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669
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6/11/2015
Location
Lexington, SC, USA
Edited Date/Time
5/27/2022 8:08pm
I was reading a few threads from about 6-7 years ago that were referencing the difference between A-kit suspension and stock. Now that it is 2022, has suspension evolved and closer to A-kit? What makes A-kit suspension different now?
I am genuinely curios as I have never ridden A-Kit. Those who have ridden it, what are the differences that you feel over a revalve and re-spring?
I am genuinely curios as I have never ridden A-Kit. Those who have ridden it, what are the differences that you feel over a revalve and re-spring?
I’m not all that fast anymore but well setup cones are noticeably better
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I run KYB A-kit (psf1 air on the fork side) on both my bikes. 2020 KTM 300XC (hard enduro and single track), 2022 Honda CRF250R (moto/GP racing). I bought my first set through Enzo in 2020 on a yz250f I had. After experiencing that I had to do the same to my KTM.
Also thought i'd address the above post saying its "way stiffer with much different flex characteristics". It's completely how you want it. I custom build my forks for hard enduro and single track use, which means i want flex. So i had Enzo build them using kashima coated WP upper tubes, and DLC coated WP lower tubes. Why? Because ask them they will tell you those tubes provide much better flex character versus the KYB version. Then they put KYB PSF1 internals and lugs on them.
A-kit is amazing it is supple whether I am going fast or slow, it somehow makes small bumps just go away, with air especially, you aren’t going to bottom the forks out even when way way over jumping something. Not to mention how much extra traction your front end has through corners.
And people who say unless you are a pro you won’t notice much or it’s placebo to the people who own it. Everyone I let ride my bike to try it isn’t all that excited until they come back. Then they hop off and they can’t explain how much better things feel, they can’t describe it.
Now A-kit that isn’t setup properly for you won’t be any better and potentially worse then stock.
I’ve only own the KYB variant so I won’t speak on other brands. Unless you have owned it yourself, don’t speak on the subject there’s just way too much false info out there about it.
Plus I like the look of cone valves, makes me feel like I'm somebody LOL
WP is a different world, the kit suspension they offer is a different system basically.
In my opinion, most kit suspension is a worse value than it was 10-15 years ago. They cost a lot less then and were a larger difference than production sets.
The couple components you see in kit KYB or Showa that increase bottoming resistant, speed sensitivity, etc such as spring tubes or more aggressive spring seats, can easily be added to production suspension.
Kit suspension isn’t magic. An off-the-shelf setting in Kit stuff has a very high chance of being worse than a production set tailored to your feedback.
This is a topic that could take a lot of explaining when it comes to each brands offerings and how different the fork and shock are separately to the production components. The prices also vary a lot. Kit Showa suspension is quite a bit more expensive than WP or KYB (close to double).
The guy tuning it and your relationship with them / your feedback is by far more important.
I have a better personal feel with KYB’s systems so I would lean towards a kit option if the bike I’m spending time on doesn’t have that brand stock.
Sounds to me like you bought your A-kit from someone that doesn't have a lot of experience setting it up or you haven't been very good at communicating how you want it setup.
I don't own "A-Kit" myself but I have a lot of friends who have WP Cone Valves, mostly off roaders, and none of them share the same opinion as you and having ridden a lot of their setups I don't agree either.
The initial fork setting was too stiff ( was not using the bottom 2-3 inches!) but it still felt great compared to my revalved stuff and I just waited until I had 20 hours or so on the forks and then sent them back to Enzo to revalve. They nailed the revalve and the forks are just magic. That's my only way to describe them.
On the other hand, the revalved stocker shock (also from Enzo) is so good I can't tell the difference between it and my A-kit shock.
Could I ride with revalved stock stuff - you bet! Do I like the A-kit way better, yes I do (forks; I am ok with the stocker shock)! I've never had better forks. I thought I had ridden really well set up stuff that I liked a lot until I got this set.
Pit Row
Sorry, I had to…. Lol
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