forks--oil?

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tom
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forks--oil?

Post by tom »

I have a 1992 200 . I know it should have 10 w. oil in the forks, but i was told that i could run 15 w. ,if you are a heavier rider. I do have heavier springs in, 43s,and i`m about 185. Oil is set at 5" from top of tubes. What do you think?
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Colorado Mike
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Post by Colorado Mike »

I put heavier springs in my newer KDX stock forks and went from 5 wt to 10 wt oil. I think for me (similar weight) it would have been better to stick with 5 wt, but I'm no suspension tuner. It seemed to me that the forks were dramatically better due to the greater spring rate, but felt kind of "sluggish". I'd play with the compression damping and not really get anywhere, but maybe the rebound was the problem since it is non-adjustable on my original forks. I have since heard of people removing a certain shim from the valve, and I never tried that.

Since then I have replaced my stockers with '03 KX forks. I still need to do some tuning, but these are so nice that in my case it made screwing with the stock forks a waste of time.
Mike

Life's tough, it's even tougher if you're stupid.
'04 KDX220
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Jeb
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Post by Jeb »

If you decide to stick with the stock forks, use heavier springs and keep the oil viscosity light. Long and short of it is to choose the springs for the stiffness, the oil for the action at that stiffness.

I tried messing with fork oil viscosity on my previous bike which was sorely lacking in the suspension department. It didn't help.
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