Conventional forks on '95 300exc?

[trakkerman]

I talked to the owner of a '95 300exc that I am looking to purchase. The bike is in good shape. It has 6-10 hours on a top & bottom rebuild. It has sat in-doors for the last 3 years. The suspension was tailored to a 225# (I'm 240#) A class rider several years ago. I have done some background checks on the bike and it seems like a good deal. The only red flag is that every picture of a 300exc I have seen has upside-down forks. This one has conventional rightside-up forks.

Is this a normal modification for this bike or was this year made with conventional forks?

 

[ktm_man]

The 1995 bikes had Zoke conventional forks. Forks were rated extremely well by all the magazines that year. They were plush but could handle motocross type stuff. Those were probably some of the best forks to grace a dirt bike. HOWEVER... many people I know had problems with fork seal leaks. I never had that problem with mine. Just keep them clean. I would go ahead and get some of those fork booties. I used fork boots at the time but the fork booties out on the market now are probably a better setup.

Fork history:
1990 (maybe even earlier) - 1994 had WP upside down forks
1995 45mm Zokes (Purple forks)... the 4-stroke ktms still had USD wp forks
1996 - 1997 had (greyish silver) Zokes (1997's were 50mm)
1998 - 1999 had wp conventionals (black anodized) ... another great fork
2000 - present USD WP forks

 

[WILDTHANG]

trakkerman, I had a 95 300exc that I got brand new. That is a great bike. They came with a 45mm Marzochi conventional fork. The fork needs to be revalved though, there is a problem with oil return. The oil gets aerated when being pumped to oil reservoir inside fork, eventually the oil gets foamy and the front end will start to tap out (only towards the end of long hard ride), also the front end feels a lil spikie (especially in hard rocky terrain). I have a local suspension shop here in N. Calif that set mine up great. They revalved it and used a 5w rock oil(at a different level than stock) and man it felt like a new bike and it only cost me about $150 with new fork seals. Its amazing how much faster you can ride with proper set up. The fork is split; one side handles rebound and the other side handles compression. The shop set the rebound and I would just adjust compression acording to conditions. Its nice because there is a dial on top of the fork and it is easy to adjust anytime anywhere and with only one adjuster you don't have to worry about having the forks in sync. The Olihns rear shock works good also. The bike was very good to me, never left me stranded and had power like a 500 and reved like a 250. What ever you do run the stock pipe or a Doma, they work the best.

Good Luck, WT 99 250