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Sky.A
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hello everybody newbie ??????s

Post by Sky.A »

Im 5'8 190 and just goot a kdx 200 04 am thinkin bout adding heavier fork springs . the question is is this something I can take on my self if so what kind of tools would I need or would it be cheaper to have a pro do itive got fair maciniacal skills and can follow directions TIA
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scheckaet
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Post by scheckaet »

Welcome to the site Sky A!
If you have the KDX manual, should not be a problem.
There are a lot of guys here that can give you a ton of advice, and you can also find post with very usefull info.
I wouldn't trust anybody else with a mecanic, well not quite true it's just that I have a hard time giving away money for something I could do (probably the cheapo side of me :wink: )
Hope you figure it out :supz:
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Post by Indawoods »

I think the XR springs would be a very good choice for you. They are very easy to change out and should take you all of an hour with oil change.
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Colorado Mike
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Post by Colorado Mike »

You definitly want to change your oil, the crap they put in there at the factory is not oil. to do that, you should make up a tool to screw on to the damper rod so you can pump it. I just used a piece of rod with the right sized nut welded on the end. What is that right size? Umm, I don't remember.

I put in 7.5 wt oil, and thought that sucked. I would say go with 5 wt. Read the post on here where somebody took out a couple valve shims and said it made the stock forks work a lot better. That would be worth doing too. I use KX forks now. That is worth doing too, but that can come later.
Mike

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Post by canyncarvr »

!!CLICKY!!


You can use a piece of fuel line to hold onto the rod. I use my finners.

Note the above references a 550ml oil volume used. That's all well and good if you have everything cleaned out well, but the preferred method of checking oil level is to do just that. Check the level, not the volume added. Put together a big syringe and a piece of tubing to reach XXXmm into the fork, overfill some, settle the fluid as noted, use the syringe to take OUT the extra TO the level specified.

That level is an adjustable factor depending on your tuning desire. Don't worry about it. Set the oil level to 110mm (tubes collapsed, spring out, rod down, bubbles out) and be happy.

A commonly considered 'good thing' is to remove two of the largest shims in the shim stack on the base valve. I believe there are about six 24mm shims in the stack before the taper (smaller washers) of the stack starts. Removal of the base valve requires a 14mm hex and either an impact wrench of some sort, or a tool to hold the cartridge from the INside of the fork while you HANDwrench the base valve. Use of an impact (pnuematic or electric) makes the removal much easier.

More than a couple places to do something wrong...but if you have average mechanical skill and hand tools, it's a snap.

If you tend to use a 1/2" impact at the end of a 150psi hose to take off an 8mm bolt....you're going to have some problems.

As in, "Good Judgment comes from Experience, Experience comes from Poor Judgment."

THAT from the above link (BTW...click your mouse on the 'clicky' if you missed that part). See? You're learnin' lot'sa stuff already!!

:wink:

Welcome to the site!!

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Colorado Mike
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Post by Colorado Mike »

And another thing... On the stock springs, there's a little clip on the bottom. you need that. make sure you put it on your new springs. If you pull the old osnes out and there ain't no clip, it fell off inside your forks. I don't think just sliding the new spring in there is gonna necessarily mean it's now on the new spring in the right way. And then bad things can happen.

And another nuther thing, when you go to put your fork caps on the rod, spin the rod into the cap, otherwise you can end up with some kinda annoying clicky noise that has nothing to do with your mouse.
Mike

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Post by canyncarvr »

...I was gonna put that in, too...but the post was gettin' longer and longer..and what not..and short of 'lectricity, too! :wink:

We'll tag team him into submission!!

Now then...about preload...

The OEM forks have a metal 'tube' that is used as the preload spacer. The OEM springs are about 470mm in length. The XR springs Inda mentions are usually around 520mm. Obviously, you don't put the same spacer back in. Actually, you don't want the same spacer length anyway.

Preload (as the name indicates) is the distance in mm the spring is squeezed with the forks fully extended. They need to be under some pressure, but not a whole lot. The OEM preload is in the neighborhood of 35mm..and that is silly. There is a sag setting you should shoot for (how much the bike 'gives' with you on it), but with a correct rate spring, maybe .40kg/mm in your case for a KDX in the woods, 5mm is OK.

With your new springs sitting in the fork tube (before you have refilled them with oil), put the fork cap back on the rod. You don't need to tighten the jam nut, but do thread the cap as far on the rod as it will go. Measure the gap between the top of the spring and the bottom of the cap with the rod extended. Add to that figure the amount of preload you want, then subtract the amount of space the washers will take up. Cut a piece of schedule 40 PVC 1" pipe to that length.

Example: The gap is 50mm. You want 5mm preload..add the two figures to get 55mm. The clip CM mentions is already on the bottom of the spring, but you need to figure in the two flanged washers you will put back in..they measure 3mm. So, to get a 5mm preload, you cut a piece of PVC to 52mm.

Cut it square. A miter saw does an excellent job, so does a table saw. If you cut it by hand (hacksaw or handsaw) file/sand/grind the ends to make them square, debur the ends before you assemble the spacer in the fork.

Capiche?

Preload options vary as do oil levels. A well chosen one may be different from someone else's..doesn't mean it's wrong. I used 5mm partly for ease of example. That IS suitable for a correct rate spring. I ran 3-5mm in my OEM forked XR sprung setup.

BTW...I think what CM is referring to at the end is the threading of the fork tube onto the cap. Yes, hold the cap and thread the fork tube.

WHEW!! Good thing I had JUST enough watts to get that last part in there!! :roll:
.
.
.

So, of course I have to add summore blather....and some whatnots!!



There is a bit of an oddity with the rod/jam nut/cap that is a good thing to be aware of.

Start with the take-apart. You have your spring holder in place, wrench on the jam nut, wrench on the cap. The first thing loosened is the jam nut against the cap. Good. A bit of 'oomph' may be required. As you turn the cap, notice that it is NOT unthreading, but the jam nut is moving DOWN the rod. You get to a second 'sticky' spot when the jam nut gets to bottom of the threads. NOW you 'oomph' the cap loose..and start threading it UP (and off) the rod.

When you put it back together, the same thing happens. The first 'sticky' is when you UNJAM the jam nut from where it was forced against the end of the threads on the rod when you took the thing apart. Then it's easy for a bit while the jam nut threads up toward the cap, then it gets to the second 'sticky' when the jam nut hits the cap. Tighten to spec..which is a figure that escapes me at the moment. 20psi or so?

..that's a joke...

**edit** (again..I kanna hep it!!)

WHAT does that spring holder tool look like? Well, if you use an open end wrench it looks an awful lot like a wrench. If you make yur own tool, it just might look like this...cut out of a piece of sheet metal:

Image

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Sky.A
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what type of xr springs do I use?

Post by Sky.A »

nt
Kauai Boy 04 kdx 200
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Colorado Mike
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Post by Colorado Mike »

oops, yeah thanks CC. I said rod, but meant tube. rod takes less 'lectricity to type than tube. But come to think of it, you can generate some good lectricity getting a rod and a tube together. :supz:
Mike

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canyncarvr
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Post by canyncarvr »

**REPORT TO MODERATOR!! THE AISL ('eyezel') ACCEPTABLE INFERRED SMUT LEVEL HAS BEEN EXCEEDED!! **

btw, you don't get container points for that.............

What type of XR spring IS 'nt'?

Or, did you mean 'Ni'? Oh please no...not a Knight Who Says Ni!!!!!!

AARRgghhhhhh!!!

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