Posts
8618
Joined
2/3/2010
Location
Lehi, UT
US
Edited Date/Time
10/6/2016 1:34pm
TL/DR (you're welcome 
)...TBT Arizona made the suspension on my KX450 much much much better, and exceeded my expectations and I highly recommend them.
So I purchased a 2015 KX450 last year...with it being my first time on air forks, I wanted to put some hours on them before I had them revalved.
For a frame of reference, I'm a Vet A rider off-road (mostly desert-hare and hounds and hare scrambles-and enduro's thrown in there...no moto, to speak of...though the occasional GP will run a moto track).
And to be honest I REALLY like the stock valving. They really worked good (which is saying a lot for moto valving in an off road setting). Going in I was VERY nervous, and I almost bought another Yamaha just to avoid the air forks...not because of their performance but because they were high maintenance, and I worried about blowing a seal in a 3 hour race.
I found those fears to be unfounded...most of the people that claim they were high maintenance were adjusting air pressures to suit track conditions and constantly messing with the pressures. This is dumb...the air replaces the spring...there is one setting that works for your weight, just like there is one spring rate in a spring fork that that works for your weight...once you find that setting, leave the pressure alone and use the clickers to make adjustments for track conditions (people don't change their spring rates to suit the track conditions, so I couldn't figure out why they were changing the air pressure to suit track conditions?)...anyway...Air pressure settings aren't clickers and shouldn't used that way.
I set the air pressure settings for my recommended weight, and I checked them, maybe once a month or so...not high maintenance.
People also said that the pressure moves a lot during the day...and maybe it does...but I never messed with it, and I honestly could never tell a difference.
Anyway, after putting some hours on the forks I was ready to get them revalved. I picked Jonny Wiseman and TBT down in Arizona...he was highly recommended by a friend of mine, and after speaking with him on the phone (along with several other tuners) I felt like he knew what he was doing...so I bought a gun case, and shipped by forks and shock down to Arizona.
A week later, a knock on the door, and the FedEx man was handing me my suspension.
I had a race the following weekend (last weekend), and only a small window to ride before I had to leave for the race...I put a quick 45 minutes or so on them on one of my favorite single track trails...and was impressed. But I didn't have enough time on them to REALLY see how they would perform.
Saturday I lined up for an enduro in Norther Utah...I'd ridden this race in the past and knew it was going to be rocky, technical single track and washes with some fast high speed sections in between.
I was on minute 7...the race started with a 1.5 miles transfer section to test 1...the transfer section was, as expected, rocky technical single track.
I honestly couldn't believe how well the forks were absorbing the rocks...completely plush and confidence inspiring. But it was a transfer section...how would it do under race pace?
Test 1 was more of the same rocky technical single track...and the harder I pushed it, the better it worked...I was impressed!
All day the forks did nothing to surprise me...they ate up the little chop and rocks, and didn't bottom on the big hits...everything that suspension is supposed to do, this suspension did.
Anyway...ended up 1st 35+A...Had a blast! Was super impressed with the suspension...and I highly recommend TBT Arizona.
)...TBT Arizona made the suspension on my KX450 much much much better, and exceeded my expectations and I highly recommend them. So I purchased a 2015 KX450 last year...with it being my first time on air forks, I wanted to put some hours on them before I had them revalved.
For a frame of reference, I'm a Vet A rider off-road (mostly desert-hare and hounds and hare scrambles-and enduro's thrown in there...no moto, to speak of...though the occasional GP will run a moto track).
And to be honest I REALLY like the stock valving. They really worked good (which is saying a lot for moto valving in an off road setting). Going in I was VERY nervous, and I almost bought another Yamaha just to avoid the air forks...not because of their performance but because they were high maintenance, and I worried about blowing a seal in a 3 hour race.
I found those fears to be unfounded...most of the people that claim they were high maintenance were adjusting air pressures to suit track conditions and constantly messing with the pressures. This is dumb...the air replaces the spring...there is one setting that works for your weight, just like there is one spring rate in a spring fork that that works for your weight...once you find that setting, leave the pressure alone and use the clickers to make adjustments for track conditions (people don't change their spring rates to suit the track conditions, so I couldn't figure out why they were changing the air pressure to suit track conditions?)...anyway...Air pressure settings aren't clickers and shouldn't used that way.
I set the air pressure settings for my recommended weight, and I checked them, maybe once a month or so...not high maintenance.
People also said that the pressure moves a lot during the day...and maybe it does...but I never messed with it, and I honestly could never tell a difference.
Anyway, after putting some hours on the forks I was ready to get them revalved. I picked Jonny Wiseman and TBT down in Arizona...he was highly recommended by a friend of mine, and after speaking with him on the phone (along with several other tuners) I felt like he knew what he was doing...so I bought a gun case, and shipped by forks and shock down to Arizona.
A week later, a knock on the door, and the FedEx man was handing me my suspension.
I had a race the following weekend (last weekend), and only a small window to ride before I had to leave for the race...I put a quick 45 minutes or so on them on one of my favorite single track trails...and was impressed. But I didn't have enough time on them to REALLY see how they would perform.
Saturday I lined up for an enduro in Norther Utah...I'd ridden this race in the past and knew it was going to be rocky, technical single track and washes with some fast high speed sections in between.
I was on minute 7...the race started with a 1.5 miles transfer section to test 1...the transfer section was, as expected, rocky technical single track.
I honestly couldn't believe how well the forks were absorbing the rocks...completely plush and confidence inspiring. But it was a transfer section...how would it do under race pace?
Test 1 was more of the same rocky technical single track...and the harder I pushed it, the better it worked...I was impressed!
All day the forks did nothing to surprise me...they ate up the little chop and rocks, and didn't bottom on the big hits...everything that suspension is supposed to do, this suspension did.
Anyway...ended up 1st 35+A...Had a blast! Was super impressed with the suspension...and I highly recommend TBT Arizona.
Thanks for your review.
He made my 4CS and my "2 Stager" shock on my Husky PERRRRFECT for this year's rip to Cabo and the INSANE Rock-Hounding & Wash-Running I've been doing between Barstow and Vegas.
Brian has impressed the hell out of me with his knowledge, 'questions' and input when it comes to helping me explain what the bike is doing and how I'd LIKE it to work.
Also, he's been working like a Mad Scientist on the NEW '17 Husky FC250 Suspension (Air) and even has some solid JETTING SOLUTIONS for that thing (It's a Hot-Mess from the factory). Pretty sure he has his own needle available, too!
Brian Roth, Roth Racing.
The Shop
In fact, these forks are probably the best I've ever ridden (with just about 4 hours on the revalved forks). I like them better than my revalved KYB SSS on my Yamaha 450.
I have the exact same bike and ride the same terrain - Jordan River, Cherry Creek, etc.
At the track found the fork to be vague at turn in, wants to push out through the middle of turns.
I'm 220 - 5.9 kg spring in shock. Run 175/10/180 air pressure. 10 out on rebound, 12 out on compression.
Otherwise, have zero complaints - it's very good in the sand rollers at Cherry Creek.
Now that I have 35 hours on the bike, I'll send it to TBT in Arizon for revalve.
Did you have the shock done as well? I don't have any complaints on the shock, with fat-boy spring. Seems very planted in chop and the rear doesn't slide out coming out of turns.
Yes, I did have the shock done...not because I had any complaints about it though, it worked great...I was sending it down to get serviced anyway, so I just had him revalve it...and it still works great after the revalve, and it absorbs the small chop and doesn't deflect off rocks as much as it did before (which wasn't much at all).
At 175 lbs, I'm on the stock spring on the shock, and TBT recommended I run 166 outer, 4 inner, 172 rebound.
One thing that really impressed me about Johnny...was when I said I race "desert", he asked "what do you mean by desert?"....that's a big deal...because baja desert is different than the Johnson Valley desert, which is different than the desert riding we do up here in the USRA desert series. No other tuners even asked, and no tuners I've used in the past ever asked, and as a result, their desert settings were great in fast whoops and going in a straight line...but took some major adjustments to get used to what we race here (the USRA desert series is slower, much more single track, rockier, etc. than the 5th gear pinned Johnson Valley/Baja desert riding).
Anyway, Johnny took the time to figure out exactly what kind of riding I would be doing...that and coupled with the fact that he was Destry Abbotts tuner for a long time, and know what Utah riding is all about...he recommended I go with a more "off road" specific valving, than a true desert valving. I think that was the biggest difference. (That's not to say other tuners couldn't do something similar...the difference is that Johnny took the time to ask, where the others didn't. )
Good luck!
And no I'm not as fast as you either hahaha
With that said, Johnny valved these forks for slower, rockier, more technical trails...and they do indeed work better in that terrain than the SSS on my last Yamaha.
I would imagine that if I were to revalve the SSS the same way, they'd work equally good or better.
Does that make sense?
Those SSS forks are amazing...
Just had a little SNAFU in return shipping where the schrader valves got dinged by FED-EX, even though they were in a plastic gun case. Next time I ship them, I'll wrap the fork caps in foam or something. Johnny sent me two replacements and I was on my way very quickly. He's a good guy, rides our terrain and is responsive to texts or phone calls.
I think this is the key!!! I have frinds who rides the kx450 but has bought old springforks and put on it because they didnt like the way the TAC felt. But when they were using the TAC they changed the air pressure more often than the clickers.
But once i tried the KX TAC fork i liked it because it felt lighter than my SSS forks. I only rode it about 25min but when i approached it as my SSS forks, just ajusting clickers i got it to work just as well as my SSS forks.
But im just a fast C rider so probably it´s not the forks that are hindering me ragardless of what bike im on
Pit Row
Post a reply to: Suspension review-TBT Arizona 2015 KX450