E Series KDX Fork/Spring Questions

[m0rie]

Question for all the older (89-92) KDX owners that have done spring swaps, specifically to XR400 springs. This might apply to the 86-88 KDX's as well.

I finally got around to putting the XR400 springs (.38 or .40's I'm not exactly sure) that I had sitting around the shop in my forks. When I installed them I used 7w BelRay Fork Oil and set the oil level at 110mm. I cut the spacer to give a preload of 10mm.

So far i'm happy with the results. The front end doesn't dive while braking now and seems to track a little better as well. And it actually soaks up waterbars now instead of bottoming and trying to toss me over the bars :-) The initial little bit of the compression seems on the harsh side though, so i'm thinking that I might need to cut the preload down a bit?

I'm wondering what other people that did this swap ended up with for their settings. Keep in mind that these forks are not Cartridge forks like the H series (95-current) KDX's are. They are Damper Rod forks with .29kg springs stock.

-Maurice

 

[JasonWho]

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[m0rie]

I weigh right around 175 right now so i'm guessing i'm closer to 185-190 in gear. Haven't had a chance to weigh myself fully loaded with gear, tools and water pack though so i'll do that this weekend. I'm also not really sure where the compression adjuster is set at right now. I'll have to dial it closed and then back it out a click at a time to see if there is a setting that removes the harshness.

What I really noticed is that straight hits (square edged?) like taking a waterbar head on or hitting a rock head-on is no longer a life or death experience.

The rebound seems faster now, but not uncontrolled.

-Maurice

 

[JasonWho]

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[m0rie]

What is a waterbar??

A waterbar is a drainage ditch cut at an angle across a unimproved road (gravel or dirt) to prevent water from washing out the road and forming ruts and gullies in the surface.

We've got them all over on the roads here. Big ones, Little ones, Small ones too! :-)

From what i've read the 89-92 forks are the (functional) same as the 86-88 forks, just with rebound added. I'd think that would be a good upgrade for the 87 though.

I'll post back with more info as it comes available.

-Maurice

 

[JasonWho]

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[m0rie]

Will the Race Tech Cartidge Emulators you have work for the 90 forks? Again I thought they used pretty much the same internals but without compression dampening in the C series. Since you have to cut of the compression assembly to install the emulators anyways...

-Maurice

 

[JasonWho]

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[domino dave]

Back to springs ......

What year XR 400 springs do I want for my ' 92 "E" ?

Dave

 

[JasonWho]

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[JasonWho]

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[Canadian Dave]

If you don't intend on replacing the shock spring on your 89-94 KDX200 many people will use stock 0.35kg/mm springs out of 95+ KDX200s as replacements. They are a good match to the shock spring and will bring the bike back into balanced compared to the sloppy factory set-up and best of all they are plentiful and cheap.

I'd caution those looking to improve handling on the older KDXs to remember to keep good front to rear balance in mind when swapping springs. Stock the fork springs are too light and are over powered by the 4.6kg/mm shock spring. Heavier 0.40kg/mm fork springs are going to reverse this and have the fork springs over powering the shock spring throwing things out of balance in the opposite direction.

David