Video Tour: Inside Fox Racing Shox

Click the following link to check out a video tour of the Fox Racing Shox facility in Watsonville, CA.

Guys that have been around motocross for quite a while are familiar with the legendary Fox Racing Shox, which were (and still are) instantly recognizable, especially at vintage motocross races. That’s due to their unique spring-less design (they used air pressure to replace the springs), large diameter shafts, and heavy use of cooling fins on the shock’s body.

It’s also worth noting that they’d developed their own motorcycle forks back in the day, dubbed Fox Racing Forx, but as suspension development for the long-travel bikes of the day improved, the air design of the Shox went by the wayside, and Fox worked into some different arenas for their suspension products, including off-road, road racing, ATVs, snowmobiles, and most recently, mountain bikes. In the mountain bike world it’s rumored that they supply in the range of 80% of the suspension components for new models.

Fast-forward to the present day, and if you’re involved with amateur racing, you probably know that Fox Racing Shox has been supplying some top amateurs with rear suspension components. But now they’re also working on a front cartridge for the forks on 85 and 150cc bikes. They also spent a large portion of the last AMA National season working with Gavin Gracyk, and developing a rear shock for his 450cc machine. They’re also well into development of some big bike cartridges, and are looking developing them throughout the 2008 Supercross season. You’ll have to check the video (see the link above) to find out with who.

The last time we visited Fox Racing Shox at their previous location in San Jose, they had a well-equipped, but rather small operation. When we pulled up in front of their current location in Watsonville, CA, we were amazed at how large they had grown. Rather than the handful of employees and machines that were working in San Jose, they now have a staff numbering around 450, and rows of mills were busily crank out components for their various products. Seeing that kind of expansion over the span of ten years or so, it makes you wonder how far they could go in the motocross suspension aftermarket. Could they some day become an OE suspension supplier, and compete with companies like KYB and Showa? It’ll be interesting to watch and see how things develop.

If you want to see more of their current line of products, check out www.foxracingshox.com.