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Unless the setting are really bad 95% of people dont know good from bad.
Very few people will be willing to check numerous air pressures each time they ride. Growing up on four strokes, many kids these days don't know how to work on their bikes at all. So checking air pressure is just one more thing on the list that they won't do. A whole bunch of people I see riding don't even know hod to set sag, probably never check tire pressure until it feels weird, and never even bleed air buildup from their spring forks.
To save fifty or a hundred bucks? I could think of a few other ways to save a lot more than that.....
Sure, I'd prefer to never have to touch them but it's not a big enough hassle for me to invest in spring forks. Once you get used to it, it's no big deal at all.
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As for the ones that don't check and set they're pressure, then they get what they deserve... Less than ideal performance, just as those that don't check and change the oil in their bikes get crappy performing engines eventually.
Air forks certainly ain't keeping anyone from winning becuz the bottom line is love em or hate em, they ARE good enough to alow riders to win races.
We as Motocrossers are a very picky and finicky bunch when it comes to our bikes.
It doesn't seem like such a big deal to me. On the other hand, I've even gone as far as adjusting my handlebars at the track. That takes a 10mm & an 8mm.
Wow, if you add chain adjustment...rear spring...spokes...sprocket bolts...
Heck, you might actually need a tool box.
Yeah, that's what did him in... rebound right on his ass...
Just remember, the manufactures didn't bring these into production because of increased performance or ease of use for the masses. It was simply a cost saving with the added bonus of shedding weight. Most that are in or have connections to the business side of moto will almost always defend these decisions. It puts food on their table, rocking the boat doesn't.
I'm running 163 inner/10 outer/166 balance.
I could go on for ages about the kybs
Thanks. Now I can avoid these nasty air contraptions.
Ping says they suck, so they must.
I will never, ever buy a bike with air forks. I am not interested in the BS involved in constantly checking air pressure. I am not interested in having the front of my bike droop down through its travel mid race becauzse of a blown seal. To me, it is an idiotic way to save two pounds.
Today I bought another older Kawasaki 450 with spring forks- a pretty decent 2010 model. I did not do this because I cannot afford a new bike. my bike slush fund is very healthy. I just bought a new streetbike, I blow money on bikes 24/7... I bought the old kawasaki because I love the KX450F but am not getting on the air fork bandwagon. ever. I will go blue or orange if I cannot find any more decent used KX450F's in the future.
dear kawasaki: do you think there may be a reason that the air fork KX450F's are New on ebay for $5999 and still few people are buying them. screw those stupid air forks.
"(6) If you blow a fork seal, the fork will not go flat because the main air pressure is held in the inner chamber, not the outer chamber."
http://motocrossactionmag.com/home-page/super-tech-the-differences-in-f…
My very first day on the bike I adjusted my forks to the factory setting of (145psi Inner / 7.5psi Outer / 131psi Balance) and the fork tubes 5mm from the flush in the clamps. What i failed to do is adjust the fork pressures with the front end off the ground. This left my forks compressed about 1 inch at rest. In this configuration, the fork felt very soft, the front end was very low, and the bike was very twitchy and knifed in the corners. You can see the fork partially compressed in the following picture. The upper fork leg should be about even with the top of the fork guard with no weight on it.
Even after setting the factory recommended pressures properly with the front wheel off the ground, it felt way too soft.
Over time, i decided to play around with the settings, and tried Team Green's recommended settings. (page 21 here: http://issuu.com/541marketing/docs/2015_teamgreennews ) For my weight, TG recommends (174psi Inner / 7.2 Outer / 174 Balance) and Rebound 12 clicks out, Compression 6-12 clicks out. I started with 6 clicks out on the compression. This setting definitely felt better, but it felt like the front end wasn't getting enough traction and was beating me up over the small chop, making me lose confidence and forcing me to tip toe through corners. I then decided to jump to the other end of the compression spectrum and try 12 clicks out. The front end definitely felt better in corners and over small chop, but now i was bottoming on some of the larger jumps at Pala. My wrists didnt like that.
After further testing, and with help of the SFF Air app, I decided to utilize less inner pressure and more outer pressure. You see, outer pressure effects the linearity of the spring force. More outer pressure allows for a more ramped spring pressure. Right now I've found a happy setting of (155psi Inner / 13psi Outer / 165psi Balance), Rebound 12 clicks out, and compression 8 clicks out (compression varies a few clicks each way depending on the track). I've found that running a higher Balance pressure than the inner pressure allows the suspension to initiate the stroke more easily, allowing it to soak up the chop a bit better and not chatter in the corners. This has been my happy medium setting to handle most tracks in SoCal, with minor adjustments here and there.
I have to agree with Pingree that these forks perform well in a certain area with the trade-off of performing poorly on the opposite end. It seems like i can tune the fork for great traction and to handle small chop well, but it does not handle larger hits the best in that configuration. And vice versa the other way.
What I do like is that I'm able to soften up the spring a little on tracks where the jumps are not as big, which allows my front end to bite harder. On bigger tracks, i can stiffen it up a little to handle larger hits. Having said this, i think a lot of guys play way too much with the spring pressures and forget about the clicker settings. I don't sway too much on the pressures unless i find myself bottoming a lot, then i'll add a small amount of inner (maybe 5 psi) and outer (maybe .5psi) pressure.
What i don't like is the stiction these forks have at the topped out position and the first inch or so of travel. Seems to be a problem with the seals from what i read on Thumpertalk and from talking to various people.
I don't understand what the big deal is with checking pressures every ride. I don't find it a problem. It's an additional 3 minutes of pre-ride bike prep to do, and it's become part of my routine after I unload the bike at the track. No big deal.
That all having been said, I have a steelie YZ250 back east (need to get that over here) with full RaceTech suspension that handles beautifully, and i've heard great things about these forks when they are revalved. So soon i'll be contacting them for a revalve on my Kx450.
Pit Row
Before the service, the initial 1 - 3 inches of travel was extremely 'jerky' and demonstrated very high static friction on both rebound and compression directions of travel. When you remove the inner cartridge of the air side fork, you will see that literally all the stiction is from the seal inside.
After the service, the forks had almost zero stiction, and it has pretty much stayed like this after around 8 hrs of riding with very little change in stiction. There is a video on You Tube from MX-Tech Inc showing their TAC to spring conversion kit and how little stiction there is with their product. They then challenge you to try the same with your air forks, implying you can't achieve what they have. Well after the service, your forks will behave exactly how theirs do. TAC Spring conversion
I also believe the valving for the '16 is much improved over the '15. Has anybody got an opinion on the matter? I'm wanting to gauge whether a revalve to the '16 valving would be worth my time, or if I should just get the forks revalved professionally.
Its called SSS!!! Right off my 15 YZ250F.
How much work did it take to make it fit? And what did you do? KX or YZ Wheels?
On the air forks, seems like straight air would build pressure as it heats up, P=V (T). So each degree the temps rises so would the psi raise one pound.
Post a reply to: David Pingree on air forks