Got to ride on my A-Kit finally....

Darryl916 wrote:

I wanted to do a review because there is so little information out there for us regular guys, by a regular guy. It's not made for...

I wanted to do a review because there is so little information out there for us regular guys, by a regular guy. It's not made for us but some of us still want to know what it's like or get it for the bling factor. I also wanted to debunk some of the myths I have heard from people discouraging me from making such a radical purchase.

What it is:

A low time Showa A kit from circa 2007/8 acquired by a local suspension guy here in Maryland (Bumpstiks) for a local pro to use on a 2007 CR250R. This picture is of it laid out next to the OEM Showa stuff from my project 2007 CR250R.





Here it is on the bike.






The forks are installed in stock triples that have been bored to hold the larger tubes. I removed the casting seams and rubbed them with a little scotch brite just because they were off.






Where I was riding:

Budds Creek open practice this past Saturday in loamy moist conditions from a week of rain.



What it felt like:

AMAZING! Almost like cheating... Took the edge off of the CR 2 stroke's radical explosiveness quite a bit and afforded so much more traction.


The first thing I noticed on the sight lap was the ability to literally roll around the track with more speed and less effort. My sight lap is usually quite slow to the point I have to check up on most of the jumps because I don't have the time to asses the track conditions and still have time to get over things after my assessment. Even on the sight lap I had time and momentum to safely look and float over the stuff I usually don't unless I am actually putting a lap together. So instantly it felt like I was less busy and was carrying more momentum.

After the sight lap when I knew the track conditions (I'm VERY familiar with Budds Creek) I started to try to put some laps together and see if I needed to make some clicks for balance and such. The sag was ok to start right out of box; right around 100mm, and the clickers where in a good place to start also. I honestly couldn't find anything wrong with the balance so I kept riding.

The second thing I noticed was how crazy the bottoming resistance was without being harsh. I'm pretty sure I could jump into the side of a truck and not strain my body. There are some big tables at Budds and a step up 75% of regular humans don't jump. Us humans jump some of the huge stuff as far as our ankles and wrists can take. Well with this stuff it's scary how hard you can crash into stuff. No crazy bottoming or bounce back. Tracks extremely straight.


So overall...

Forks:

- super plush and accurate in the initial and mid stroke but somehow resists bottoming without a harsh transition between plush and hard. They aren't harsh anywhere.


Shock:

- Probably the most amazing part, even more so than the forks. If you land rear wheel first it's like a pillow top mattress, period!

- Traction was like a 4 stroke. Helps so much with power that is to some extent all or nothing on a 2 stroke. This stuff on a 450 would be out of this world!






With all that said, the not so good/stuff I haven't had time to figure out yet:


Boy, all that extra momentum thru chop, corner entry speed, off corner traction, sure got me in some crazy situation later in the day as I tried to step my game up to meet the bikes new found ability. There is a point where the bikes stability to float thru stuff dumps you out to where you need skill. That's where I found myself having some serious pucker moments or taking soils samples. Things started to happen REALLY fast once I started to get up in the area of speed the bike now operates at comfortably.

All in all I do think this stuff is an advantage for anyone of any skill level. With only about 2 hours of actual ride time on it so far I'm still at a loss for exactly how it does what it does so much different and what exact approach I should take to use that to my advantage without riding over my head. The line between "this makes riding really easy" and "oh crap" is really fine with this stuff.


I'll post more as I spend more time with it. This is just an initial attempt to put what it feels like in word. It's honestly so different than anything else I've ever ridden it's hard to get my head around.




* for the record I'm a 32 year old Vet intermediate racer. 170ish pounds. 6' tall. I've ridden tons of re-valved suspension to include my buddies 2015 KX450 with Showa SFF TAC done by PC, which is supposed to be the best OEM suspension EVER. I'm not going to say that stuff is worse or better but it's COMPLETELY different in every way as far as feel.







Please excuse any typos or anything, I'm definitely not a journalist, just trying to get this knocked out.

Redrcr34 wrote:

That looks like my A kit set that I sold to a guy from md. Forgot his name but he worked at a honda shop in...

That looks like my A kit set that I sold to a guy from md. Forgot his name but he worked at a honda shop in md. and was going to put them on his 07 cr250.

Darryl916 wrote:

I doubt it but you never know...

Darryl916 wrote:

I wanted to do a review because there is so little information out there for us regular guys, by a regular guy. It's not made for...

I wanted to do a review because there is so little information out there for us regular guys, by a regular guy. It's not made for us but some of us still want to know what it's like or get it for the bling factor. I also wanted to debunk some of the myths I have heard from people discouraging me from making such a radical purchase.

What it is:

A low time Showa A kit from circa 2007/8 acquired by a local suspension guy here in Maryland (Bumpstiks) for a local pro to use on a 2007 CR250R. This picture is of it laid out next to the OEM Showa stuff from my project 2007 CR250R.





Here it is on the bike.






The forks are installed in stock triples that have been bored to hold the larger tubes. I removed the casting seams and rubbed them with a little scotch brite just because they were off.






Where I was riding:

Budds Creek open practice this past Saturday in loamy moist conditions from a week of rain.



What it felt like:

AMAZING! Almost like cheating... Took the edge off of the CR 2 stroke's radical explosiveness quite a bit and afforded so much more traction.


The first thing I noticed on the sight lap was the ability to literally roll around the track with more speed and less effort. My sight lap is usually quite slow to the point I have to check up on most of the jumps because I don't have the time to asses the track conditions and still have time to get over things after my assessment. Even on the sight lap I had time and momentum to safely look and float over the stuff I usually don't unless I am actually putting a lap together. So instantly it felt like I was less busy and was carrying more momentum.

After the sight lap when I knew the track conditions (I'm VERY familiar with Budds Creek) I started to try to put some laps together and see if I needed to make some clicks for balance and such. The sag was ok to start right out of box; right around 100mm, and the clickers where in a good place to start also. I honestly couldn't find anything wrong with the balance so I kept riding.

The second thing I noticed was how crazy the bottoming resistance was without being harsh. I'm pretty sure I could jump into the side of a truck and not strain my body. There are some big tables at Budds and a step up 75% of regular humans don't jump. Us humans jump some of the huge stuff as far as our ankles and wrists can take. Well with this stuff it's scary how hard you can crash into stuff. No crazy bottoming or bounce back. Tracks extremely straight.


So overall...

Forks:

- super plush and accurate in the initial and mid stroke but somehow resists bottoming without a harsh transition between plush and hard. They aren't harsh anywhere.


Shock:

- Probably the most amazing part, even more so than the forks. If you land rear wheel first it's like a pillow top mattress, period!

- Traction was like a 4 stroke. Helps so much with power that is to some extent all or nothing on a 2 stroke. This stuff on a 450 would be out of this world!






With all that said, the not so good/stuff I haven't had time to figure out yet:


Boy, all that extra momentum thru chop, corner entry speed, off corner traction, sure got me in some crazy situation later in the day as I tried to step my game up to meet the bikes new found ability. There is a point where the bikes stability to float thru stuff dumps you out to where you need skill. That's where I found myself having some serious pucker moments or taking soils samples. Things started to happen REALLY fast once I started to get up in the area of speed the bike now operates at comfortably.

All in all I do think this stuff is an advantage for anyone of any skill level. With only about 2 hours of actual ride time on it so far I'm still at a loss for exactly how it does what it does so much different and what exact approach I should take to use that to my advantage without riding over my head. The line between "this makes riding really easy" and "oh crap" is really fine with this stuff.


I'll post more as I spend more time with it. This is just an initial attempt to put what it feels like in word. It's honestly so different than anything else I've ever ridden it's hard to get my head around.




* for the record I'm a 32 year old Vet intermediate racer. 170ish pounds. 6' tall. I've ridden tons of re-valved suspension to include my buddies 2015 KX450 with Showa SFF TAC done by PC, which is supposed to be the best OEM suspension EVER. I'm not going to say that stuff is worse or better but it's COMPLETELY different in every way as far as feel.







Please excuse any typos or anything, I'm definitely not a journalist, just trying to get this knocked out.

Redrcr34 wrote:

That looks like my A kit set that I sold to a guy from md. Forgot his name but he worked at a honda shop in...

That looks like my A kit set that I sold to a guy from md. Forgot his name but he worked at a honda shop in md. and was going to put them on his 07 cr250.

motor bike rider wrote:

This is good... I love it when total amateurs give their opinions on bikes....

Darryl916 wrote:

Can't tell if sarcasm....

motor bike rider wrote:

This is good... I love it when total amateurs give their opinions on bikes....

Markee wrote:

Why you rolling the table man!

Darryl916 wrote:

Because I'm old and slow and that table just happens to be huge and sketchy. I hit it sometimes when it's good conditions and I feel...

Because I'm old and slow and that table just happens to be huge and sketchy. I hit it sometimes when it's good conditions and I feel I need to. Most times I don't. Not ashamed.

Darryl916 wrote:

I wanted to do a review because there is so little information out there for us regular guys, by a regular guy. It's not made for...

I wanted to do a review because there is so little information out there for us regular guys, by a regular guy. It's not made for us but some of us still want to know what it's like or get it for the bling factor. I also wanted to debunk some of the myths I have heard from people discouraging me from making such a radical purchase.

What it is:

A low time Showa A kit from circa 2007/8 acquired by a local suspension guy here in Maryland (Bumpstiks) for a local pro to use on a 2007 CR250R. This picture is of it laid out next to the OEM Showa stuff from my project 2007 CR250R.





Here it is on the bike.






The forks are installed in stock triples that have been bored to hold the larger tubes. I removed the casting seams and rubbed them with a little scotch brite just because they were off.






Where I was riding:

Budds Creek open practice this past Saturday in loamy moist conditions from a week of rain.



What it felt like:

AMAZING! Almost like cheating... Took the edge off of the CR 2 stroke's radical explosiveness quite a bit and afforded so much more traction.


The first thing I noticed on the sight lap was the ability to literally roll around the track with more speed and less effort. My sight lap is usually quite slow to the point I have to check up on most of the jumps because I don't have the time to asses the track conditions and still have time to get over things after my assessment. Even on the sight lap I had time and momentum to safely look and float over the stuff I usually don't unless I am actually putting a lap together. So instantly it felt like I was less busy and was carrying more momentum.

After the sight lap when I knew the track conditions (I'm VERY familiar with Budds Creek) I started to try to put some laps together and see if I needed to make some clicks for balance and such. The sag was ok to start right out of box; right around 100mm, and the clickers where in a good place to start also. I honestly couldn't find anything wrong with the balance so I kept riding.

The second thing I noticed was how crazy the bottoming resistance was without being harsh. I'm pretty sure I could jump into the side of a truck and not strain my body. There are some big tables at Budds and a step up 75% of regular humans don't jump. Us humans jump some of the huge stuff as far as our ankles and wrists can take. Well with this stuff it's scary how hard you can crash into stuff. No crazy bottoming or bounce back. Tracks extremely straight.


So overall...

Forks:

- super plush and accurate in the initial and mid stroke but somehow resists bottoming without a harsh transition between plush and hard. They aren't harsh anywhere.


Shock:

- Probably the most amazing part, even more so than the forks. If you land rear wheel first it's like a pillow top mattress, period!

- Traction was like a 4 stroke. Helps so much with power that is to some extent all or nothing on a 2 stroke. This stuff on a 450 would be out of this world!






With all that said, the not so good/stuff I haven't had time to figure out yet:


Boy, all that extra momentum thru chop, corner entry speed, off corner traction, sure got me in some crazy situation later in the day as I tried to step my game up to meet the bikes new found ability. There is a point where the bikes stability to float thru stuff dumps you out to where you need skill. That's where I found myself having some serious pucker moments or taking soils samples. Things started to happen REALLY fast once I started to get up in the area of speed the bike now operates at comfortably.

All in all I do think this stuff is an advantage for anyone of any skill level. With only about 2 hours of actual ride time on it so far I'm still at a loss for exactly how it does what it does so much different and what exact approach I should take to use that to my advantage without riding over my head. The line between "this makes riding really easy" and "oh crap" is really fine with this stuff.


I'll post more as I spend more time with it. This is just an initial attempt to put what it feels like in word. It's honestly so different than anything else I've ever ridden it's hard to get my head around.




* for the record I'm a 32 year old Vet intermediate racer. 170ish pounds. 6' tall. I've ridden tons of re-valved suspension to include my buddies 2015 KX450 with Showa SFF TAC done by PC, which is supposed to be the best OEM suspension EVER. I'm not going to say that stuff is worse or better but it's COMPLETELY different in every way as far as feel.







Please excuse any typos or anything, I'm definitely not a journalist, just trying to get this knocked out.

Redrcr34 wrote:

That looks like my A kit set that I sold to a guy from md. Forgot his name but he worked at a honda shop in...

That looks like my A kit set that I sold to a guy from md. Forgot his name but he worked at a honda shop in md. and was going to put them on his 07 cr250.

Redrcr34 wrote:

Ok, missed that in your post.

Brad460 wrote:

Did you do a same day/same condition comparison to the fresh baseline (stock) suspension? This is all a direct comparison of that evaluation.. Not saying the...

Did you do a same day/same condition comparison to the fresh baseline (stock) suspension? This is all a direct comparison of that evaluation..

Not saying the suspension isn't better, but our minds are very powerful.

Reason I say this is...many riders can't really tell the difference as I know mechanics have "pretended" to make suspension changes based on their rider input ..all sudden that same suspension works perfect when in reality no changes were made.