- Location
- The Land Northward (Bountiful), Utah
So many of us have right side up forks on our kid bikes, street bikes, camp/ trail bikes
The majority of these bikes use a Damper Rod to control damping.
The damper Rod has holes in it that slow the flow of the fork oil under compression and rebound.
They're simple and effective but when you push them they fall flat because they don't control compression correctly based on velocity. They're squared so as shock shaft velocities increase they cannot flow enough volume and the damping spikes (harsh on square edge chop) and low speed events don't slow the flow enough so they dive and pack under braking and continuous low shaft speed compression events (whoops).
Imagine grabbing the front brake and having excessive fork dive while sitting on the bike.
So in an effort to make my wife's bike, KLX230R, better for her I've chosen to install emulators, sitffer progressive rate springs, and preload adjuster top caps.
First step is disassemble and drain the forks.
And drill out the compression feed holes (champher and debur) so more fluid can flow through the damper rods and through the emulators (valving)
Reinsert them and add the emulators on top.
Then the new oil (in my case 20w)
Top the proper air gap on top.
Add the new springs and preload adjuster top caps
So an effective way to add performance and adjustability to budget forks without breaking the bank.
Hopefully I can get them dialed for her before her race Saturday!
The majority of these bikes use a Damper Rod to control damping.
The damper Rod has holes in it that slow the flow of the fork oil under compression and rebound.
They're simple and effective but when you push them they fall flat because they don't control compression correctly based on velocity. They're squared so as shock shaft velocities increase they cannot flow enough volume and the damping spikes (harsh on square edge chop) and low speed events don't slow the flow enough so they dive and pack under braking and continuous low shaft speed compression events (whoops).
Imagine grabbing the front brake and having excessive fork dive while sitting on the bike.
So in an effort to make my wife's bike, KLX230R, better for her I've chosen to install emulators, sitffer progressive rate springs, and preload adjuster top caps.
First step is disassemble and drain the forks.
And drill out the compression feed holes (champher and debur) so more fluid can flow through the damper rods and through the emulators (valving)
Reinsert them and add the emulators on top.
Then the new oil (in my case 20w)
Top the proper air gap on top.
Add the new springs and preload adjuster top caps
So an effective way to add performance and adjustability to budget forks without breaking the bank.
Hopefully I can get them dialed for her before her race Saturday!
