2006 KX450F forks on 2005 KDX220 - Some shimstack advice pl!

[heckler]

Brought to you by Holsten Premium, I give you...

new forks!

Damn, that was a long project. Between stripped threads, mis installed spacers that had to be removed (from under the lower headset bearing), broken threads, seized forks because i don't know how to install a wheel on an inverted fork, it's been a slice! Time to give them a gentle breaking in tomorrow. I still need to figure out something to stop them from hitting the rads and gas tank before hitting trail. Good times in the basement!



Here she is stock.







Here's the spacer I machined. Same as others have posted, but a toleranced drawing for the discerning machinist.

[rbates9]

I have seen some people have had to bend a piece of thin steel around the frame stop and put a screw thru it to get them to clear things.

Mine felt pretty stiff at first but loosened up after 10-20 miles and seem pretty good now.

[heckler]

I've got a blanket zip tied around the forks for this weekend (probably no or very easy trail for the first ride), but I'm planning a machined piece of metal welded to the frame stop tab.

I'll give the sheet metal strip idea a go too. Thx.

[Mr. Wibbens]

Mine hit the gas tank, I'm not really worried about it at this point

[Julien D]

I just put a piece of metal around my steering stop. Works fine :).

[heckler]

Mine hit the gas tank, I'm not really worried about it at this point

you must keep the bike upright and moving forward all the time. I don't

[heckler]

well, they sure are stiff! My research says I have the right stock spring (stock is 0.47 and racetech recommends a 0.472 for my weight and riding)

Took it for a spin on a rough gravel road with lots of rocks. Riding slowly, the fork barely moves and I take a beating. Once I speed up to 3rd, it starts to soak up the hits, but is still quite harsh.

The valving is still stock (main valve still has the threads peened).

I'm planning modifying the shim stack - got any suggestions for the DIY with little to no budget to modify them?

175 lb + gear
slow/medium pace woods (lots of rocks, roots and slow tech) riding

I've made a plan based on a guess and a day of web research - need some ideas though.



Stock (assuming an 09 is the same stack as my 06)
LS 19-.10X32
LS .10X28
LS .10X26
HS .10X30
HS .10X28
HS .10X26
HS .10X24
HS .10X22
HS .15X20
HS .15X18
HS 3-.25X16
HS
HS


Modified
LS 12-.10X32
LS .10X28
LS .10X26
LS .10X24
LS 1-.25X16
HS .10X30
HS .10X28
HS .10X26
HS .10X22
HS .15X20
HS .15X18
HS 2-.25X16
HS 7-.10X32



Here's a cute graphical representation I made up to understand the stack.

[heckler]

I'm also going to ask here... No need to duplicate your answers. I hang out here way more often, but there seem to be many more tuning gurus on TT.

http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showth ... p?t=991787

(just wanted to save this link for future reference)

[heckler]

0.42 main springs and 1.0 ISC made all the difference in the world. Don't bother playing with valving until you've got the right spring weight (yeah, I know it's been said before, but the valving was much cheaper (free) for me to do.