Air Shock??

hartebreak
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11/5/2013 6:29pm Edited Date/Time 12/9/2013 9:25pm
Anyone think we will see the air shock full time this winter on Dungey's and Kenny's bikes? It sure has been quiet on that front. The fact that he raced with it early last year means it was no doubt "close" to being ready. I'm sure the test R&D riders have pounded thousands of laps on it over the past 9 months. Opinions? Insight?
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Grizz
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12/4/2013 5:28pm
All I know is I am already sick of the air forks on my Kawi.
bvm111
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12/4/2013 6:05pm Edited Date/Time 12/4/2013 6:05pm
I think RacerX mentioned that Ivan Tadesco was testing for KTM specifically the air shock before he was selected to replace DM 18. No mention on when/if they will use it again on the race bikes though.
kopfjaeger
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12/4/2013 6:25pm
I've been told that for some reason the air forks are holding up better on the crfs than the kawis for some reason.. My friends like them for offroad on the crfs

The Shop

TerryK
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12/4/2013 6:33pm Edited Date/Time 12/4/2013 6:35pm
I don't see it happening full time on a championship contenders bike. There's no failsafe. If the air leaks out, game over.
JM485
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12/4/2013 6:54pm
TerryK wrote:
I don't see it happening full time on a championship contenders bike. There's no failsafe. If the air leaks out, game over.
That's the same as with the air fork, and we see those everywhere.

Remember how much better Dungey did once they replaced it with a normal spring shock? I don't see it happening.
hillbilly
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12/4/2013 8:55pm
The man said kinks ironed ,on the bikes for sure no doubt and work much better than recoil.

The man also said RD didn't know how to set up a bike and left Ryan under a German bus.
Fraser
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12/5/2013 1:00am
When I got my crf I was worried about the air forks from all of the scare mongering regarding leaks etc. I put those short neoprene seal savers over them, and never had an issue. They've done a full year with no seal issues whatsoever, which is way more than I managed with any of my Yamahas with springs.
HenryA
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12/5/2013 3:50am
kopfjaeger wrote:
I've been told that for some reason the air forks are holding up better on the crfs than the kawis for some reason.. My friends like...
I've been told that for some reason the air forks are holding up better on the crfs than the kawis for some reason.. My friends like them for offroad on the crfs
Different seals maybe?
Olson
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12/5/2013 4:24am
kopfjaeger wrote:
I've been told that for some reason the air forks are holding up better on the crfs than the kawis for some reason.. My friends like...
I've been told that for some reason the air forks are holding up better on the crfs than the kawis for some reason.. My friends like them for offroad on the crfs
HenryA wrote:
Different seals maybe?
Yes, there are different seals in the Honda and the Kawi, the OEM repair kit from Honda is a direct fit to the Kawi.

But the deal with air leak on the fork is not what people think. You can finish a race if the fork starts to leak. It's the same theory as if you get a scratch on the seal on a regular spring fork, it will leak out some but not all. I know a couple of guys who had the pleasure of experience it on race day. Finish the race on a leaked air fork, there where still pressure in the fork when they got to the pits, just clean the seal and add more pressure, ready for heat two. You can run a flat on a oil fork to, I've seen seals blown out and all oil to run out immediately.


I do not have enough experience and info on the air shock to tell if they work the same way as a air fork because a fork is a compressed chamber system no mather spring or air.
mx317
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12/5/2013 4:42am
kopfjaeger wrote:
I've been told that for some reason the air forks are holding up better on the crfs than the kawis for some reason.. My friends like...
I've been told that for some reason the air forks are holding up better on the crfs than the kawis for some reason.. My friends like them for offroad on the crfs
HenryA wrote:
Different seals maybe?
This is backwards from what tuners are saying. They (and MXA) say to use the Kawasaki seals in the Honda because of an extra lip on the Kawi seal. I don't think there have been any widespread blown seals with either one. Hell, anything can break and I have had a spring break which leaves you in the same condition.
IWreckALot
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12/5/2013 4:46am
http://www.vitalmx.com/forums/Moto-Related,20/2014-Red-Bull-KTM-Factory…

I asked GuyB about it in this thread. His response was "We didn't see it yesterday, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if we see it again soon.:-) " Sounds like he knows something we don't but can't/won't say.

I agree that Dungey seemed like he was much better on the air shock.
mx295
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12/5/2013 8:25am
I had a 2011 kx 450 that Frenchie took the forks off of and switched with Metcalfs air forks from his race bike he used in Canada over the summer. I guess Metty does not like air forks. At least I can say my forks won a championship!...haha
GuyB
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12/5/2013 8:51am
bvm111 wrote:
I think RacerX mentioned that Ivan Tadesco was testing for KTM specifically the air shock before he was selected to replace DM 18. No mention on...
I think RacerX mentioned that Ivan Tadesco was testing for KTM specifically the air shock before he was selected to replace DM 18. No mention on when/if they will use it again on the race bikes though.
He's not the only one. Shorty has been busy, too.
Olson
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12/5/2013 8:57am
bvm111 wrote:
I think RacerX mentioned that Ivan Tadesco was testing for KTM specifically the air shock before he was selected to replace DM 18. No mention on...
I think RacerX mentioned that Ivan Tadesco was testing for KTM specifically the air shock before he was selected to replace DM 18. No mention on when/if they will use it again on the race bikes though.
GuyB wrote:
He's not the only one. Shorty has been busy, too.
Now I'm excited! Thanks for info.
BobbyM
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12/5/2013 9:03am
TerryK wrote:
I don't see it happening full time on a championship contenders bike. There's no failsafe. If the air leaks out, game over.
JM485 wrote:
That's the same as with the air fork, and we see those everywhere. Remember how much better Dungey did once they replaced it with a normal...
That's the same as with the air fork, and we see those everywhere.

Remember how much better Dungey did once they replaced it with a normal spring shock? I don't see it happening.
According To Dungey. The "gas"shock is quite a bit better than anything he's ever ridden before. They will get a grip on it, then all the others will follow suit in the somewhat near future.
mx836
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12/5/2013 9:28am
kopfjaeger wrote:
I've been told that for some reason the air forks are holding up better on the crfs than the kawis for some reason.. My friends like...
I've been told that for some reason the air forks are holding up better on the crfs than the kawis for some reason.. My friends like them for offroad on the crfs
I believe it was Keefer and Pingree who said on the Pulp MX 2014 bike review podcast that the Kawasaki forks are better than the Honda forks, but they weren't a huge fan of either. I personally like them being a bigger guy, because I can change spring rates without spending a dime.
newmann
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12/5/2013 9:55am
I like the idea of air suspension if the bugs are worked out. Huge weight savings, between 6-10 lbs. But on the production level it's just one more thing to go wrong with the bike. Air suspension, fuel injection, 150 extra moving parts in the four stroke(I know, I know.....but it's true. And I know they are "here to stay".).....it all adds up to decreasing an already small pool of buyers. Getting to a point where the mfgs. really need to start offering some of this stuff as a "race replica" version of the bike and a bit of a dumbed down version for the average rider.
FLmxer
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12/5/2013 10:50am
That is the only thing I am worried about with the new bikes. I am a Honda guy and will be getting a new one soon but I am a little worried about the forks. I can fix the power issue.
Grizz
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12/5/2013 11:27am
kopfjaeger wrote:
I've been told that for some reason the air forks are holding up better on the crfs than the kawis for some reason.. My friends like...
I've been told that for some reason the air forks are holding up better on the crfs than the kawis for some reason.. My friends like them for offroad on the crfs
HenryA wrote:
Different seals maybe?
mx317 wrote:
This is backwards from what tuners are saying. They (and MXA) say to use the Kawasaki seals in the Honda because of an extra lip on...
This is backwards from what tuners are saying. They (and MXA) say to use the Kawasaki seals in the Honda because of an extra lip on the Kawi seal. I don't think there have been any widespread blown seals with either one. Hell, anything can break and I have had a spring break which leaves you in the same condition.
Then MXA is fucking stupid lmao. My Kawi forks leak like a bitch and all my friends with Hondas haven't had problems. I'm definitely putting Honda seals in them when I get them rebuilt.
mx317
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12/5/2013 12:46pm
Grizz wrote:
Then MXA is fucking stupid lmao. My Kawi forks leak like a bitch and all my friends with Hondas haven't had problems. I'm definitely putting Honda...
Then MXA is fucking stupid lmao. My Kawi forks leak like a bitch and all my friends with Hondas haven't had problems. I'm definitely putting Honda seals in them when I get them rebuilt.
If I put anything besides the stock Kawasaki seals, I would put SKF. If your friends are getting better life, it's not because the seals are better. The Kawasaki has a better seal.
hartebreak
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12/9/2013 8:18pm
Ivan just said on Pulp that he is planning on running the air shock.
Zesiger 112
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12/9/2013 9:25pm
mx317 wrote:
If I put anything besides the stock Kawasaki seals, I would put SKF. If your friends are getting better life, it's not because the seals are...
If I put anything besides the stock Kawasaki seals, I would put SKF. If your friends are getting better life, it's not because the seals are better. The Kawasaki has a better seal.
I have skf seals on my spring forks, haven't had any problems with them and I ride sand all the time. But they were really expensive, I think it was like $80 from mx tech (or whoever it was that sells them) the biggest thing for not blowing fork seals is putting a support in when strapping the bike down, that long term compression will blow them quicker than anything.

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