Fork noise

[drussell]

I just had my local dealer put new fork springs in my 2002 KDX 200. Went to the stiffer spring - .38 from Race Tech. Now just as the forks begin to compress, I hear a fairly loud click and the springs are noisy, like bed springs. The dealer said the spring noise will go away and that the click I hear is the sring hitting the wall of the fork spring. He said that he called Race Tech and they told them this is normal. It does not sound 'normal' to me. Has anyone experienced this? Should have done the work myself!

 

[ChuckyBoy]

Mine are doing the same thing. Also, I was told exactly the same thing as you except the part about how the noise would go away. I had my forks serviced by a guy who works for the local dealer but runs a shop a out of his garage.

The funny thing about it though is that up to about three weeks BEFORE I had the forks serviced, the spings made no clicking sound.

I've heard that if you loosen the pinch bolts and twist the tube you can make the noise go away. Before I installed my newly serviced forks I compressed them by putting my body weight on them to see if I could duplicate the sound. Sure enough I could. When I twisted the tube the sound would go away for a couple "pumps" then come back. Now that I have the forks installed I guess I'm gonna try twisting them until I find the "sweet spot" where they don't click.

I know I haven't been much help but.......

Later,
Chuck

 

[fatty_k]

Do a search on here, this is a very common problem after installing heavier springs. The trick is when you screw the top cap into the leg, keep the cap stationary and twist the leg into the cap instead. I did this, and it works about 50% of the time. Just a few days ago I replaced the fork seals and I twisted one cap into the leg like normally, and there was no click, then I twisted the leg into the cap and there was a click. So far there hasn't been a problem. I rode with the click for about 6 months without a problem when I first installed the heavier springs (FRP .40's), it is just annoying.

 

[G. Gearloose]

Unscrew the caps and take out the spacers. If they look like they were cut with a hacksaw and not cut square, there's your problem.

If the springs measure differently but the spaces measure the same, thats another problem.

Also make sure the centering washers are still in there.

 

[drussell]

Thanks for the replies so far.
I talked with the guy at the shop, he said that he had cut the new spacer down to original size. So I guess I am going to have to pull these apart and see just what the guy did.

 

[Rut Rider]

drussell,
You ready to cross over to the ORANGE side now? (Just Kiddin') What did they say about the bouncie, bouncie noise? It sounded like an old worn out box spring when I listened to it the other day. Plus it felt really mushy. Did it ride OK?
GD

 

[drussell]

It actually handled pretty decent, but it continued to get softer, I guess as the springs became broken in some. The bouncie spring noise went away, but last night it start making that same spring noise again. I think Saturday may be the day to tear it apart myself (with a little help from my friends). I want to check those spacers and the amount of oil. I was also wondering if there should be different centering washers that should have come with the fork springs.

 

[gooby]

If he cut the new spacers down to the same size without checking the length of the new springs.There may not be any/enough preload or even too much , that could be why you hear the slap?Just a thought

 

[drussell]

Good thought Gooby. One of the things I want to check is to compare the new spring length vs the original spring length and then compare the length of the corresponding spacers.
Another thing I did last night was to twist the top of the fork and sure enough I could make the click noise go away. This is only in right side fork, left sounds fine. This leads me to believe that the spacer is not cut straight. Still have the spring noise though.
On another note, I called race tech and they said that this is completely normal because of the larger OD of the springs and that the spring noise is also normal. The guy said that he has had many KDX owners call about this and it is just the way their springs are. I still plan to take them apart and check the spacers and preload for myself.

 

[Jackpiner57]

I put in the Fredette .42kg springs. I reused the stock steel tube spacers, but had to cut them down. I used a chop saw and made sure they were square.

I have no noises and the springs work great.

I also made sure that the washers at the bottom of the springs were tight by bending the tabs out after putting them in the spring.

Hope this helps.

 

[drussell]

I took the forks apart this weekend. By the way it is not difficult.
Checked the length of the old spring to the new, they were the same.
Checked the spacers - cut crooked! Put the original spacers in, sound went away completely. After riding the sound did come back but not as bad. Just a small click. Spring noise is gone completely. Performance is good.
I think I will ride a couple times and see how they do then take apart again just to check them out.
Thanks for all of your help.