Hi!
I am rebuilding my brothers old worn out 2-stroke to ride in the summer and would like some insight and tips regarding the suspension.
its on stock forks and Shock that doesn’t work very well & im not too keen on pumping money in the 2005 showa 47mm fork😅 got a killer price on a 2015 Öhlins crf shock that im gonna fit.
i got an old 2009 yz250f kyb sss fork laying around that needs a rebuild & also one inner fork leg,
there is also an 2020 Öhlins rxf48s ktm fork & a rg3 revalved showa 49 from a Suzuki 2019 availiable for a good price. I dont mind switching to a different brand front wheel and was anyway gonna get new triple clamps so i figured why not get newer model forks with better tehnology?🤷🏼♂️
which route would you go and why?
I’ve had a yz250 on kyb sss that worked fine, Öhlins rxp48 On a 2015 kx450f that was the best suspended bike i ever rode and a set of rxp48 on a 2017 sx-f450 that was some of the worst (switched to conevalve but dont want to lay down all that money on this bike) never rode on newer showa 49’s.
basicly im just looking to get better suspension for this project bike for a decent price.
im an 44y 80kg intermediate rider that enjoys modifying the bikes probably as much as i enjoys to ride, only ride mx.
If it's worn out, rebuilding the stock suspension will make a huge difference.
True, but a revalve here is around 700$ and im guessing there Will be a lot of parts that will need to be replaced on top of that and in the end how good would a revalved 2005 fork be compared to the other forks i listed? Thats what im thinking about😊
the Öhlins fork is around 900$
the showa 49 i get for around 800$ but also includes an a-kit shock.
My favorite fork ever is a Factory Connection re-valved Showa 47mm, had them on both CRF and RMZ 450s between 05 and 15.Get the bottom lock collars in them and they can be both plush and take big hits. Those forks can be really good. For most mortals, the smaller tube diameter compared to modern has a better feel.
Factory Connection would not be a solution for @BrokenSwede, shipping costs from Sweden to Factory Connection in the US and back, would be more than a revalve, he would be better off finding somebody local.
It sounds like he's committed to swapping suspension, CR250's with non OEM suspension, unless it's Showa A-kit, don't sell in OZ.
The Shop
Free shipping: VITALMX
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Maybe just ask a shop if they'll sell you valving settings for your stock components. We do that for our dealers and riders that are out of country and want a performance upgrade for older bikes that we no longer make works parts or kits for and are hard to justify the shipping costs associated with actually sending it in. No one wants to spend $400-700usd on shipping and dealing with importing and exporting their components just for a regular revalve for a 19 year old bike but waiting a week or a couple weeks for settings and shims is often worth while.
As far as parts go, the old 47mm showa forks and 50mm shocks were really well built. As long as the bike hasn't been extremely neglected, they normally just need seals, wipers, bushings, cartridge rod seals and free piston seals in the forks and a sealhead kit, bladder, bump rubber and o-rings in the shock. Usually you're in the $200-300usd range for parts and if you also need springs will be determined by what springs you have, what you actually need and how close those two numbers are. You can get away with being one or two rates off but say seven rates off and even the best valving in the world isn't going to fix that gap.
For swapping components from any of those listed bikes, remember that not one of them share the same swingarm length, linkage ratio, travel length, fork tube length or fork lug offset. A proper swap for any of them is going to most likely require valving and spring updates anyways to make them ride right or at least be safe. The easiest thing is going to be to just rebuild and revalve the stock fork and shock. If you're set and sold on any one of those components off another bike, just be prepared to make some or a lot of tweaks depending on how lucky you get with what's already in them.
Thanx a lot for the replies guys!
i was kind of set on swapping to a newer suspension since my thoughts were ”newer modern design would perform better” but regarding what you said maybe im best of staying with the stock forks and just upgrading and revalving them?
"Newer modern design" is the same technology as the last generation CR250's stock suspension, some dimensional differences, but the same technology.
You will be surprised how much difference rebuilding the stock suspension makes. Don't forget to replace all the shock linkage, swingarm, and steering head bearings.
Valving is very much a rider preference, what you like may not be what somebody else likes, just be aware if you get the suspension revalved, you may not like the result, and it may take a couple of revalves to get it where you like it.
Youre probably right, i had an öhlins set sent ro a reputable builder for rebuild and revalve for me, gave the builder my weight, type of riding and so on, tried it out and it was so bad that i didnt want to see it no more, i mean it was so much worse than any stock suspension i beer tried so i sold it and bought conevalves. Next time im gonna try rg3 instead and as you say let it take a few times til i get it right for me. Dont know how much i want to spend on 19year old forks though, feels better to spend if you got more expensive forks to start with🤣
dont get me wrong, im nowhere near a pro or so, just enjoy good stuff😅
You need to be comfortable on the bike, even the pros have radically different setups from each other...
An alternative route is to do the revalve yourself, there are tools out there that can help...
https://www.shimrestackor.com/index.htm
The biggest cost of revalving yourself is time, it is a rabbit hole you may not want to go down!
Sorry for late reply & autocorrect is horrible since im on a swedish keyboard😅
yes feeling comfortable is the thing, if i ever could get a bike feel like my old kawi with the Öhlins i would keep it forever😁
thanx for the link and info, it would be fun but i think it Will be too time consuming to get myself into😅 i better stick with letting the professionals do the revalves.
Post a reply to: 2005 cr250r suspension options?