Roczen Forks

I’ve heard Mark Johnson (REP) speak on this. Coatings reduce friction but aren’t always the best option. Coatings can cause a different feel in damping and rebound. Roczen must like the feel he gets out of non-coated lowers. Maybe he likes a slower action. Anderson said he’s going to try to slow the shock down by 1/2 psi or something. These guys are gnarly and I think it’s really true they are looking for tenths of a percent in every part of their program.

Could be trying a tube with a different wall thickness or internal profile and didn’t have time to get them coated. 

I’ve heard of low friction coatings that look like regular chrome plating. 

In an interview with Paul Thede (Race Tech), I though he said their testing showed that coating don't really make a performance difference. Just look cool.  Cross hatching with an abrasive does work to reduce friction though. My recollection of what he said anyway..

Whatever friction you lose from coatings has to be compensated for with valving. 

Bones also talked about this and even said something along the lines of coatings not really being all that great like the general public thinks because of the tighter tolerances. 

Obviously I’m paraphrasing here and with a quick search at work I couldn’t find the article, but I believe it was on MXA. I’ll look more for it later to get his exact quote on it. 

The thought process is that the coatings allow the valving/damping to act freely thus more accurately. 

I understand the thinking but friction can be more consistent than valving especially with small movements. Friction may also not be as affected by oil viscosity change. Oil viscosity changes quite a bit with temperature. 

If they are running their settings as stiff and dead for SX as everyone says they are, I'd bet friction is such a small component of the forces opposing free suspension movement (insanely high spring rates combined with tons of dampening), that the coatings are negligible anyways, and are put on there largely to visually showcase suspension companies/sponsors.

Seems like the aesthetic is the biggest upgrade you get with coatings.

Yeah I agree. Off-road guys would probably benefit the most if anyone does. Coatings can reduce wear which is also important but the cost of the coating may exceed whatever value the increased life gives. 

JBI new titanium, lower for tubes look pretty cool. 

JB is a good dude. Had the chance to talk to him a couple times out at Cahuilla. He was parked next to me two Sunday’s ago and was more than happy to talk me through some settings even though he didn’t work on my stuff. I will definitely be sending him my stuff when it’s in need of a refresh. 
Those titanium tubes are badass. 

I thought Anderson was making a joke (and taking a dig at) about the rumor  KTM was running such low shock pressures that their shocks were/are failing...?

I talked to Kenny for a quick minute at Vegas SMX and asked about stock triple clamps and the suspension setup. He said that he just prefers the feel and amount of flexibility it gives him.  And he mentioned the team can move the position of the tube plus adjust the oil level to give him the feel he likes.

My forks are coated in the blood of my opponents

Meanwhile everyone will tell you they need Xtrigs or other 1300 clamps meanwhile Kenny is killing on stock clamps designed a decade or more ago... 

I thought the coatings were more about reducing stiction?

kashima coat cf isnt publicized. probably only works well under certain circumstances idk. its embedded molyndenum disulfide i guess. 

The coefficient of friction (COF) for Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) coatings is typically low, ranging from 0.1 to 0.2 in dry conditions, due to the formation of self-lubricating, graphite-like layers on the sliding surfaces. However, the COF is influenced by various factors, including the type of DLC (e.g., hydrogenated or doped), the sliding environment (dry, lubricated, or specific gases), temperature, and the nature of the counter-surface. 

notably, Kawasaki uses DLC on their finger followers for zx10. showa has also used it on select oem forks. its probably very difficult to apply to certain surfaces. 

calico lists cf 0.10-0.15. not that much less than chrome. i find it hard to believe that a rider can discern the difference between a good coating and chrome but who knows. maybe the tolerances do create issues with bushings. fox suspension interchangeably uses kashima and some unknown black anodization  with the same bushings on their mtb stuff. not that that is indicative of anything. 

DLC is applied in Mircons. Typically no more than 5m. Which converts to .00019". I can say with a high level of certainty that DLC coating doesn't effect the "tolerance" in motocross suspension components. 99% of aerospace doesn't hold tolerances that tight.

Forslyk?

Yes, but there's 2 ways of looking at it.  We can either acknowledge and accept the drag and tune accordingly to compensate.  Or we can take all measures to eliminate the drag and call that our baseline and tune to that.  To your point, most average riders are experiencing exponentially more drag from seal choice, worn bushings, and small amounts of dirt in their seals than could ever be eliminated from any improvement a coating might provide.  But choosing to essentially call the fork drag a part of tuning would be kind of like setting your sag on your bike while it has 20 pounds of mud on it.  

I am repeating what Mark from rep said in an interview a few weeks ago. There is also a vast difference between the average vital poster and a factory pro. Reducing friction by on the lowers by half sounds big, but not if friction is already 1% of the dampening. Going from 1 to 0.5% isn’t much. 

Have you tested back to back with different coatings to feel the difference including using a tuner that can dial in a setting for both?

Heck no.  I am way to frugal to pay crazy amounts of money for bougie stuff.  I'm a local Vet rider that realizes the pro dream died 30 years ago so I make practical choices.  Even if it was conclusively proven that a coating was a no brainer and immediately reduced lap times 1-2 seconds, I still wouldn't pay those prices.. lol.   For reference, I am still running the stock air forks on my 350 and actually like them!  I know, gasp, not very Vet rider of me, lol.   But I do take practical, reasonable steps to minimize drag and keep things nice and fresh.  Good, clean seals, frequent services, etc.

Pretty much correct for the coatings you see on the fork lowers but stiction is a type of friction, too.  Internals are mostly coated for anti-wear purposes to reduce fluid contamination (from what I recall reading over the years).

Who wouldn’t want their forks to look these??

The thing most seem to miss with coatings is that it's not about seal friction/stiction; it's about bushing friction. Seal friction/stiction is irrelevant as others have mentioned here. It's constant and is compensated for with valving. If you remove all seal friction/stiction, you'll need slightly firmer valving to compensate. No real advantage to coatings there (though arguably a tiny advantage over initial response).  

But while seal friction is independent of side loading, bushing friction is entirely dependent on side loading and varies by the side load, e.g. hitting any bump not directly in-line with the forks, which is most every bump. Removing bushing friction can be very beneficial, but it will also need different valving and settings to be optimal. If you simply add coatings and make not other changes, the rider may not like it as they're used to a fork with higher friction. Same goes for stock triple clamps. 

Mine are coated with my own tears.