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Message: [QUOTE="EricGorr, post: 119439, member: 19611"] WOW The suspension forum is back to being the OK Coral! The evolution of the common shock and fork valve is sometimes blurred and tough to trace. The US Patent office may be a good baseline for OEM parts but the aftermarket racing business reacts with valve designs and shim stacks at a similar rate as the obstacles encountered on the racetrack by a speeding dirt bike. So much development has occured since Cors Hullman invented the modern piston and valve in his garage in Holland in 1973. Cors' HULCO shock the backbone of the Forward Mounted Shock Revolution of the mid-1970s. I'm sure if Cors could read English he'd get a big laugh out of anybody claiming they invented anything related to his valve. Because before his good work, suspension damping was controlled by little oil holes and springs. The thing is, a variety of valve designs can accomplish nearly the same result. Whose to say what works best for any particular rider on a given track obstacle. The world of suspension tuning is full of opinions. There are those who argue that they can revalve a stock shim set without changing a piston. I've watched this evolution for years and I think that making an aftermarket piston assembly enables greater flexibility in tuning over most OEM designs. The fact that the dirt bike industry has three different aftermarket valve designs, all with interesting theories of operation, from guys with credible technical backgrounds. I'd like to see this thread run towards a presentation of the way each set up works and some questions and comments on from the people who design and tune. The big difference in suspension tuners is how they do business, what they offer with regards to varying levels of tuning, warranties, support programs and such. MX-Tech and Pro-Action are set up differently but both are doing responsible good quality work with excellent customer support. Maybe in the future a thread can be started to cover the differences between tuning companies. I'm lucky to of been friends with George and Jeremy for as many as 21 years so I understand how they're personalities and racing experience influenced the way they tune for different riders. It would be beneficial for you all to know that too. Maybe the reason nobody from Pro-Action has commented on this thread is because the initial response was a little hasty. But consider things from Greg's perspective. Heres a hard working guy trying to support a family, he gets hounded for 3 hours by Kawie125 at Southwick and shows him some stuff about suspension and talks candidly about the industry. After reading Kawie's remarks about teaching him about suspension so he can make side money out of his garage off his friends, Greg's boss George Quay is probably a bit pissed off about all of this and for good reason. I may be a bit biased because this same kid calls me 3 times a week and demands information on how to fix bikes he claims to own, but I'm sure there just bikes he's making money on from his friends by working on them in his garage. One time he even expected me to walk him through a complete shock rebuild over the phone at 11:00PM This whole thread is ridiculous because Kawie has caused embarrassment and hard feelings between competitors in the suspension business and drawn reactions from so many people. I think the best way he can redeem himself is to buy a lifetime membership in DRN. How about it Kawie? You could just tack on another $13.90 to the next 10 bikes that you work on out of your garage, that you're able to fix from the information and customers you get from DRN. Plus you're dad will like it because its tax deductible! Let's see that Lifetime DRN Membership badge around your avatar soon! [/QUOTE]

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