KDXRIDER.NET

Coming off a CRF250X last year and looking at an '02 KDX 200. The 200 is $1400 less than the X. I'm a 47 year old aggressive weekend warrior in N. Texas at 160 lbs with gear. Can the OEM forks be modified to work well, or is a conversion to USD essential?

I've never ridden a KDX, so I'd welcome feedback from anyone with experience on the X and 200.

Thanks,

Weave

Yeah, the stock forks are pretty soft. Coming from a 250X, you'll definitely notice a difference. A conversion to USD would be really nice, but I put stiffer springs and emulators along with thicker oil in my forks and I like the feel of them. I guess it's all about personal preference

No, it is not required. Jeff Fredette won many bronze, silver, and gold medals racing the KDX with the stock forks.

The stock forks can be made to work quite well. There are a couple reasons people opt for the swap to MX forks.

Rebound adjuster gives more adjustability (stockers have no rebound adjuster)

USD style forks have less underhang

The time and money involved to re-work the stockers is considerable


That's about it.

The fork swap can be done for the same, sometimes less then upgrading the stock forks to what they need to do. I rode my completely stock forks for a long season before swapping to mx forks. I have been very happy with the upgrade but the stock forks didn't really disappoint me too much if you stay on the ground and didn't get into too bad of terrain.

I wouldn't think of the forks as a deal breaker on the bike, they work good and do what they need to do. If you "out grow them" the swap can be cheap and is pretty easy.

juliend wrote:The stock forks can be made to work quite well. There are a couple reasons people opt for the swap to MX forks.

Rebound adjuster gives more adjustability (stockers have no rebound adjuster)

USD style forks have less underhang

The time and money involved to re-work the stockers is considerable


That's about it.

One more reason - USD's don't flex near as much as the stockers.