Joining the Club (KX125)

Questions and comments about converting to beefier forks..
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Goat
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Re: Joining the Club (KX125)

Post by Goat »

He really said I could adjust for both and the range of adjustment is enough to work pretty well for either.
I told him I was not a racer and just wanted leaks fixed and checkout, so he may have taken that into consideration.
I am sure he would have been happy to make them even better. But I wasn’t asking... maybe should have but I wasn’t looking to spend the money for now.
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Re: Joining the Club (KX125)

Post by KDXGarage »

OK. I have never paid for fork service, but that seems a touch high at $97 for oil seals and dust seals, then $190 on labor.
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Re: Joining the Club (KX125)

Post by Goat »

I couldn’t find 1/2” riser anymore, unless I wanted to pay $46 or more. So I got the ugliest 1” I could find to help save the money I spent on fork service.
I set top of forks at 35mm above top of TT and bike feels back to normal.
We rode 12.7 mi (I like having Odo) of easy to medium gnar today and everything felt great. I will play with settings next time to see if that makes it any better.
MX practice is open again, so that is where I expect / hope to feel the big change.
I think I will also try the low bars, when I decide to replace grips. Should get most of that 1/2” back.
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Re: Joining the Club (KX125)

Post by KDXGarage »

Check the front fender for black marks after a couple of decent jumps. Don't go hit the big jump first lap. :-)
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Re: Joining the Club (KX125)

Post by Goat »

Sage advise. I will do my best to wait until at least 2nd lap to get stupid.
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Re: Joining the Club (KX125)

Post by KDXGarage »

At some point in the "keep raising the forks up" process, the underside of the fender will rub the top of the tire.
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Re: Joining the Club (KX125)

Post by Goat »

Interesting. Is that just geometry at play since the bike is coming down a bit more on top (vs behind) the tire, “less rake” for us ex-Harley guys.
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Re: Joining the Club (KX125)

Post by KDXGarage »

Take a measurement from fully extended for the forks, as well as the tire to fender distance. Subtract the travel distance. Assume you somehow had a REALLY tall tire. It might hit the underside of the fender.

Thus, one can only pull up the fork tubes to a certain amount. I do not know what that amount is, just that the front wheel stopping quickly when bottoming out AIN'T gonna be pretty (IF, IF, IF it were to happen)
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Re: Joining the Club (KX125)

Post by Goat »

Duh. I don’t know what I was thinking. Maybe that the fender was bolted to the forks like a street bike.
Not much geometry involved in this equation:
Raised fork = Lower fender.
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Re: Joining the Club (KX125)

Post by Goat »

So much for my fancy Honda front brake routing setup. Not sure what I hit this time. I used my handy dandy HF plastic welder to patch the hole, and went back to KX brake routing. I also could not find a good way to keep the odometer cable routed so it didn’t get goobered up on every other ride. So also pulled that off before it got ripped off. Too bad, I quite liked the Odo. But nice to have one less thing to fiddle with.
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Re: Joining the Club (KX125)

Post by Goat »

A while back, RMATV got the Tusk 1/2” risers back in stock at normal price. So now I am running them with the forks 27mm (30mm if you include the top plug), and swapped out the CR Highs for the CR normal (lower) handlebars. I am sure more fine tuning to come.
It is very interesting to find that the very small difference in these handlebars gives the bike a different feel. When hauling freight in “attack” position on relatively horizontal ground, the low bars are the deal. When climbing nasty gnar, I like the taller (more forgiving bars). If I get out of position on hard climb the low bars want to pull away. I thought my throttle was sticking on first hard climb with them. Until realized that it was just me trying to lean back & hang on at same time. Need another track day before I decide if I switch back.
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Re: Joining the Club (KX125)

Post by Goat »

Meant to say forks are at 27mm above TT. The Tusk spacers are way better build quality than the others, but do look a little too shiny for a work horse like mine.
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Re: Joining the Club (KX125)

Post by TwistedRoot »

Hey Goat did you have to use the KX front brake line or did the KDX line work? Id really like to get this sorted on my bike.

*Duh. I just read Dougs posts about the L stock and the riveting.
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Re: Joining the Club (KX125)

Post by TwistedRoot »

TwistedRoot wrote: 12:32 pm Jun 06 2022 Hey Goat did you have to use the KX front brake line or did the KDX line work? Id really like to get this sorted on my bike.

*Duh. I just read Dougs posts about the L stock and the riveting.
Edit: Im getting a Galfer kit for the KX. I don't like the routing and pressure the bracket is bearing. Since I have the KX hardware, it looks like best way forward.
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Re: Joining the Club (KX125)

Post by Goat »

Yes KDX line worked fine for KDX/Honda style routing. I made error of using the KDX upper hose guide on lower triple clamp, which is a little too low for KX fork travel. So it ripped off my mounting bracket when I cased it bad on a track jump. I think the KX bracket will avoid this since it is higher (and since I am no longer using KDX as MX bike).
So eventually I will go back to the Honda style. It’s on the to-do list, but pretty low priority since KX routing (under caliper) works fine too.
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Re: Joining the Club (KX125)

Post by TwistedRoot »

Finally got my Galfer re[placement line for the front. Im using the KDX caliper, RB axle mod, KDX front wheel. I know the calipers are different, so would grinding some area off the bottom work? Need the KX line to better fit under the fork..

And I have some Motul Dot 5.1 on hand. Ok to use for a new clean line?
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Re: Joining the Club (KX125)

Post by SS109 »

DOT 5.1 can mix with DOT 3 or DOT 4 so no issues and you don't have to flush out anything special. Just do a standard bleed of the system. It will probably take you 5 or more times filling the master cylinder, and then bleeding it, to get all the old stuff out. Small note... NEVER mix any of those DOT fluids with DOT 5 or you'll have real problems!

You should be able to grind the support ribs on the caliper but keep it to the minimum you can. Otherwise, you risk the caliper flexing (leading to a mushy feel) and it will hold more heat.
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Re: Joining the Club (KX125)

Post by Goat »

i have both KX & KDX caliper, so can't help on this question. Sorry.
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