I finished the fork Gold Valve conversion to match the rear Race Tech mod. I spent this weekend riding what is almost always considered the toughest enduro course on the entire Texas state enduro circuit at Ross Creek. We're preparing to put on our annual circuit enduro the end of this month. This place has rocks, ledges, rocks, ruts, rocks, up, down, and...did I mention rocks?

You know...I expected some improvement on both ends of my '06 KLX250 with these mods, but honestly I came away from this weekend's ride somewhat amazed. I would go through a particularly rocky, ledgy, uphill with the bike tracking straight and true with unbelieveably consistent traction. In turns with ruts and rocks, the front and rear would never get knocked off line to any unnerving degree. Our KLX's are a bit heavier than most real competition models obviously, but these suspension mods concealed that extra poundage extremely well. Heavier bikes really show their weight in braking bumps, and my KLX was so well behaved in those situations that it was almost spooky. In all the rougher places, I kept waiting for the rug to be pulled out from under me, but it never happened. I have gotten to ride some of the other club members Honda 450's, KTM 400/450's, and a couple of others in recent times. I can honestly and with a straight face say that I think the overall control of my somewhat antiquated KLX is very on par with the best of their bikes with these mods. No...that doesn't take the lighter weight or the greater power of those bikes away as their obvious advantage, but the results of these mods on this little KLX was unexpectedly at another level.

I would recommend these mods, or similar mods from some of the excellent aftermarket folks out there, to anyone with a KLX250/300. The resulting off road suspension performance is truly remarkable.

 

Thanks TNC,
Can you tell me what fork springs you are using and what weight you are packing.
I am just about to do my forks and would appreciate the heads up.

 

Once you've experienced much improved suspension, ya gotta wonder why so many folks go for a new exhaust system first.

Ride on
Brewster

 

I'm using .44 Race Tech fork springs and a 6.0 Eibach rear spring. I'm 185 pounds nekkid.

Since Race Tech shows nothing for the '06-'07 250, I went with just about everything rated for an '06 KLX300...which all interchanges with the 250 fork and shock. Now, the RT rear spring suggestion was a 5.8 for me, but I didn't like the stock 5.8...too soft IMO. The 250 is heavier than the 300, and I carry a pretty heavily laden 100oz. Camelback. Add a few tools and such for the more epic rides, and the 6.0 spring made more sense. It turns out the 6.0 spring was perfect for me. The Eibach and RT rear shock spring is 15mm taller than the OEM 250 spring, but this isn't a problem.

The RT shim stacks in the shock and forks were much more extensive than the minimal OEM shims. The Gold Valve stack actually has 3 compression stacks...low, mid, high...and two rebound stacks. I think a lot of the magic is in the Gold Valve itself which allows enough oil to flow properly to let these improved shim stacks do their magic. Even the guy at Moto Pro told me that the fork and shock both have main valves/pistons that don't flow enough oil for high shaft speed hits. What sometimes felt like a bottomout was really a high shaft speed compression spike.

Like I said, on the parts selection I just got the suggested kits for a KLX300. I went with the suggested fork spring rate but went up one level on the rear spring. I notice the valve kits were also the same part numbers for KDX 200/220's and some mid-90's KX's...with different springs, of course.

 

Cool , thanks.
Mine is an 09. I was looking on Ebay but couldn't find a whole lot.