Maintenance & Technical > KX500 Original

Suspension Upgrade

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Polar-Bus:
I have "heard" quite a bit of feedback on Race Tech G/V's, and the generall opinion is they are a band-aid for improperly valved suspension(s). I do however hear excellent feedback, when they are used in street cruiser style motorcycles. Again, strictly heresay, I have personally never ridden a bike done up by Race Tech.

kx666:
do not use factory connection. some of the bikes i have worked on the cusomer had spent thousends of $$ on work from them. i never saw any revalving, shimming or anything. if there was any difference at all ocationally they would put a heavyer spring (any one could do that). you are paying for a sticker.

i am not saying they allways rip people off, but i have seen it a lot. the bikes that they acutally do work on turn out good.

Polar-Bus:

--- Quote from: kx666 on November 16, 2006, 05:30:48 AM ---do not use factory connection. some of the bikes i have worked on the cusomer had spent thousends of $$ on work from them. i never saw any revalving, shimming or anything. if there was any difference at all ocationally they would put a heavyer spring (any one could do that). you are paying for a sticker.

i am not saying they allways rip people off, but i have seen it a lot. the bikes that they acutally do work on turn out good.

--- End quote ---

Dude, get your facts straight. Factory Connection does NOT cost "thousands" for their suspension rework. A complet re-spring and revalve will run you about $800. F/C has set up 4 different bikes for me. Furthermore TONS of NESC New England pros rely on F/C for awesome suspension rework at great prices.

jolly green thumper:
Thanks for the feedback everyone, and the warning Sly. I will try it myself first, and if I run into problems I will have to look up a dealer around here.

FuriouSly:

--- Quote ---My suspension is now capable of the 100 foot plus jumps I like in the sand and it really soaks up the little stuff...Sly
--- End quote ---

I have three trips out on the new suspension and have come to some conclusions...

First:  It takes awhile to get the comp/rebound/preload set when starting fresh from scratch.  The suggested settings from the manufacturer (Race Tech) are merely guidelines.  Setting the suspension in the sand is even more difficult for me since it is inconsistent, but that is beside the point I am getting away from.

Second:  The better the suspension the more isolated my KX5 is from the sand, like being able to tell how much the bike is hooking up on take off or how much the front is grabbing on turns.

Last:  I have yet to get over 75 feet let alone make it over 100 foot on the KX5 since the suspension rebuild.

I am thinking it is because the suspension work with the motor mods I have done makes it hard to get a consistent take off from the jumps.  I know Arigato said to me "hey, a slight twist of the throttle is all it takes to go from hero to zero on the jumps"....    Duhh, makes a little more sense now.  Top of 3rd is too revvy and bottom of 4th has too much torque.  So its either take off at 25 mph or 40 mph approximately.

Definately going back to the basics of jumping, but mostly because a 250 is so much easier to jump at all speeds and gears than a built up 500.

Long story short??  Sorry for the babbling, but when you get the suspension done, take some time and really tune it in.  Work on the front and rear/comp and rebound/preload in their respective environments.

Sly

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