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I'm interseted in tthese springs over on drn. the guy claims they are off a 98 xr 400, but he says he positive there 41kg. these would be aftermarket, right? Anyway, he wants 40$ plus shipping, and they don't include spacers. how hard of a fit and what tools, items do i need for the job? I'm excited because i heard these will really help the bikes suspension.

http://dirtrider.net/forums3/showthread.php?t=139218

Only HE knows that.

It's an easy swap... all you need is some Schedule 40 1" PVC to make the spacers.

what exactly is this PVC and where would i get it?

PVC is polyvinyl chloride, plastic piping used for some plumbing applications. Any hardware store should have it, just check the label for Schedule 40.

Get acquainted with Ractech's online catalog. LOTS of information there that allows you to know what fits what else, what OEM is, etc.

Ractech..DOT com...

THEY say:

1998 Honda XR400R
Stock Fork Spring Rate (measured) .382 kg/mm (stock)

But YOU said '98, I didn't see that HE said that in his post.

So....

1. Somebody is lying...or doesn't know what the truth is.
2. Someone don't know what a kg/mm is.
3. The springs are not OEM (He didn't say they were).

For the money you save, my $.02 is to buy new springs if you don't KNOW who you're buying them from.

Besides all that, I personally wouldn't bother with a set of 470mm springs. Well, Ractech says they are 470s, maybe that's just what THEY sell.

Most springs are not marked. The only way you can tell for sure the rate of a spring is to measure it yourself...or pay a shop to check them for you. Good chance most general shops don't even have a spring checker.

How about 2004 OEM XR4 springs? I know ive seen '00-'02 springs, what's different with the 04 springs?

I don't believe the '00-02 are any different than the '04

I think in '97 they were .38, in '99 they went to .41 kg/mm, but please check that.

Best bet is to buy OEM, you'll know what you are getting

I put '97 springs in my KDX and it was a big improvement over stock, but that is just for me.

I also used schedule 40 PVC pipe couplings instead of pipe because I think they fit the fork hardware better. Cut them to 7/8" long, I believe. You'll have to play with that to get the preload you like.

Take some time on here researching the springs and preload and spring length and stuff. No sense hurrying to buy something that may not be the best for you.

It is a very straightforward swap, not even requiring removing the forks from the bike

Re: 'How about...'

Look them up at racetech.com.

That said (again), I don't believe everything RT says. They list the OEM springs for the XRs (several years that I checked) as being 470mm long. I know that's not true because the XR springs I got (wrapped in plastic with red wing emblems on them) were 520mm long.

...which was part of the reason to GET Honda XR springs. I see no sense in filling up a suspension component (fork tube) with steel spacer.

I much preferred the XR springs over springs from RT that were the same rate but 470mm in length.