I second this. Ching is the man with old BMW's.
Band Of Riders
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I second this. Ching is the man with old BMW's.
Band Of Riders
all the people that will be there do :dunno:
All 50 of them
more snow for me
less waiting in line
less $$
all wins.
What should I do with the KTM suspension?
The bike has a shade over 200 hours on it, and I'm probably responsible for ~30 of those hours. Judging by the maintenance habits of the previous owner, it probably has olive oil in the forks.
I rode the KTM at the Stimilon challenge and at another MX track, but since I got the CRF I much prefer using that for MX. So, the KTM will stay a woods bike.
What should I do with it -- just a respring and maybe a revalve? AFAIK it has stock KTM suspension front and rear, and an aftermarket steering damper in the bars.
Depends how much you wanna spend. Refresh both ends for roughly 400. Springs and revalve double that or even more if you go with an expensive shop like factory connection. Its possible you could be somewhere in the middle, like valving is ok but a spring change is warranted...but you arent far off "average" weight so maybe not even springs. One of the problems with newer riders ordering suspension service is that you probably arent able to describe current suspension shortcomings very well to the tech.
If I think im going to keep the bike for a long time, i bite the bullet and do springs and valving right away, and then it can just be refreshes from then on.
My advice, definitely get it serviced at a minimum, check charts and sag range to see how necessary springs are, and then if money is tight, wait to revalve until you ride it for a (long) while with fresh oil and seals. If its running on olive oil now, even a pro test rider wouldnt be able to adequately give feedback for valving, and since its a ktm woods bike being used for woods, the valving probably is not holding you back much. Proper springs (and shock sag and fork height settings) are very important, though.
Ive had great luck getting phone advice from factory connection..,
+1. if it feels OK in the woods now, set your sag and have both ends refreshed. it won't be cheap but it's well worth it. seals, bushings, etc will prob need attention in addition to fresh oil. once you set sag you'll know if you're far off on springs but like Gary said, chances are you're fine for right now.
i just had Motoworx revalve front and rear on the RR, Rob was awesome to deal with... bike is in pieces so won't know how it performs just yet.
The Honda is going to Factory Connection as its got FC internals already and they will revalve it for free. It's not cheap, though :(
I appreciate your estimate of my weight, but uh, I'm just under 230lbs without gear so I'm probably far enough over "average" that a spring shock would help. From memory, actually, the bike already has a heavier spring in the rear shock, but I have no idea about the fork springs.
And yes, not being able to adequately describe what I like and don't like about the suspension sucks. As a new rider this is probably more of an issue in MX for me.
Yeah, I think this is the best advice. I might go to Factory Connection the first time and then just get by with cheaper refreshes later.Quote:
If I think im going to keep the bike for a long time, i bite the bullet and do springs and valving right away, and then it can just be refreshes from then on.
Because it's woods, is valving less important because all the speeds are lower? Or because the impacts are smaller than (say) MX?Quote:
My advice, definitely get it serviced at a minimum, check charts and sag range to see how necessary springs are, and then if money is tight, wait to revalve until you ride it for a (long) while with fresh oil and seals. If its running on olive oil now, even a pro test rider wouldnt be able to adequately give feedback for valving, and since its a ktm woods bike being used for woods, the valving probably is not holding you back much. Proper springs (and shock sag and fork height settings) are very important, though.
Ive had great luck getting phone advice from factory connection..,
I'll add them to my list, thanks. I was thinking of GMD Computrack as well but I don't know if they touch dirt bikes much, if at all.
I'd love to learn how to do basic suspension refreshes myself but right now I just don't have the time.
FJR
-Valve check
-Secondary air system removal
-Shorai Battery
-Slip-on
KTM
-Fork oil
-?
I had my KTM suspension at Factory Connection shortly after buying the bike used, and I'm happy with what they did...I got springs but not valving, probably wish I did both (it had a revalve done by someone else thru prior owner, but for tight woods and that's not really what I'm using it for now).
If you weigh 230, you definitely need non-stock springs.
FC has some selling points that others don't, regarding you and your KTM...first of all, they do so many of them that they should have a good idea of how to improve the suspension on your particular bike, regardless of your ability as a test pilot to tell them what it needs, and second, last I checked they had some special inside relationship with WP, who I think manufactured the shock on your bike.
There's a whole voodoo component to suspension; anyone can set up shop but I give a serious raised eyebrow of skepticism when some dude out of his garage claims he can improve the valving over what KTM engineers did, without ever riding the bike before or after service. In other words, at some point, you write a check of trust (along with money) to whoever you choose. FC isn't cheap, but I have had good results with them both in terms of advice and results, at least on dirt bikes. I've had great results from GMD computrack for road racing stuff, too. He might do off road, Probably does, I know PK rips offroad himself so I doubt he hires out his own stuff!
I just sent my forks to FC because I have the dreaded '14 4CS fork. They benefit from extensive mods and FC has a lot of experience with them. It was expensive, but their service was insane. I shipped them out thursday night, and had them back saturday afternoon. I have only ridden ice on them, but my be getting out on dirt pretty soon!
Normally PK does my dirt stuff. This was a one off due to the development time FC has in on these forks.
Thanks guys. The Honda suspension is done, it came in about $50 less than quoted. The KTM isn't done yet, the upper fork tube needs to be replaced due to an incredibly poor repair job by the previous owner. It looks like the tube was cracked somehow and it was welded up badly. Not sure if I'll go for a new tube or get a set off eBay and salvage those..
Going through a 1975 BMW R90/6 so it will be trip ready. Just sent off the tach and speedo to a specialist for inspection and rebuild. Some other fiddly stuff.
Gotta get the Triumph out of the shed and go through the wiring. Something is killing the battery after a few days. And replace the front brakes.
Revisiting this thread, I completed my agenda! Despite the weird weather, I rode ice more this year than ever before. I sorted my 675 for good by selling it and getting an R6. :lol: and Guatemala was over the top. All time. Gorgeous, challenging, fun, and a free trackday to boot!
I'll call that a successful off season.