Posts
2768
Joined
5/7/2010
Location
San Antonio, TX
US
Edited Date/Time
3/17/2015 11:00am
I realize there are numerous photos of his rear air shock on the bike. I searched and can't find any of it off the bike sitting on a bench. Is this a media courtesy for the team right now? If anyone forgot or didn't know, it's 2 pounds lighter than a regular rear shock and does run on air.
The Shop
Off topic, but you might know. What do most of the championship contenders use for tubes/mousses in SX and MX?
http://www.canecreek.com/products/suspension/db-air
Other notables: some people have been comparing it to the Fox Shox Air Shock. That's jus' funny. Others have compared a shock with a spring to a shock with no spring; yet, they still don't get the weight savings? Ok.
WP is taking their sweet time getting it right for production, and I like that.
Andrew & the crew are getting ACS dialed in, for us...soon.
If you go weigh your rear spring & then compare that to what appears to be a red "Aluminum Tube" in the pictures, here-in, the math will make sense when ya think about it.
Those mtb Fox shocks seem so simple.
Pit Row
just thinking outloud
so instead of bleeding air out of forks after a race, they bleed air in, well pump it up to the desired pressure
a question if you may: are they using plain ole air or nitrogen?
I'm still waiting.
so with the air spring, i guess it only helps with half the spring weight related to un sprung weight?
forgotten who did it
someone will know
'13-'14 KTM450SXF Std Chassis
'13-'14 Bladder Fork
'14.5 Factory Edition shock & linkage (long shock/FE link)
Steering is .5 mm off-set back (races) with Stock '14 clamps (black).
Getting it right? Was just like ALL my other bikes...but, yes, the WP stuff is a little bit different.
I had the suspension revalved, by WP in this case, and proceeded to go ride and start making adjustments. The forks were set towards the stiffer end of my range and took a while to break-in; also, I noticed that I have to "neutralize" the bladder pressure when I 1st go out on the track (I feed the frt end a good thump on a landing or whoop/kicker face) My Compression is at the softer end of the setting-range: 3-5 in from Full-Soft. Rebound is always within 4-5 clicks of the Middle of the range (depending on the track: more for Sand & less for Tighter-kicker). They're sprung slightly stiffer than I was previously "used to"; however, when I quit bein' a bitch and ATTACKED?
Awesome!
In the rear: The shock has been epic ever since the revalve & change to FE link. 3-6 mm adjustment changes the turn-in/handling from "RM 125" to "KX450F" as needed. I run my ride height a little low (compared to typical) & adjust Rebound & HS Comp as needed. Caselli was SUPER influential in my understanding of "how" to set the KTM up for diffeent Terrain & Speeds. Thanks Kurt!
This bike is a collection of race and test parts and it works really, really well for me; and, let's recall...I'm ALL ABOUT THE KX450F! Yet, I've truly found an appreciation for the KTM's ability to respond better than most bikes to ride height adjustments and hi-speed rebound is rather critical, too.
The harder thngs for me to adapt to on the KTM where:
1. Hanging on to the bike/squeezing with my legs: there are no Al.mFrame rails to squeeze. I had to learn to use my lower legs to squeeze the bike.
2. Hanging off the bike in sand and soft terrain. You can learn a lot just by watching AC222 or AS29!
3. These bikes will turn like a 2-stroke Suzuki; if, you take the time to SET IT UP...&, of-course, find YOUR settings.
On the crazy side of things...I've got this bike so "down to a science" that I'm well on my way to "turning it white" & staying on this same set-up thru '15; but, there's a problem...
I was sharing this info (& my "stoke" on having the bike perfect) with a friend that's been riding the new bike for a while & he said...
"Wait til you try the new bike!"
Damn.
Post a reply to: Andrew Short's Rear Shock