Several of us here in the PNW crew have been testing specially designed progressive fork springs on the 50MM TC zokes with excellent results. We now have these for retail and they do an amazing job at making good forks GREAT. For woods work they are amazing. Email me if you have an interest in these. Thanks, Kelly Motosportz
That is interesting. Depending on how my fork bleed works after I test on the trail, this is something I could definitely be interested in. Thanks! Andy
I have been testing some of those progressive springs Kelly is talking about. Using stock valving on Shane's 09 wr125 and my 08 TXC250, the only other change was to 5w fork oil. That was a mistake, but seems to work just fine. I tried two different sets in my TXC with the second set (.40-.48) being a bit stiffer. I love them. They are plush initially but resist bottoming well. The first set (.38-.46) was a bit too plush, they absorbed everything but didn't leave much room for adjustment as the clicker settings for trails were stiffer than I was running before for MX. With the sock setup (.48 I believe) I was running with the compression clickers completely backed out on trails and it still beat me up a bit at anything less than race pace. On Shane's 125 (.36-.42) they were a huge improvement over stock. I didn't even tell him I did it. The only thing he noticed was his hands didn't hurt anymore after riding for a while. He has fairly major hand problems so this is a big improvement. I like a lot of flexibility in my suspension, I can go from MX or AX to a hare scramble or trail ride in the same weekend. Knowing I can change the clickers a bit and have a setup that is confidence inspiring helps a ton. Later,
The difference on my WR was huge. I can't be sure how much was the springs and how much was the lighter weight oil yet as both changes were made at the same time but the combination is great for trail riding. My settings are a bit soft for the track and I will try to report back another time on how much is the spring and how much is the oil but if you just need it fixed NOW like I did do them both and ride happy. There is a ton less deflection off of roots and rocks which can be a bit of an issue with such a light bike and the feeling of someone smacking your handlebars with a hammer while you are riding is just gone. -Shane
Kelly, How difficult was it to work the air out of the inner chamber? Any tricks we need to use when changing out all the oil? I am probably going to wait till spring to do any major changes. Need to work on the size of my gut first. Walt
Hey Walt, I don't think Kelly has had his own apart... If I had people begging to do suspension work for me I probably wouldn't either. I did mine and Shane's, the fork bleed procedure is not difficult if you follow the directions from Ron at Marzocci. Use the pictures in the Dirtrider article but ignore the words. Both of ours had air in them from the factory. Fork bleeding instructions... Later,
Thanks Jake. I don't know if I can get it done before I leave for down South with my right arm in a cast until late next week. I am going to be riding with a wrist splint for the next 6 weeks or so. I fractured my wrist in early December and have been just living with it thinking I had a nasty sprain or seperation. OOPS. Walt
