I came from an XR400. Loved it to death - absolutely nothing better for the sloppy, rocky, crawl up the creek bed. Reliable as a rock, easy maintenence.
Got a '02 KTM 4000 MXC. whoooEEEEE....!! While I'll miss the XR for the above reasons..... the pumpkin wins everywhere else. Oh, and that wonderful little button. oh. (grin)
Me: advanced intermediate. Ride everything from deep Pacific NW woods, to desert, to MX-course play days, to wide-open GPs. Majority of riding is technical woods - so lower speed tractability is key.
Gearing: changed from 14T/50T to 13T/52T. Unless you need 80-90mph capability on a *steady* basis - I highly recommend this! It's critical for woods riders to get the "crawl" speed down low enough to be useful. And its' still geared high enough to haul a**.
Suspension: Stock spings must be calibrated for 140-160 lbs. Oh wait, that's the weight of an European 6-Days Rider.... okay, mystery solved!
My weight: currently 240 headed back down to 200. (hey, don't laugh... this year I'm going to do it!...(grin)) So I was blowing through the stroke and banging off the bottom a lot. Was also noticing major front-end dive on hard braking/cornering and steep downhills.
Thought hard about it. For my *current* weight, I should probably go with .46s up front and a PDS-4 in the back. hmmm.
For my goal (lower weight) and type of riding (technical woods) I decided to stay conservative and supple. I went with .44s up front and a PDS-3 in the back. Changed fork oil to 5wt Silkolene and set oil level at 140mm. Set rear spring sag at 96mm for race sag. With my weight, this left static sag at 8mm. Ooof. not so good. Definately indicates needing a stronger spring. But with plan A (- lbs.) ... it can only get better.
Have now ridden wide-open desert, some limited goat-trailing, and a couple of indoor arenacross practice sessions.
Even staying soft on the springs (according to my weight) - i just bumped up the compression setting on both ends and just love the suspension!! Until I get better/faster - I don't see any need to throw money at a re-valve job. I am very happy!
Going up at least one spring step on both ends made a huge difference. Bike sits better, feels more composed in the rough, takes medium jumps a LOT better, and I don't feel I lost any compliance/control at all. Still very supple. Did a big ol' tail-high landing the other night at indoor - thought I was in hurt-land -- and the suspension just sucked it up! nice!
The rear suspension has just "disappeared." And that's a good thing - no badness at all. Ripping up a monster hill with whoops all the way up was great. Just stand, force the rear down and wick it as hard as you can. The rear just tracked and delivered all the way! Man, this is a nice bike.
Would like to get the front end to turn/stick a little better. Have dropped the forks a bit -will report back. Waiting for my "reports" from the brethren before dropping coinage on different triple clamps.
Oh, did I mention how nice the magic button is? ahhhhhhh....
See you on the trails, track, ridges, washes, track, and downtown Elsinore!
Cheers! - E-Ticket
Got a '02 KTM 4000 MXC. whoooEEEEE....!! While I'll miss the XR for the above reasons..... the pumpkin wins everywhere else. Oh, and that wonderful little button. oh. (grin)
Me: advanced intermediate. Ride everything from deep Pacific NW woods, to desert, to MX-course play days, to wide-open GPs. Majority of riding is technical woods - so lower speed tractability is key.
Gearing: changed from 14T/50T to 13T/52T. Unless you need 80-90mph capability on a *steady* basis - I highly recommend this! It's critical for woods riders to get the "crawl" speed down low enough to be useful. And its' still geared high enough to haul a**.
Suspension: Stock spings must be calibrated for 140-160 lbs. Oh wait, that's the weight of an European 6-Days Rider.... okay, mystery solved!
My weight: currently 240 headed back down to 200. (hey, don't laugh... this year I'm going to do it!...(grin)) So I was blowing through the stroke and banging off the bottom a lot. Was also noticing major front-end dive on hard braking/cornering and steep downhills.
Thought hard about it. For my *current* weight, I should probably go with .46s up front and a PDS-4 in the back. hmmm.
For my goal (lower weight) and type of riding (technical woods) I decided to stay conservative and supple. I went with .44s up front and a PDS-3 in the back. Changed fork oil to 5wt Silkolene and set oil level at 140mm. Set rear spring sag at 96mm for race sag. With my weight, this left static sag at 8mm. Ooof. not so good. Definately indicates needing a stronger spring. But with plan A (- lbs.) ... it can only get better.
Have now ridden wide-open desert, some limited goat-trailing, and a couple of indoor arenacross practice sessions.
Even staying soft on the springs (according to my weight) - i just bumped up the compression setting on both ends and just love the suspension!! Until I get better/faster - I don't see any need to throw money at a re-valve job. I am very happy!
Going up at least one spring step on both ends made a huge difference. Bike sits better, feels more composed in the rough, takes medium jumps a LOT better, and I don't feel I lost any compliance/control at all. Still very supple. Did a big ol' tail-high landing the other night at indoor - thought I was in hurt-land -- and the suspension just sucked it up! nice!
The rear suspension has just "disappeared." And that's a good thing - no badness at all. Ripping up a monster hill with whoops all the way up was great. Just stand, force the rear down and wick it as hard as you can. The rear just tracked and delivered all the way! Man, this is a nice bike.
Would like to get the front end to turn/stick a little better. Have dropped the forks a bit -will report back. Waiting for my "reports" from the brethren before dropping coinage on different triple clamps.
Oh, did I mention how nice the magic button is? ahhhhhhh....
See you on the trails, track, ridges, washes, track, and downtown Elsinore!
Cheers! - E-Ticket
Last edited: