No one wants to be the guy or girl riding with their front end high over jumps. Throwing whips and scrubs is more difficult, it zaps up energy, and . . . it doesn't scream "style". If you feel as if you can't help the front wheel of your dirt bike coming up in the air off of jumps and don't know where to turn . . . look no further.
1. Before anything . . .
As a good practice before I ever give suspension advice, there are a few basic starting places to ensure that any clicker or riding adjustments are effective.
Spring Rates
If you are running the incorrect spring rate in your forks and rear shock, then the front-end issue is the least of your problems and clicker adjustments may not make a difference. Spring rate is specific to the weight of the rider. If you've had your suspension re-valved before, you likely have the correct spring rate for your weight unless you rejected the re-spring service. Generally, most 450cc motocross bikes come sprung for a 180lb rider, a 250cc motocross bike comes sprung for a 160lb rider, and a 125cc motocross bike comes sprung for a 140lb rider. The spring rate is to ensure that the rider is making the most effective use of the suspension. Too stiff a spring rate, the suspension won't move. Too soft a spring rate, the suspension bottoms easily, regardless how it's valved. Proper spring rate ensures the rider is riding in the sweet spot where the suspension works best.
Sag
If you've had your suspension re-valved, then you should have either gotten a pamphlet or a sticker on your rear shock with the recommended sag setting for you. If you haven't gotten your suspension re-valved, and you have the correct spring rate for your weight, then check your motorcycle manual for the recommended sag measurement. Often, many suspension handling issues can be dealt with simply by setting the sag correctly. If you haven't checked your sag in a while, it is a good idea to check and make sure it is still within spec.
Fork Mounting
The forks are usually the culprit when it comes to harshness and jump issues. Before touching the clickers, make sure that the fork caps are only about 3mm above the triple clamps. Consult your motorcycle manual and set the fork clamp torque. Before you say you don't need a torque wrench, keep in mind that even a slight over-tightness can cause drastic fork handling issues for some bikes. On most bikes you want the upper fork clamps at about 17nm and the lower fork clamps at about 14nm. The lower bolts that hold the front wheel axle can easily get bound up if not tightened in the proper sequence, also causing issues and binding in the fork travel.
2. Be aware of your riding habits
If your suspension is correctly set up, it's time to see if anything has changed off of jumps. The most common advice given to riders with this issue is to just push the front end down, chop the throttle, or not hang on so tight. If you are an experienced rider that is comfortable off of jumps, this is often not the case. For less experienced riders that may not be as loose off of jump faces, this can sometimes be the case. Either way, it is good to cross off the list before messing with clickers. Pay attention to where your body is off of a jump that throws the front end up. Are you positioned far back on the bike? Are you pulling up or hanging on too tightly to the grips? If you move forward, does it change things? If the answer is no to these questions, then congratulations . . . It's your clickers.
3. Clicker Adjustment
Forks
And finally, if you have a good starting point with your suspension and good body positioning off of jumps . . . it's your clickers. More specifically, the fork rebound. Depending on where your compression is set, the rebound clicker will need to be adjusted. Typically, you want your rebound at least one click out (counterclockwise) further than compression. So, if you've adjusted your compression clicker out without also adjusting your rebound clicker, this is likely your issue. I'd recommend threading your fork compression clickers all the way in (clockwise) and count how many clicks out your compression is set at. Then do the same with the rebound. Likely, the rebound is threaded in further ("harder") than the compression. So, for adjustment, if you like where your compression clickers are at, just count the clicks of your rebound to where they are just one click out (counterclockwise) from where your compression is set and see if anything changes. This is typically a good setting to start with. A note for mini riders: sometimes the compression clicker is actually at the bottom of the fork and rebound is at the top (inverse of a big bike) so double check before making changes. The further threaded out (counterclockwise) than compression, the more dive the front end will have.
For example, if your fork compression is 14 clicks out from all the way hard, start with your rebound at 15 clicks out from all the way hard. If the issue persists, go out another click or two with the rebound.
Shock
Inversely from the forks, the shock can have a lack of kick off of jumps, resulting in mild nose-high flying. This is rarely the cause of front-end high issues, however if the fork rebound did not do the trick, go ahead and tighten up the rear shock high speed rebound (clockwise) about a quarter turn and take note to where your adjustments are in comparison to the shock compression as well. I like my rear wheel to have a little kick off of jumps, so I run the rebound threaded in a bit further from compression.
Conclusion
The most important part of suspension adjustments is to TAKE NOTES. Once you solve an issue or find a setting you like, write it down somewhere you can find it. For me, I've found that keeping the clicker adjustments about the same in relation to one another helps dramatically if I have to soften things up for a rough track or stiffen up for a fresh loam or sand track. Do yourself a favor and get your suspension properly set up with spring rate, sag, and fork mounting to avoid alternate causes for handling issues. Pay attention to where your body is on the bike when going off of jumps. And lastly, keep your fork rebound "softer" (turned out counterclockwise) at least one click from your compression, and make adjustments until you are satisfied with the results. Once you start taking notes and realizing what a difference your clicker adjustments actually make, you will be able to make changes on the fly to best handle any track or trail condition.