Posts
1252
Joined
12/19/2013
Location
Budds Creek, MD
US
Edited Date/Time
2/24/2015 6:16pm
I wanted to do a review because there is so little information out there for us regular guys, by a regular guy. It's not made for us but some of us still want to know what it's like or get it for the bling factor. I also wanted to debunk some of the myths I have heard from people discouraging me from making such a radical purchase.
What it is:
A low time Showa A kit from circa 2007/8 acquired by a local suspension guy here in Maryland (Bumpstiks) for a local pro to use on a 2007 CR250R. This picture is of it laid out next to the OEM Showa stuff from my project 2007 CR250R.
Here it is on the bike.
The forks are installed in stock triples that have been bored to hold the larger tubes. I removed the casting seams and rubbed them with a little scotch brite just because they were off.
Where I was riding:
Budds Creek open practice this past Saturday in loamy moist conditions from a week of rain.
What it felt like:
AMAZING! Almost like cheating... Took the edge off of the CR 2 stroke's radical explosiveness quite a bit and afforded so much more traction.
The first thing I noticed on the sight lap was the ability to literally roll around the track with more speed and less effort. My sight lap is usually quite slow to the point I have to check up on most of the jumps because I don't have the time to asses the track conditions and still have time to get over things after my assessment. Even on the sight lap I had time and momentum to safely look and float over the stuff I usually don't unless I am actually putting a lap together. So instantly it felt like I was less busy and was carrying more momentum.
After the sight lap when I knew the track conditions (I'm VERY familiar with Budds Creek) I started to try to put some laps together and see if I needed to make some clicks for balance and such. The sag was ok to start right out of box; right around 100mm, and the clickers where in a good place to start also. I honestly couldn't find anything wrong with the balance so I kept riding.
The second thing I noticed was how crazy the bottoming resistance was without being harsh. I'm pretty sure I could jump into the side of a truck and not strain my body. There are some big tables at Budds and a step up 75% of regular humans don't jump. Us humans jump some of the huge stuff as far as our ankles and wrists can take. Well with this stuff it's scary how hard you can crash into stuff. No crazy bottoming or bounce back. Tracks extremely straight.
So overall...
Forks:
- super plush and accurate in the initial and mid stroke but somehow resists bottoming without a harsh transition between plush and hard. They aren't harsh anywhere.
Shock:
- Probably the most amazing part, even more so than the forks. If you land rear wheel first it's like a pillow top mattress, period!
- Traction was like a 4 stroke. Helps so much with power that is to some extent all or nothing on a 2 stroke. This stuff on a 450 would be out of this world!
With all that said, the not so good/stuff I haven't had time to figure out yet:
Boy, all that extra momentum thru chop, corner entry speed, off corner traction, sure got me in some crazy situation later in the day as I tried to step my game up to meet the bikes new found ability. There is a point where the bikes stability to float thru stuff dumps you out to where you need skill. That's where I found myself having some serious pucker moments or taking soils samples. Things started to happen REALLY fast once I started to get up in the area of speed the bike now operates at comfortably.
All in all I do think this stuff is an advantage for anyone of any skill level. With only about 2 hours of actual ride time on it so far I'm still at a loss for exactly how it does what it does so much different and what exact approach I should take to use that to my advantage without riding over my head. The line between "this makes riding really easy" and "oh crap" is really fine with this stuff.
I'll post more as I spend more time with it. This is just an initial attempt to put what it feels like in word. It's honestly so different than anything else I've ever ridden it's hard to get my head around.
* for the record I'm a 32 year old Vet intermediate racer. 170ish pounds. 6' tall. I've ridden tons of re-valved suspension to include my buddies 2015 KX450 with Showa SFF TAC done by PC, which is supposed to be the best OEM suspension EVER. I'm not going to say that stuff is worse or better but it's COMPLETELY different in every way as far as feel.
Please excuse any typos or anything, I'm definitely not a journalist, just trying to get this knocked out.
What it is:
A low time Showa A kit from circa 2007/8 acquired by a local suspension guy here in Maryland (Bumpstiks) for a local pro to use on a 2007 CR250R. This picture is of it laid out next to the OEM Showa stuff from my project 2007 CR250R.
Here it is on the bike.
The forks are installed in stock triples that have been bored to hold the larger tubes. I removed the casting seams and rubbed them with a little scotch brite just because they were off.
Where I was riding:
Budds Creek open practice this past Saturday in loamy moist conditions from a week of rain.
What it felt like:
AMAZING! Almost like cheating... Took the edge off of the CR 2 stroke's radical explosiveness quite a bit and afforded so much more traction.
The first thing I noticed on the sight lap was the ability to literally roll around the track with more speed and less effort. My sight lap is usually quite slow to the point I have to check up on most of the jumps because I don't have the time to asses the track conditions and still have time to get over things after my assessment. Even on the sight lap I had time and momentum to safely look and float over the stuff I usually don't unless I am actually putting a lap together. So instantly it felt like I was less busy and was carrying more momentum.
After the sight lap when I knew the track conditions (I'm VERY familiar with Budds Creek) I started to try to put some laps together and see if I needed to make some clicks for balance and such. The sag was ok to start right out of box; right around 100mm, and the clickers where in a good place to start also. I honestly couldn't find anything wrong with the balance so I kept riding.
The second thing I noticed was how crazy the bottoming resistance was without being harsh. I'm pretty sure I could jump into the side of a truck and not strain my body. There are some big tables at Budds and a step up 75% of regular humans don't jump. Us humans jump some of the huge stuff as far as our ankles and wrists can take. Well with this stuff it's scary how hard you can crash into stuff. No crazy bottoming or bounce back. Tracks extremely straight.
So overall...
Forks:
- super plush and accurate in the initial and mid stroke but somehow resists bottoming without a harsh transition between plush and hard. They aren't harsh anywhere.
Shock:
- Probably the most amazing part, even more so than the forks. If you land rear wheel first it's like a pillow top mattress, period!
- Traction was like a 4 stroke. Helps so much with power that is to some extent all or nothing on a 2 stroke. This stuff on a 450 would be out of this world!
With all that said, the not so good/stuff I haven't had time to figure out yet:
Boy, all that extra momentum thru chop, corner entry speed, off corner traction, sure got me in some crazy situation later in the day as I tried to step my game up to meet the bikes new found ability. There is a point where the bikes stability to float thru stuff dumps you out to where you need skill. That's where I found myself having some serious pucker moments or taking soils samples. Things started to happen REALLY fast once I started to get up in the area of speed the bike now operates at comfortably.
All in all I do think this stuff is an advantage for anyone of any skill level. With only about 2 hours of actual ride time on it so far I'm still at a loss for exactly how it does what it does so much different and what exact approach I should take to use that to my advantage without riding over my head. The line between "this makes riding really easy" and "oh crap" is really fine with this stuff.
I'll post more as I spend more time with it. This is just an initial attempt to put what it feels like in word. It's honestly so different than anything else I've ever ridden it's hard to get my head around.
* for the record I'm a 32 year old Vet intermediate racer. 170ish pounds. 6' tall. I've ridden tons of re-valved suspension to include my buddies 2015 KX450 with Showa SFF TAC done by PC, which is supposed to be the best OEM suspension EVER. I'm not going to say that stuff is worse or better but it's COMPLETELY different in every way as far as feel.
Please excuse any typos or anything, I'm definitely not a journalist, just trying to get this knocked out.
That is a myth I wanted to clear up.
The Shop
Not saying the suspension isn't better, but our minds are very powerful.
Reason I say this is...many riders can't really tell the difference as I know mechanics have "pretended" to make suspension changes based on their rider input ..all sudden that same suspension works perfect when in reality no changes were made.
On top of that the difference is not nuances, we are talking total transformation. The improvement is by about 5 miles. The 5-10 feet lost in the non same day/ back to back comparison isn't relevant in this particular situation I don't think. The entire personality of the bike changed, but not so much it felt foreign.
I'd describe it as less compromise, or a broader window of setup if you will. It was better in more situations with one setting where on OEM you'd kind of have to choose which condition to setup for and deal with the rest.
In short. You can ride fast. You can ride slow. You can take wide lines. You can carve in. You can darn near decide mid rut you don't like that one and switch (seriously). You can sit down thru whatever. You can stand up. You can land flat. You can smash inot the last foot of a table top where it curves up a little to form the downside, and not even cringe. Just make sure you have good brakes, skills, or restraint because with new speed new trouble comes up quick. REAL QUICK.
For example climbing a big hill that wasn't a jump, just crests into a corner, I misjudged my braking point for the head of steam I was carrying at the top and jumped clear over the hump of the turn after the hill and whiskied clear over the berm after that. I was going 3rd tapped. To both brakes locked in the air. Brutal near miss! I haven't had a true goon moment like that in a good while.
The good stuff costs money; and, he's worth it.
Very Stoked for you.
Braaaap!
Is it just me---or is this place improving since the 'trash' was taken out....?
Next point is to ride it somewhere different. I rotate thru about 4 different tracks.
Like that empty McDonald's cup i have rolling around in mine.
HAHAHAHAHA
Pit Row
Just curious, did Bumpstiks do your setup for the forks and shock, or are you riding them how they were set up for the former owner?
I went from stock suspension to a Factory Connection revalve this year on my CRF 450 and also noticed one of the things you'd mentioned, about how you suddenly find yourself going faster and things happening more quickly. Had a nice little crash going into a turn the other month by getting carried away with my newfound confidence. I feel better knowing it isn't just me, and my stuff is just a standard revalve, not A kit!
Que the scene:
Me: "Hey bro, I just took a big digger and tweaked my shit. Got a spare set of forks by chance?"
Ricko: "As a matter of fact......."
Where would you go to find bushings , seals, etc. for a non mass produced fork?
Killer bike and review though !
And yes there is a time period where a rider has to gel with his equipment before real results happen, which is why I plan to give more updates as I gel with it and start to make adjustments. I'm looking forward to being able to use them to my advantage than simply being a giggling passenger. Lol
Do you know if the A kit fork lug offset is the same as stock 07CR250 ?
now if you needed guide rods, fork caps, ect then it's a bit trickier as they changed some of the internal part sizing thru the years.. i think on mine the hardest thing to find was the seals.
Post a reply to: Got to ride on my A-Kit finally....