control on my pikes?
  • 3 0
 Motion control =/= mission control
  • 1 0
 So does anyone have an answer for the Pikes?
  • 2 0
 It is not applicable for Pike. There are other mods to the Motion control you can do but this is only for the Mission Control systems. And Deryck, there is no consequence. The lockout forces the button up or down to close off ports. With the button removed (results of this mod), it will have no effect whatsoever what position the actual lockout dial is in.

I did this mod about a year ago on my Lyrik, fork came alive afterwards. I was able to effectively use the low speed afterwards to dial out fork dive and it is more active on the brake bumbs and quick, successive hits. Some people have played with oil weights after removing floodgate but I did not have the need to. I bought some different weights but never went about messing with it. Highly recommend for those running the mission control who don't use the lockout.
  • 1 0
 low speed and high speed compression will work correctly after this mod?
  • 1 0
 Yes.
  • 1 0
 awesome video, I'll have to give it a go before I sell my Patriot
  • 1 0
 Will this work with a Pike 454 Dual Air? It has the Flood Gate feature.
  • 1 0
 Different damper. So thats a no
  • 1 0
 Might have to give this a try tonight....
  • 1 0
 Nice. Have to try this on my Totem.
  • 1 1
 spends the money on a blue point floor mat, but then uses all cheap tools! very good tech tues though, keep em coming!
  • 2 0
 because Mac tools are cheap???
  • 2 0
 Whole inside of that box is snap on/mac. Hardly cheap. Allens are my kit I ride with.
  • 2 0
 ya i wish i could afford mac/snap on. rarely break or strip.
  • 1 0
 Beer optional?Big Grin Beer Pimp Beer
  • 1 0
 just did this! noticable difference
  • 1 0
 Does this work on the 2010 DH Solo Air Lyric or only the 2009?
  • 1 0
 NO - the 2010 damper is opened up even more and also has the proper shimming for it AND proper rebound. The mod doesn't take into effect either which is why some of us went back (I missed the ability to slow oil flow for bigger FR hits to prevent bottoming as it adds to the high speed compression circuit; have since switched to the 2010 dampers and is 100% better than the mod).

Have FUN!

G MAN
  • 1 0
 What do you mean with 'proper rebound'?
  • 1 0
 Great video Hum, glad to see you walking again.
  • 1 0
 NICE! Thx for posting!







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