KDXRIDER.NET

I have been doing some hare scrambles and trail ride whenever possible. I usually hit alot of hills with alot of different kinds of terrain both muddy and dry.
Right now I cant afford the kx fork conversion. I am 180lbs. How would I properly adjust my supension for my weight?

You need proper springs to get your frontend to work for you correctly. The stock springs are only good to about 135#

I won't be getting down to 135lbs any time soon. LOL. What are the proper springs? How much do the proper springs cost? What about the rear?

Your fine on the rear.... .38 to .40 springs would be just about right for you probably. You can get them ar Racetech.com.... about $100 I think...

The best springs are Honda Hot wound springs... you can order them from Servicehonda.com

Xr600 93-00 : .41
Xr600 85-92 : .42
Xr650L 93-02: .44
Xr400 00-02 : .40
Xr400 96-99 : .38

It’s the 1996-99 0.38kg/mm XR400 springs that are interchangeable and commonly used in 1995 to 2005 KDX200/220s

Thanks for all the info. How much of a change in performance would I notice with different springs? Is there a certain adjustment I should be on the rear spring?

Just set the sag on the rear and adjust the compression and rebound clickers. Check out the suspension section on the site to learn how to do it...

You will notice an improved change to the forks... but not as much as a KX conversion. The KDX forks are just old technology....

my new to me 2005 220 has a silver coloured spring on the rear, and it is really soft. I can put the bike on a stand and lift the rear tire 3-4 inches by hand! The seller told me the bike is bone stock.

my 01 had a blue rear spring, and it was a lot stiffer, and the bike sat a lot (3"?) taller.


Is there a rear spring weight range chart by colour somewhere? Or should I just tighten down the spring and see how much it stiffens up?

I'll give setting the sag a go tonight, with the Team Green article you put up Indawoods.

Nice thread hijack hecker Sounds like your shock needs to be rebuilt. I've done it and its not too hard. Lots of threads on here about it.

billyp10980 wrote: How would I properly adjust my supension for my weight?

hijack?

really?


Rebuild my shock, eh? So there's no air pressure it in, causing it to be really soft?

Heckler-
I'd check and see where that adjusting collar is, first of all.

What you are describing does sound odd. Surely the wheel does not come up 3-4" without spring resistance when the bike is on a stand?

A shock with no gas pressure won't necessarily be soft. What will happen is that it will be really slow to rebound from a compressed state. Very strange ride, that's for sure.

To the OP-
The XR400 spring is a big improvement and so is a fork fluid change. There is lots of good information on here on getting the stock forks to work pretty well. A lot of folks find they are just fine with a spring change and a little tuning. Be carefull, you can make a career out of suspension tuning!

there is spring resistance, but I can lift the wheel up and compress the spring by hand. My other bike I couldn't budge the rear wheel when it was on a stand.

I just bought the online manual - it's pretty nice!

KarlP wrote:Heckler-
I'd check and see where that adjusting collar is, first of all.

What you are describing does sound odd. Surely the wheel does not come up 3-4" without spring resistance when the bike is on a stand?

A shock with no gas pressure won't necessarily be soft. What will happen is that it will be really slow to rebound from a compressed state. Very strange ride, that's for sure.

To the OP-
The XR400 spring is a big improvement and so is a fork fluid change. There is lots of good information on here on getting the stock forks to work pretty well. A lot of folks find they are just fine with a spring change and a little tuning. Be carefull, you can make a career out of suspension tuning!

Wrong my friend - a shock that has lost the nitrogen charge will rebound back up like a rocket! I saw this happen on a KTM 200SX, you could push down on the seat and compress the shock normally, but let go and it would actually slam to the top!

Wrong my friend - a shock that has lost the nitrogen charge will rebound back up like a rocket! I saw this happen on a KTM 200SX, you could push down on the seat and compress the shock normally, but let go and it would actually slam to the top!

Interesting....
I was screwing around with shock pressure on one of my KDX's a couple of years ago and had a very different experience. At no pressure it would compress with no apparent damping and then hang up compressed and come up very slowly. I assumed the gas pressure was helping push the oil through the rebound valving......
Nearly threw me over the front riding around the yard!

Maybe the KTM PDS shocks work differently then?

I really don't know how all the internals work.

I do hope the OP and The Heckler got the information they needed.

The Heckler, eh? that has a nice ring to it.

Yup, I'll be tightening down my spring and then rebuilding the shock at a later date. I was hoping for some info on what colour spring is soft/med/heavy like in mountain bike land, but whatever... I'll figure it out.

Not so sure they are color coded or not.... but I think Race Tech has replacements. The stock is a 4.8 I think... a 5.0 or 5.2 should bring it up...