KDXRIDER.NET

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to the KDX and I want to get my suspension set up correctly. I see a lot of KX fork conversion threads. Are the stock forks that bad? I'm a C rider who rides only single track trails- lots of rocks and roots and some harescrambles. I'm not fast and I'm fine with that. I plan to get new springs to match my weight and revalve the forks. Will that be enough for what I'm doing?

I don't race but once I got the proper springs for my weight, it made a huge difference in the handling of the bike. It was so much more balanced. A lot of people like to go to USD forks because there is less under hang with them.

Properly sprung stock KDX forks sound perfectly fine for your needs and, quite frankly, for anybody who doesn't find them to be a limiting factor of their speed.

stock forks are just fine for everybody but pro racers as long as the right weight fluid is in them (I used 7.5wt) and the right strength springs are in them.
But I don't like the stock rear shock and replaced mine with an Ohlins shock which I loved.

I'm a slow C rider myself. Put the right wgt springs in and play around with the fork adjustment and you'll be just fine. I haven't tried the shim mod yet but plan to. I had a bigger problem with the rear. I sent my shock to FRP and let Jeff Fredette rebuild and revalve it. Then I set the sag correctly and it made a HUGE difference. Much better control and tracking. I'm in love with the bike now.

Thanks for the responses!

Personally, I find the front forks dangerous if your a fast rider. They have way too much flex and the lack of rebound control just makes the problem worse. However, if you are literally just trail riding and/or riding really slow technical terrain, they are pretty good.

I agree with SS109 100%. I am no pro-racer but the fork flex of the stock forks, with correct springs and gold-valves, caused a crash that changed my life forever - by throwing me off and over a cliff. Now that I'm older the pain from that get-off dominates my life. And that crash was a direct result of the forks flexing on a square-edged hole (at speed) and snapping back causing me to lose control. The USD forks I have installed on no less than four different bikes are night-and-day better, control-wise. No longer is flex an issue and the precise steering the USD forks provide is simply not possible with the stockers. I won't ride a KDX without USD's on them.

I had showa conventionals on mine for awhile. I like the stock forks better but I don't ride the high speed stuff like in the dessert. My previous 200 h series had gold valves and .42 race tech springs with race tech 5 wt oil. They were really plush. At 200#s I think I might need heavier springs maybe .44 as I smashed the forks all the way down on quite a few g-outs in some hare scrambles & I am not fast by any means. I think the stock forks will work good for what you want but if you decide to go high speed you might consider an upgrade. Jeff Fredette could sure fly on those stock forks.

They most certainly need to be reprung. The forks are way too soft otherwise (I'm only 190 with kit on). I had a 93 SR model with USD forks. New springs made a night and day difference. $100 well spent. Beyond that depends on the type of riding you do. I actually really liked the shock. Felt nice and soft, picked up bumps easily. With new springs I was able to ride much faster, and now i'm even faster on my WR450F, mainly because if the increased stability at speed. Even when going slow, the stock springs would just sink in with every bump.

I also think the stock forks are fine after being resprung. Everything I ride is tight woods, I hardly ever hit 4th or 5th gear.

I have never seen a photo of Jeff Fredette riding a 200/220 with USD forks.

'Nuff said.

Jaguar wrote:stock forks are just fine for everybody but pro racers as long as the right weight fluid is in them (I used 7.5wt) and the right strength springs are in them.
But I don't like the stock rear shock and replaced mine with an Ohlins shock which I loved.

Where did you come up with an Ohlins rear shock ?

EBay of course. Ohlins from a 2002 GasGas 200 EC has the same length as the KDX shock.

KDX forks work fine for trail riding, the only real downside is they start to get out of shape if your speed increases drastically over the rough stuff ..if you find them a little too soft then replace the OE springs for a pair of XR400 items & see how they feel before spending $$$$ on a KX fork conversion....the only other downside to the OE KDX forks are the under hanging lower fork leg which I found a pain especially in deep rutted washed out single track goat trails....they would strike sticking out rocks & catch roots etc which can, & will either stop you dead or snatch the handlebars right out of your hands !

lucy wrote:I have never seen a photo of Jeff Fredette riding a 200/220 with USD forks.

'Nuff said.

And Jeff wasn't normally flying in 5th and 6th gears racing ISDE's. Plus, he isn't just an average guy. Jeff was an elite racer and one of the best ever so, yeah, he can/could do things on inferior equipment that us mere mortals can only dream of.

Hi, I did the shim stack mod (very easy to do) and being a slow old light weight guy, I'm loving them!

lucy wrote:I have never seen a photo of Jeff Fredette riding a 200/220 with USD forks.

Here's one, not that the style of forks matter much with regard to his riding level:

Jaguar wrote:EBay of course. Ohlins from a 2002 GasGas 200 EC has the same length as the KDX shock.

Makes sense that it would fit. Didn't Gas Gas copy the KDX chassis pretty heavily for their bike?

I have no idea but if money wasn't an issue I'd get a Gas-Gas for my next bike. A riding buddy had one and man was it sweet.