New Xact Cone Valve Forks vs KYB inserts

Craig_Whitfield
Edited Date/Time 8/5/2019 7:36pm
I’m seriously considering buying a set of cone valve xact pro forks, easier for me to take to my next bikes and re sale value etc.

I’m currently running kyb inserts in my AER forks.

Has anyone tried both ?

Looking for some feedback on comparison to both.

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Motohead279
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Motohead279 6/30/2019 10:03pm
6/30/2019 10:03pm
I’ve never tried the KYB inserts but I have a set of the 48 cone valve spring forks for over a year and love them. Bottoming resistance is unreal. Had them originally on my Factory Edition 250sxf which had 4CS and just put them on my new 350.

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wheeler727
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wheeler727 6/30/2019 10:41pm
6/30/2019 10:41pm
I have a pair of KYB internals from Enzo and absolutely love them. I was in the same boat and almost went with the Cone Valve/ Trax route but after talking to Will over at Enzo he convinced me to give them a try. I’m very happy with the work Enzo did and saved a bike of money. 1700$ cash for the front and rear with upgraded spring tubes.
CarlinoJoeVideo
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CarlinoJoeVideo 6/30/2019 11:45pm
6/30/2019 11:45pm
I got the new set of XACT forks and Enzo set them up for me using shims instead of cone valves. I’d say they are the best forks I’ve ever ridden on a KTM. And this is my 3rd set of cone valves...Evil
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erik_94COBRA
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erik_94COBRA 7/1/2019 7:23am
7/1/2019 7:23am
Craig at Enzo said he liked the KYB inserts better than Cone Valves he's tested. I have been very happy with the 3 revalve I've had done so that's saying something.

I was on the fence but have ordered XACT CVs and Trax for similar reasons (Resale, ease of moving). I may have the stock components redone by Enzo at a later date for comparison.

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mx317
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mx317 7/1/2019 7:23am
7/1/2019 7:23am
CarlinoJoeVideo wrote:
I got the new set of XACT forks and Enzo set them up for me using shims instead of cone valves. I’d say they are the...
I got the new set of XACT forks and Enzo set them up for me using shims instead of cone valves. I’d say they are the best forks I’ve ever ridden on a KTM. And this is my 3rd set of cone valves...Evil
Enzo did mine using shims also. Hands down the best forks I've had so far!
erik_94COBRA
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erik_94COBRA 7/1/2019 7:26am
7/1/2019 7:26am
CarlinoJoeVideo wrote:
I got the new set of XACT forks and Enzo set them up for me using shims instead of cone valves. I’d say they are the...
I got the new set of XACT forks and Enzo set them up for me using shims instead of cone valves. I’d say they are the best forks I’ve ever ridden on a KTM. And this is my 3rd set of cone valves...Evil
Why did they setup without cones? Or what were you looking for that they thought traditional midvalve setup would be better than CV setup.
Craig_Whitfield 7/1/2019 8:07am
7/1/2019 8:07am
CarlinoJoeVideo wrote:
I got the new set of XACT forks and Enzo set them up for me using shims instead of cone valves. I’d say they are the...
I got the new set of XACT forks and Enzo set them up for me using shims instead of cone valves. I’d say they are the best forks I’ve ever ridden on a KTM. And this is my 3rd set of cone valves...Evil
That much better than the last generation cone valves ?
Craig_Whitfield 7/1/2019 1:20pm
7/1/2019 1:20pm
erik_94COBRA wrote:
Craig at Enzo said he liked the KYB inserts better than Cone Valves he's tested. I have been very happy with the 3 revalve I've had...
Craig at Enzo said he liked the KYB inserts better than Cone Valves he's tested. I have been very happy with the 3 revalve I've had done so that's saying something.

I was on the fence but have ordered XACT CVs and Trax for similar reasons (Resale, ease of moving). I may have the stock components redone by Enzo at a later date for comparison.

I’m hoping to have mine in a couple of weeks. Apparently the kits for the 250s are available just yet here in England so hopefully it won’t be to long.

I have to say tho the kyb inserts are fantastic but a headache when changing bikes etc.
Baton Rouge 7/1/2019 1:55pm
7/1/2019 1:55pm
Craig_Whitfield wrote:
I’m hoping to have mine in a couple of weeks. Apparently the kits for the 250s are available just yet here in England so hopefully it...
I’m hoping to have mine in a couple of weeks. Apparently the kits for the 250s are available just yet here in England so hopefully it won’t be to long.

I have to say tho the kyb inserts are fantastic but a headache when changing bikes etc.
If you make the move to the new CV i will be very interested to know your feelings about the two set up and the pros/cons. I want either the CV or the factory KYB for my next 350.

A guy on an another thread with full KYB set up (19 350) stated that Craig at Enzo told him the kyb fork is better than the CV.

mx317
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mx317 7/1/2019 2:13pm
7/1/2019 2:13pm Edited Date/Time 7/1/2019 2:16pm
Craig_Whitfield wrote:
I’m hoping to have mine in a couple of weeks. Apparently the kits for the 250s are available just yet here in England so hopefully it...
I’m hoping to have mine in a couple of weeks. Apparently the kits for the 250s are available just yet here in England so hopefully it won’t be to long.

I have to say tho the kyb inserts are fantastic but a headache when changing bikes etc.
Baton Rouge wrote:
If you make the move to the new CV i will be very interested to know your feelings about the two set up and the pros/cons...
If you make the move to the new CV i will be very interested to know your feelings about the two set up and the pros/cons. I want either the CV or the factory KYB for my next 350.

A guy on an another thread with full KYB set up (19 350) stated that Craig at Enzo told him the kyb fork is better than the CV.

Craig did my Cone Valve forks (technically no longer cone mid-valve) using shims instead of the Cone Valve. I've had two well known companies do my forks previous using two different cones (red and blue) and I could not get happy until Craig converted to shim stack. My yardstick of forks were a set of 2011 Kawasaki AOSS Spring forks I had on my 2016 KX450 that were done by Enzo. ML512 has stated several times that factory WP riders have used both shim stacks and cone valve mid valves. The shim stack makes them more like the KYB style forks like AOSS and SSS forks. This conversion is pretty much a revalve in cost because they use the piston that is in there and just remove the cone adaptor, cone and spring replacing them with shims.
1
erik_94COBRA
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erik_94COBRA 7/1/2019 3:02pm
7/1/2019 3:02pm
Craig_Whitfield wrote:
I’m hoping to have mine in a couple of weeks. Apparently the kits for the 250s are available just yet here in England so hopefully it...
I’m hoping to have mine in a couple of weeks. Apparently the kits for the 250s are available just yet here in England so hopefully it won’t be to long.

I have to say tho the kyb inserts are fantastic but a headache when changing bikes etc.
Baton Rouge wrote:
If you make the move to the new CV i will be very interested to know your feelings about the two set up and the pros/cons...
If you make the move to the new CV i will be very interested to know your feelings about the two set up and the pros/cons. I want either the CV or the factory KYB for my next 350.

A guy on an another thread with full KYB set up (19 350) stated that Craig at Enzo told him the kyb fork is better than the CV.

mx317 wrote:
Craig did my Cone Valve forks (technically no longer cone mid-valve) using shims instead of the Cone Valve. I've had two well known companies do my...
Craig did my Cone Valve forks (technically no longer cone mid-valve) using shims instead of the Cone Valve. I've had two well known companies do my forks previous using two different cones (red and blue) and I could not get happy until Craig converted to shim stack. My yardstick of forks were a set of 2011 Kawasaki AOSS Spring forks I had on my 2016 KX450 that were done by Enzo. ML512 has stated several times that factory WP riders have used both shim stacks and cone valve mid valves. The shim stack makes them more like the KYB style forks like AOSS and SSS forks. This conversion is pretty much a revalve in cost because they use the piston that is in there and just remove the cone adaptor, cone and spring replacing them with shims.
I spoke to Billy at Powerband about this today (where I bought mine from) and he confirmed the same thing: Some prefer a specific feel that the traditional midvalve provides that the CV doesn't.

I'm sure Enzo can get make a set of WP CVs feel just like a set of KYB with a traditional midvalve.
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blaze 57
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blaze 57 7/1/2019 4:28pm
7/1/2019 4:28pm
Now to throw in another aspect I have had Sphere's inserts in for several months and they are better than my KYB's. Not by a long-shot but better in certain areas like braking bumps and chop.
Baton Rouge 7/1/2019 8:19pm
7/1/2019 8:19pm
blaze 57 wrote:
Now to throw in another aspect I have had Sphere's inserts in for several months and they are better than my KYB's. Not by a long-shot...
Now to throw in another aspect I have had Sphere's inserts in for several months and they are better than my KYB's. Not by a long-shot but better in certain areas like braking bumps and chop.
Better than KYB inserts or better than the KYB factory fork ?

It is interesting, only heard positive review about this sphere cartridges but always wondered how it would stacked against CV or KYB fork
blaze 57
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blaze 57 7/1/2019 9:45pm
7/1/2019 9:45pm Edited Date/Time 7/1/2019 9:49pm
Better than the KYB factory fork. My 2012 Yamaha 450 has them of coarse and they have been also set-up by EVO here in Washington. I was going to have Cory at Pro Tune do the KYB conversion (18.5 KTM 450 FE} but he talked me into the Sphere's and has them on his bike. He wasn't kidding when he said the Sphere's were better. Compared to cone valves I have no idea but the engineering and quality of these Sphere's carts is top notch.
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CarlinoJoeVideo
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CarlinoJoeVideo 7/2/2019 12:07am
7/2/2019 12:07am
CarlinoJoeVideo wrote:
I got the new set of XACT forks and Enzo set them up for me using shims instead of cone valves. I’d say they are the...
I got the new set of XACT forks and Enzo set them up for me using shims instead of cone valves. I’d say they are the best forks I’ve ever ridden on a KTM. And this is my 3rd set of cone valves...Evil
Craig_Whitfield wrote:
That much better than the last generation cone valves ?
The fork itself hasn’t changed really. Just the valving I got this time is the best. They can give you the same setting on an old generation.
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sgrimmxdad
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sgrimmxdad 7/3/2019 2:39am
7/3/2019 2:39am
blaze 57 wrote:
Now to throw in another aspect I have had Sphere's inserts in for several months and they are better than my KYB's. Not by a long-shot...
Now to throw in another aspect I have had Sphere's inserts in for several months and they are better than my KYB's. Not by a long-shot but better in certain areas like braking bumps and chop.
We went with the Sphere kit too, the KYB conversion wasn't available at the time, and my son loves them. I would do the Sphere kit again without hesitation!
1
Baton Rouge 7/3/2019 5:21am
7/3/2019 5:21am
sgrimmxdad wrote:
We went with the Sphere kit too, the KYB conversion wasn't available at the time, and my son loves them. I would do the Sphere kit...
We went with the Sphere kit too, the KYB conversion wasn't available at the time, and my son loves them. I would do the Sphere kit again without hesitation!
I’m amazed by the amount of positive review we got on these sphere cartridges. Maybe i will go that route too. Is the bottoming resistance as good as the CV or KYB ?

Thx
Craig_Whitfield 7/3/2019 12:32pm
7/3/2019 12:32pm
CarlinoJoeVideo wrote:
I got the new set of XACT forks and Enzo set them up for me using shims instead of cone valves. I’d say they are the...
I got the new set of XACT forks and Enzo set them up for me using shims instead of cone valves. I’d say they are the best forks I’ve ever ridden on a KTM. And this is my 3rd set of cone valves...Evil
Craig_Whitfield wrote:
That much better than the last generation cone valves ?
CarlinoJoeVideo wrote:
The fork itself hasn’t changed really. Just the valving I got this time is the best. They can give you the same setting on an old...
The fork itself hasn’t changed really. Just the valving I got this time is the best. They can give you the same setting on an old generation.
I’ve done it. I’ve ordered my Xact pro forks. I should have them next week just in time for my national race. I can’t wait to try them and see the comparison with the KYB cartridge kit.
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Baton Rouge 7/3/2019 4:35pm
7/3/2019 4:35pm
Craig_Whitfield wrote:
I’ve done it. I’ve ordered my Xact pro forks. I should have them next week just in time for my national race. I can’t wait to...
I’ve done it. I’ve ordered my Xact pro forks. I should have them next week just in time for my national race. I can’t wait to try them and see the comparison with the KYB cartridge kit.
Really looking forward to your review ! Do you run a stock shock with these forks ?

Cheers
CarlinoJoeVideo
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CarlinoJoeVideo 7/4/2019 1:02am
7/4/2019 1:02am
Craig_Whitfield wrote:
I’ve done it. I’ve ordered my Xact pro forks. I should have them next week just in time for my national race. I can’t wait to...
I’ve done it. I’ve ordered my Xact pro forks. I should have them next week just in time for my national race. I can’t wait to try them and see the comparison with the KYB cartridge kit.
Baton Rouge wrote:
Really looking forward to your review ! Do you run a stock shock with these forks ?

Cheers
I’ve been testing stock vs the next Super Trax Shock. Right now I prefer the stock shock with stock valving.

But I’m going to get the Trax shock revalved again softer and it should be good!

Personally I think they Old Trax system is more noticeable then the new one. But it is cool on the new one that you can adjust it.
1
Craig_Whitfield 7/4/2019 2:34am
7/4/2019 2:34am
Craig_Whitfield wrote:
I’ve done it. I’ve ordered my Xact pro forks. I should have them next week just in time for my national race. I can’t wait to...
I’ve done it. I’ve ordered my Xact pro forks. I should have them next week just in time for my national race. I can’t wait to try them and see the comparison with the KYB cartridge kit.
Baton Rouge wrote:
Really looking forward to your review ! Do you run a stock shock with these forks ?

Cheers
I’ve actually got a KYB A kit rear shock. I picked this up for an absolute bargain that was used twice.

The rear shock is absolutely amazing.
2
Craig_Whitfield 7/4/2019 2:42am
7/4/2019 2:42am
Craig_Whitfield wrote:
I’ve done it. I’ve ordered my Xact pro forks. I should have them next week just in time for my national race. I can’t wait to...
I’ve done it. I’ve ordered my Xact pro forks. I should have them next week just in time for my national race. I can’t wait to try them and see the comparison with the KYB cartridge kit.
Baton Rouge wrote:
Really looking forward to your review ! Do you run a stock shock with these forks ?

Cheers
CarlinoJoeVideo wrote:
I’ve been testing stock vs the next Super Trax Shock. Right now I prefer the stock shock with stock valving. But I’m going to get the...
I’ve been testing stock vs the next Super Trax Shock. Right now I prefer the stock shock with stock valving.

But I’m going to get the Trax shock revalved again softer and it should be good!

Personally I think they Old Trax system is more noticeable then the new one. But it is cool on the new one that you can adjust it.
I’d love the Trax shock but couldn’t part with the KYB system. Probably a strange combination I’ve got going for cone valves up front and kyb to the rear but I’m going to test the stock rear shock and make a decision. It will be interesting to see.

Again tho, the kyb A kit rear shock is amazing. Very very good
ben5020
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ben5020 7/5/2019 6:46am
7/5/2019 6:46am Edited Date/Time 7/5/2019 6:47am
Craig_Whitfield wrote:
I’ve done it. I’ve ordered my Xact pro forks. I should have them next week just in time for my national race. I can’t wait to...
I’ve done it. I’ve ordered my Xact pro forks. I should have them next week just in time for my national race. I can’t wait to try them and see the comparison with the KYB cartridge kit.
Baton Rouge wrote:
Really looking forward to your review ! Do you run a stock shock with these forks ?

Cheers
Craig_Whitfield wrote:
I’ve actually got a KYB A kit rear shock. I picked this up for an absolute bargain that was used twice. The rear shock is absolutely...
I’ve actually got a KYB A kit rear shock. I picked this up for an absolute bargain that was used twice.

The rear shock is absolutely amazing.
Are you the guy that out bid me on eBay about a year ago Sad
Craig_Whitfield 7/5/2019 10:58am
7/5/2019 10:58am
Baton Rouge wrote:
Really looking forward to your review ! Do you run a stock shock with these forks ?

Cheers
Craig_Whitfield wrote:
I’ve actually got a KYB A kit rear shock. I picked this up for an absolute bargain that was used twice. The rear shock is absolutely...
I’ve actually got a KYB A kit rear shock. I picked this up for an absolute bargain that was used twice.

The rear shock is absolutely amazing.
ben5020 wrote:
Are you the guy that out bid me on eBay about a year ago Sad
No dude, I got mine of a friend who didn’t want it anymore. I’m in the UK to. I paid £750 for mine. Very cheap
mx317
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mx317 7/5/2019 2:45pm
7/5/2019 2:45pm
erik_94COBRA wrote:
Hopefully have some feedback tomorrow. :woohoo: [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2019/07/05/358403/s1200_20190705_162919.jpg[/img]
Hopefully have some feedback tomorrow. Woohoo


I'm drooling right now
2
Craig_Whitfield 7/5/2019 3:51pm
7/5/2019 3:51pm
erik_94COBRA wrote:
Hopefully have some feedback tomorrow. :woohoo: [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2019/07/05/358403/s1200_20190705_162919.jpg[/img]
Hopefully have some feedback tomorrow. Woohoo


Holy smokes Woohoo I can’t wait to get mine now!!

I might receive mine tomorrow depending on my suspension Guy.
3
erik_94COBRA
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erik_94COBRA 7/9/2019 3:42pm
7/9/2019 3:42pm
A preliminary update: Got to ride this weekend on the new setup. Didn't have sag set just right, so balance was just a bit off and the track I was riding is more sandy and loose than what I like to use for testing. After adjusting many times, I got pretty close to the balance I was looking for, but that track just wasn't the best test bed.

However, a few things really stood out:
Soaking up rough areas - bumps seem to disappear when above a certain speed. I asked to have mine set slightly more to control than comfort, and they seem to provide exactly this.
Jumps - Really impressive damping when landing short or long, or for things unexpected. I could literally slam into anything and the forks would just soak it up. Ridiculously good.
Corner feel - head and shoulders above the stock AERs, even with balance not quite where I wanted.

In short, very happy with the setup so far and expect it to get better. I'm basically having to learn how to ride the bike again since it doesn't do strange or painful things anymore. Will ride again this weekend on some actual dirt and update.
2
blaze 57
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blaze 57 7/9/2019 8:23pm
7/9/2019 8:23pm Edited Date/Time 7/9/2019 8:25pm
sgrimmxdad wrote:
We went with the Sphere kit too, the KYB conversion wasn't available at the time, and my son loves them. I would do the Sphere kit...
We went with the Sphere kit too, the KYB conversion wasn't available at the time, and my son loves them. I would do the Sphere kit again without hesitation!
Baton Rouge wrote:
I’m amazed by the amount of positive review we got on these sphere cartridges. Maybe i will go that route too. Is the bottoming resistance as...
I’m amazed by the amount of positive review we got on these sphere cartridges. Maybe i will go that route too. Is the bottoming resistance as good as the CV or KYB ?

Thx
I have both Sphere's and KYB's and about the same when it comes to bottoming resistance. Prefer the Sphere's everywhere else but they are very close when set up right. When I bought these Sphere's they were back ordered and took about two months to get them but worth the wait.
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Turbojez
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Turbojez 7/10/2019 4:38am
7/10/2019 4:38am
Can anyone confirm, that the new CVs have steel lower tubes and are just hard chromed?
I think it's the only A-kit level suspension without the trick coatings. Makes no sense to me unless they're aluminum.
1

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