suspension work??

I've had great luck with Factory Connection. Not the cheapest but the service has always been outstanding.

Are you talking about basic set up or revalve/respring? Read your manual and learn what the adjusters on your bike are for and what they do. Read the symptoms in the manual and see if you can feel if any of it applies to you. When you have a good understanding then you will be able to tell where you need adjusting. KTMs in particular need a longer breaking period for their suspension so that can have an effect on your setting. Right now you don't even know what you would need to tell a shop what you want adjusted.
Learn how to set your sag and adjust your fork air pressure. That is about all a shop will do for you for adjusting. Further adjusting would come at the track where you would adjust for the conditions you encounter at the track.

Stealthypossum, I believe I spent about $800.00 on all the work for both my shock and forks. That being said I had about 20 hours on my stuff before I sent them in. All the seals and bushing were replaced, fluid change, as well a re-valve on both ends. They also added their cup mod to the forks, and I needed a lighter rear shock spring. You ask was it worth it for a novice rider. Like the gentleman above said, learn the stock suspension first. Make sure you start with the factory sag and settings and then adjust from there. Get it feel the best with all your testing and then decide. For me the answer was "Yes" as to if it was worth it. With my weight and riding I was never really comfortable with the stock set up. I'm a vet rider who does pretty well for my age. I say that because I wanted the best handling bike I could afford for my safety. Good Luck

Are you setting your sag??? Do you have the correct spring weight on the rear shock (assuming your KTM has air forks)?? If not, do yourself a favor and start there with the simple stuff. Tons of great info, spring rate calculators etc on the Race Tech website if you've never checked it out...

I'm a street guy too. Pretty clueless in dirt.

I also bought a KTM. Seemed fine, although the forks were a little harsh in chop.

Then I got both ends revalved to my weight and riding. holy crap, best mod I have done to the bike!
It was night and day. Plus I could ride a little longer since the revalved suspension was plusher.

Do it.

Yeah, there is a lot of stuff you can do yourself! First and foremost, set your sag properly.
Then start playing with clickers. Keep notes. Have a baseline setting you can return to. Note
the difference in the way the bike feels. Here are a few good videos on suspension tuning basics.

https://youtu.be/iiBLQPiRjRc

https://youtu.be/L1yExVen2_Q

https://youtu.be/nUizc2ikCaE

The thing with sending your suspension out . . . I firmly believe that unless you can articulate what the bike is doing that you like or don't like and what you specifically want to change (not just "make it better"), then you are wasting your money. You will be way further along spending a couple days turning clickers and taking notes.


FWIW - my method to dial in a bike is I'll set sag and have the clickers at baseline. Everything 11 out, or whatever. Then I put a strip of tape on the front fender and carry a screwdriver and pen in my boot. Ride some, turn a clicker, write "Rear comp +2", for example. The "+2" referring to two clicks from the prior setting, NOT baseline. Repeat till I run out room to write stuff down. See how it feels. If I get lost, I just put everything back to baseline. No going back to the truck, just pull over and adjust clickers. At the end I count the clicks out on all the clickers and, assuming I like it, that's my new baseline.

Since you are just getting into dirt, I would use a local guy. EBR has a good reputation and if you can drive and drop it off you can get a dialog going and some advice. They used to support the local racing a lot.

If you want to use a bigger shop, use Enzo Texas. Craig Decker is an ex-pro and good guy and knows his shit.

Look up Kevin Stillwell in Ft. Worth TX. He's very knowledgeable, and does a ton of testing. Stay as local as you can, so support is available.

First, how many hours are on the bike? If new let it break in a little and if over 20 hours you need to have it serviced anyway! If your weight is within range of your rear spring I would take the advice of most here and make sure you have the sag set correctly and then adjust air pressure and clickers to get a little more comfortable. If you are truly a beginner most shops are just gonna soften up your stacks to make it softer, which is a good thing but most true beginners would benefit more from riding lessons and seat time more than anything if the bike is setup correctly in the beginning!