The Internet can be a frustrating place to find simple answers.
The point of this post is to help any fellow South African Dr650 riders who are not happy with their suspension BUT don't have a lot of money to throw at the problem.
First a little back story on my particular pig.
My Bike is a 2010 model and the previous owner was in a fatal accident on it in 2014. He apparently hit a curb and went flying into a wall.
So bike then sat in a garage for almost 7 years till my mate bought it ,as it is in this photo, in 2020. Both rims were trashed in the accident and a few parts were missing but the bike started and ran. So he took a chance.
Due to the nature of the accident it was in, we always suspected that maybe the forks were damaged, but after sending the forks in for a service with ShockLogic in JHB they confirmed all looked ok.
FASTFORWARD>>>> bike became mine after my mate generously gave it to me when my DR350 got stolen.
Since the forks were serviced by shock logics i have done about 6000km on them. They are certainly not as good as my DR350's forks but despite this i have done many many many dirt km's.
But slowly I have become very tired of the violent jolting and unpredictable barely controllable feeling in the front end when on a dirt road traveling between 60 to 80km/h. Sure I can bend my elbows and knees more and stand a lot to make it manageable, but i have reached the conclusion i need to do something to help it out abit.
Like with alot of things in life money is the deciding factor in what can be done, so I did some research.
1. Full front end from another bike (WR450 or DRZ400 or similar) - approx 5k.
2. Progressive Springs and fork service from Superfoxi - R4750
3. MP Suspension Progressive Springs 4.8-6.5N/mm – R2400.00 incl set
4. Cartridge Emulators from MP suspension - R1500.00 set.
5. PVC spacers or Preload adjustable caps - Cant find caps locally but this is by far the cheapest option.
Obviously each of these options will give different results and each option will have additional costs , especially option 1.
So i decided to take a very conservative approach and spend as little as possible as see if i can get a result that will keep me smilling and stop that horrific jolting feeling i get on every rut and pothole.
SIDENOTE --- The DR fork spring rates are basically for a 70kg rider. I currently wheigh 95 with out gear and i have the 18litre IMS tank so i know that i am overwhelming the front end and that a lighter rider may have a more pleasurable ride. But its no secret that the stock suspension sucks regardless of your wheight.
So i ordered the Emulators from MP and decided to take the very lazy incremental approach to see exactly what makes the most difference.
THE PLAN:
Step 1. Simply remove fork caps and spacers and springs and drop the emulators in as i got them and see what changes.
Step 2. Change fork oil (as its due and I don't actually know what weight oil Shock logic put in at last service)
Step 3. Drill the damper rod holes bigger as advised by MP suspension and all other emulator manufactures
HOW THE PLAN HAS GONE SO FAR:
Step 1.
My thinking with this strep was that even if the emulators cant function to their full potential due to the holes not yet being drilled they can potentially still act like 1inch spacers as the install instructions actually say that one must cut the OEM spacer too compensate for the emulator.
So, the right fork leg was dead simple opened up dropped emulator in and reinstalled the cap which was obviously abit harder than usual as the preload was not going to be higher. Anymy way right side was so easy I though LEKERRRR im gonna be done here in 15 min then a test ride.
HA HA HA , As we all know small jobs never go like this. I opened up the left fork leg removed everything and dropped the emulator in and....... it wouldn't go in further than 3 cm. WTF! On closer inspection there seemed to be "rust" or hard fork oil gunk on the inside of the wall of the fork tube. I suspect that this is from the 7 years of sitting in a garage ?
Anyway i had no clue how bet to solve this so tried a few things and eventually an hour later the emulator slid down into the bottom.
THE TEST RIDE:
This all happened last night and so this morning was the test ride on my bumpy forest road to work, where i know every pump and rut and how violent the jolt is from each one quite well. If you have ever played with your suspension you will know that its hard to be sure of anything after a while cause it starts to feel like a mind game....
BUT a few things happened on my ride that i am pretty certain of.
1. The big ruts that I normally feel jolting were certainly less jolting.
Not gone like I'm in a hovercraft but certainly more bounce than jolt.
2. The particularly bumpy sections where I generally feel like I'm on the verge of loosing control I felt waay more confident in, like my front wheel was more in contact with the ground than before.
3. The one change I did not anticipate. - I was able to steer the bike where i wanted it to go regardless of the terrain!!
Im only one ride into STEP 1. But so far im glad with what has been achieved.
If you have read my story till here.
Thanks, I hope it is informative.
I will update as i go for those interested.
The point of this post is to help any fellow South African Dr650 riders who are not happy with their suspension BUT don't have a lot of money to throw at the problem.
First a little back story on my particular pig.
My Bike is a 2010 model and the previous owner was in a fatal accident on it in 2014. He apparently hit a curb and went flying into a wall.
So bike then sat in a garage for almost 7 years till my mate bought it ,as it is in this photo, in 2020. Both rims were trashed in the accident and a few parts were missing but the bike started and ran. So he took a chance.
Due to the nature of the accident it was in, we always suspected that maybe the forks were damaged, but after sending the forks in for a service with ShockLogic in JHB they confirmed all looked ok.
FASTFORWARD>>>> bike became mine after my mate generously gave it to me when my DR350 got stolen.
Since the forks were serviced by shock logics i have done about 6000km on them. They are certainly not as good as my DR350's forks but despite this i have done many many many dirt km's.
But slowly I have become very tired of the violent jolting and unpredictable barely controllable feeling in the front end when on a dirt road traveling between 60 to 80km/h. Sure I can bend my elbows and knees more and stand a lot to make it manageable, but i have reached the conclusion i need to do something to help it out abit.
Like with alot of things in life money is the deciding factor in what can be done, so I did some research.
1. Full front end from another bike (WR450 or DRZ400 or similar) - approx 5k.
2. Progressive Springs and fork service from Superfoxi - R4750
3. MP Suspension Progressive Springs 4.8-6.5N/mm – R2400.00 incl set
4. Cartridge Emulators from MP suspension - R1500.00 set.
5. PVC spacers or Preload adjustable caps - Cant find caps locally but this is by far the cheapest option.
Obviously each of these options will give different results and each option will have additional costs , especially option 1.
So i decided to take a very conservative approach and spend as little as possible as see if i can get a result that will keep me smilling and stop that horrific jolting feeling i get on every rut and pothole.
SIDENOTE --- The DR fork spring rates are basically for a 70kg rider. I currently wheigh 95 with out gear and i have the 18litre IMS tank so i know that i am overwhelming the front end and that a lighter rider may have a more pleasurable ride. But its no secret that the stock suspension sucks regardless of your wheight.
So i ordered the Emulators from MP and decided to take the very lazy incremental approach to see exactly what makes the most difference.
THE PLAN:
Step 1. Simply remove fork caps and spacers and springs and drop the emulators in as i got them and see what changes.
Step 2. Change fork oil (as its due and I don't actually know what weight oil Shock logic put in at last service)
Step 3. Drill the damper rod holes bigger as advised by MP suspension and all other emulator manufactures
HOW THE PLAN HAS GONE SO FAR:
Step 1.
My thinking with this strep was that even if the emulators cant function to their full potential due to the holes not yet being drilled they can potentially still act like 1inch spacers as the install instructions actually say that one must cut the OEM spacer too compensate for the emulator.
So, the right fork leg was dead simple opened up dropped emulator in and reinstalled the cap which was obviously abit harder than usual as the preload was not going to be higher. Anymy way right side was so easy I though LEKERRRR im gonna be done here in 15 min then a test ride.
HA HA HA , As we all know small jobs never go like this. I opened up the left fork leg removed everything and dropped the emulator in and....... it wouldn't go in further than 3 cm. WTF! On closer inspection there seemed to be "rust" or hard fork oil gunk on the inside of the wall of the fork tube. I suspect that this is from the 7 years of sitting in a garage ?
Anyway i had no clue how bet to solve this so tried a few things and eventually an hour later the emulator slid down into the bottom.
THE TEST RIDE:
This all happened last night and so this morning was the test ride on my bumpy forest road to work, where i know every pump and rut and how violent the jolt is from each one quite well. If you have ever played with your suspension you will know that its hard to be sure of anything after a while cause it starts to feel like a mind game....
BUT a few things happened on my ride that i am pretty certain of.
1. The big ruts that I normally feel jolting were certainly less jolting.
Not gone like I'm in a hovercraft but certainly more bounce than jolt.2. The particularly bumpy sections where I generally feel like I'm on the verge of loosing control I felt waay more confident in, like my front wheel was more in contact with the ground than before.
3. The one change I did not anticipate. - I was able to steer the bike where i wanted it to go regardless of the terrain!!
Im only one ride into STEP 1. But so far im glad with what has been achieved.
If you have read my story till here.
Thanks, I hope it is informative.
I will update as i go for those interested.
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