TE/TC AER fork discussion

I've done a set for a friend. He bought all the special sockets form Rocky Mountian ATV and new seals. They are pretty straight forward forks. If someone put a gun to my head and said I had to run air forks or die I'd pick AER 48s. If you've done KYBs or pretty much any fork you'll be able to handle doing them.

The AER is an easy DIY re-valve. I am on about revision 5 and each one has been an improvement. Very easy and takes less than 10 minutes with forks on bike. It improved the root and rock compliance while letting me run more pressure to keep the fork up in the stroke for big log hits. I can post more info if anyone is interested. Rev 1 cost $5 and used parts fiche shims from dealer. My tools are all home made. Cam.

Don't hold back, what do you really think about air forks?

The problem with air forks is if you're a big guy and very far outside the average guy window of 5'10' 165 lbs then you have to increase the air pressure which is no different than preloading a spring. If you have to go too far it stacks just like preloading a weak spring. The solution would be to make the fork tube bigger so you could have a bigger air chamber. Of course no manufacturer is going to do that so I'll have to stick with a spring fork. I will admit that the Husky I rode with the AER48 forks felt really light up front, I got more feedback on the little stuff but not in a bad way just different. For me KYB has them all beat.

OK I will admit (to Fletch especially) for my pre race 2019 Tecate enduro my local suspension guy is installing NK696s WP spring cartridge kit into my AER48 fork, (NK696 has WP cone valve WP factory stuff for 2020) so I have a more old guy plush for the long rock filled single tracks of the Tecate Enduro. And no I do not dislike the AER48s they are great racing forks it's the fact that when I go in the 95% mode they are brilliant and very safe. It's just when I get into the long test enduro mode I'm at 75% mostly and for those really ugly sections meaning slow bounce spine compressors/trials type stuff My suspension is a little on the stiff side. I asked S101 George Spinali, Suspension 101 for a more plush old school enduro set up. So it goes like this.
The shortest possible fork spring with a spacers to keep weight mass down combined with the WP Spring kit/cartridge, probably a .48 spring rate (still don't know) with a ported valve and some Belleville washer type valve stack S101 magic and base valve anti bottoming set up with midvalve direct external preload adjustment. Out back we are doing a bigger bleed on comp and for now sticking with my 48N/mm single rate WP spring, with the option of using a progressive rate spring ( 3 different ones on order). Testing will commence asap. All my AER48 components will be kept intact if I want to reuse install.

I feel nervous about relenting...….but I am keeping this bike into the 2020 season so a new setup feels well....like a new bike and plus I'm pushing into my 59th year =OLD.
This is the only bike in forever that I have not done any suspension mods to other than spring/air pressure rate changes. So here we go!!! See picture this is the WP factory kit we are installing, PS I got the Italian compadre (goombah) discount on the system that retails for about @$700.

For Fletch the weight of the system according to WP is 6lbs!! We will cut that by using a short spring with a plastic/PVC pipe spacer with very very little preload, just enough to prevent (my dreaded) spring rattles!! BTW NK696 is Noah Kepple.
factory Connection says the kit (theirs which is basically the same thing) adds 2.8 (3 lbs)

My l

My local KTM suspension guru lowered the oil level in the air side and added a slightly heavier oil to the "inner chamber". That made a huge difference on my AERs. No more harshness in the upper stroke and it sill stays high in the stroke. Even with the comp turned out double what i had it at when I brought them in.

So did he also revalve for the heavier oil?

It seems like someone would mod an AER fork to have both a light spring and an air chamber with lower pressure. It would have a wide range of adjustability but getting the initial spring rate figured out might take some engineering.

Suspension 101 did some funky work to the internals , I will try to get some insight. But suffice it say no mater how light my comp is the thing never bottoms it just cushions at the max stroke. It's really really good.....