Suspension Rebuild vs Revalve

Id suggest studying suspension tuning. I think most of your problems can be corrected with that. Learn what to change when the bike kicks. Like if the rear kicks your compression is too high or your rebound is too fast.

The shock, just like the forks require regular maintenance and fluid changes. It should be way past the needed maintenance time.

Paw Paw

Most suspension shops will advise suspension servicing every 20 hours on your fork and shock to keep them in tip top condition. At the very minimum suspension should be rebuilt every 40 hours or once a year (depending on what comes first)

From the sounds of it a good suspension service front and rear will no doubt make your bike feel better. If you are a casual rider and generally happy with your bike then no a re-valve is probably not necessary. And if you were to go for a re-valve then yes, you will want to get both the forks and shock done at the same time.

Start with a full service, then see how it feels. Continue to play with sag settings, fork height, clickers etc. If you still aren't happy with the general feel and ride quality of the bike then the next step would be a re-valve.
The 'Race Tech Suspension Bible' is a great book for learning the ins and outs of suspension.

Those psf forks are pretty good stock, but can be better when tuned. To this day, they are one of my riders fav setups. I did not add any special components to get him happy, although there are some aftermarket mid valves that work well. It really depends on your budget.
The shock was tuned, and we never changed valving at subsequent service intervals. He ran a link on the rear of that bike, and said it was a good add on. Currently, I'm using a modded sdi mid valve on a 13 for a fast desert rider, and that same shock valving.

With our setup, we ran fork clickers at 11c 18r and 32psi. The shock was 13c 14r 1.75hc 5.2kg. He was 155 to 160lb.

CK312 wrote:

Let me just start off by saying, I am very green to suspension.
Beyond messing with clickers here and there, I have never done ...more

CK312 wrote:

Let me just start off by saying, I am very green to suspension.
Beyond messing with clickers here and there, I have never done much to really upgrade the suspension in any way.

I have a 2013 KX450 with the PSF forks, and never really had any major complaints with them until just recently when I blew a seal. 1st time since I have had them actually. Anyway, I am now looking to get my forks rebuilt or maybe a revalve..
My question is, given they are air forks and easily manipulated, would it even make sense to do a revalve on them at this point with out any big complaints on my end or should I just go with the rebuild back to stock specs?

Also, If I am sending the forks in, should I get the shock done as well? the shock I have never had any "major" complaints with either, but it does make the bike feel like it sits high at times and can cause it to kick or not settle in turns.
Does it make sense to just rebuild the forks and revalve the shock? or is that counterproductive and keep things unbalanced?

I'm 6' 190, im a weekend warrior, who has fun racing here and there, love riding but not looking to drop $700+ on suspension right now.

Any insight is greatly appreciated!!

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I would recommend just a service front AND rear to start. For the shock get a low friction band (mx tech and SDI makes them), but with that new band and fresh oil and nitro it will feel SO much better. It's cost effective and a noticeable difference. There's my two cents for what it's worth..

RussB wrote:

Most suspension shops will advise suspension servicing every 20 hours on your fork and shock to keep them in tip top ...more

RussB wrote:

Most suspension shops will advise suspension servicing every 20 hours on your fork and shock to keep them in tip top condition. At the very minimum suspension should be rebuilt every 40 hours or once a year (depending on what comes first)

From the sounds of it a good suspension service front and rear will no doubt make your bike feel better. If you are a casual rider and generally happy with your bike then no a re-valve is probably not necessary. And if you were to go for a re-valve then yes, you will want to get both the forks and shock done at the same time.

Start with a full service, then see how it feels. Continue to play with sag settings, fork height, clickers etc. If you still aren't happy with the general feel and ride quality of the bike then the next step would be a re-valve.
The 'Race Tech Suspension Bible' is a great book for learning the ins and outs of suspension.

...more

+2.

When I first started riding I didn't know any better on what good suspension is suppose to feel like. The more you ride & experiment with clickers & sag the more you will learn. For now a refresh is more than likely over due for both the shock & forks. As Russ suggested a good rule of thumb for an experienced rider 20-25 hrs is a good service interval. A less experienced rider that doesn't push the bike hard can generally get 40-50 hrs. of time between suspension service intervals.