Posts
1189
Joined
7/8/2016
Location
Belton, MO
US
Edited Date/Time
11/26/2017 7:06pm
I was looking at a photo of Ben Townley’s 2004 125sx, and moreover eyeballing the fork and shock equipment.
In retrograde, when does OEM surpass Factory? Example: is my 17 WP Aer stock setup better than say, the 2010 factory cone valve?
I know there will be a few comments of “nobody will ever beat the 2008 Honda 450 yada yada yada”. That’s not the point..
I gaze upon old factory equipment with lustful eyes, but it makes me wonder if my bike comes with better equipment than Townley had in 2004? Feel pretty cool to think of having better suspenders than someone of that speed... in retrograde.
Thoughts?
In retrograde, when does OEM surpass Factory? Example: is my 17 WP Aer stock setup better than say, the 2010 factory cone valve?
I know there will be a few comments of “nobody will ever beat the 2008 Honda 450 yada yada yada”. That’s not the point..
I gaze upon old factory equipment with lustful eyes, but it makes me wonder if my bike comes with better equipment than Townley had in 2004? Feel pretty cool to think of having better suspenders than someone of that speed... in retrograde.
Thoughts?
People spend $3000+ on an old set of used A-kit they know nothing about the history, then have to send them out to be set up, re-sprung, valved etc.
Its likely their newer stock stuff can be set up really well for a fraction of the cost.
The Shop
Stock stuff will never have the close tolerances or adjustability factory stuff have.
My thing has always been if you take it down and have it set up before ever riding it, how do you know what it did well and what it did bad? All things you'll be asked when getting your suspension done..
You get good metallurgical coatings/treatments, correct valving and spring rates...maybe some new internals that're actually based in the current kit "mentality"...
Then you go out and dial it in. Maybe you even go out with a good suspension tech and really work at it...
Do you think you can get your bike working as good or better than the "kit stuff"? Do you think you can get comparable performance WITHOUT spending anywhere near as much money?
Pit Row
Now, let's ask the same questions about the '18...
The real magic behind works suspension is development team behind it to come up with creative solutions to specific rider issues.
Anyone remember grant Langston running essentially production forks on his outdoor Yamaha?
Vuilleman stated clearly on pulp he ran a box stock yz250 shock outdoors vs his works option one year.
The tolerances in a set of come valve forks and production wp forks are identical. Kyb "kit suspension" has the same parts and pieces as production stuff.
The price and "allure" of having kit stuff is 90 percent of what makes it "seem better"
the ignorance in the US about suspension is ridiculous...and it's sad the mags don't help the consumer understand more. It seems basic physics class 101 is lost on most people... there is no free lunch.
You have about 12 inches of travel to accomplish what you want. You can manipulate the damping curve anyway you please if you can dream up the method to do so, but you are limited to these 12 inches. A 13 inch bump becomes a jump no matter how you slice it... and depending on the sprung weight to unprung weight ratio... smaller bumps than 12 become jumps too if you wish to maintain chassis control. Dirtbikes are very challenging for suspension because you must control the chassis motion by being grossly over damped for bump response... so we end up comprimised with not enough chassis damping but a little too much bump damping.
Sx leans heavily on chassis damping control, with fork valving settings that can be 200 percent stiffer than outdoor settings...
Outdoors leans on bump response but when the tracks add big jumps and large whoops you must find a compromise. It's a reason many pro riders run much more fork spring rate at 155-160 Lbs than a 200 lb vet often. Helps chassis control with minimal penalty in bumps and the team will rework the chassis to work well with the less sag.
Post a reply to: When does OEM suspension surpass Factory?