I finally had the chance to take the KLX out in the real woods. I took it into the adirondacks in NY. It was logging trails, off road mud trails, etc. I noticed the rear suspension sucks on the bike. I felt every single bump, etc. I took some air out of the tires so that it did not bounce as bad off the rocks.

Ive seen a few chats that said, you must uncork the suspension? Whats that? Also I am looking at upgrading to the big bore kit. I want a lot more low end torque and overall power. I used gears 1-3 on the bike, it did well but I wish I had more performance but I like how light the bike is...?

Read Suspension mods? Help.

 

hey klxhunter.. i hate the suspension too.. I weigh 225 lbs.. I left the forks alone (12 clicks counterclockwise) and set the rear damping at 13 clicks counterclockwise (decreased by 1) and set the rear rebound at 15 clicks counterclockwise (increased by1) --- seemed to help a bit for bumpy woods riding.

Hope this helps.

 

IN the desert, we have more rocky hits than anything else, except sand that covers rocks. The front's high-speed compression action is the 09's weakest point. I went with Pro-Action front revalving/respringing, and the same for the rear shock....local guy did it at a great price. There are many other possibilities, if you are truly looking for better performance...if you just want to tinker with what you have on the stock settings, well, good luck!

 

Mate, you have the wrong bike if you're wanting good suspension performance. Have you at least got the correct springs for your weight and riding style? Use Racetech's calculator. - click on the "Calculate Spring Rates and Display Available Springs" at the top of the page.

Once you have the correct springs you can dial out the compression damping (counter-clockwise turns of the clicker) so the compression damping is softer and you don't feel as much feedback from the road. The forks don't have rebound damping so there is nothing to play with there (once you have found the compression settings you like) but you can play with the rear rebound too.

Hint - when playing with the clickers, make large setting changes at first (4 or 5 clicks at a time) so you can really feel the difference and know which direction you are happier with. Then make 2 click adjustments to fine tune it.

 

I hope that you meant to say that the forks have no rebound damping ADJUSTMENT.

Ride on
Brewster

 

How much do you weigh?

Ride on
Brewster

 

Yeah, sorry, you're right. They have damping, but no adjustments.

 

I did the Race Tech Gold Valve revalving in both the fork and the shock, and it transformed the bike...especially the fork. Most find the rear shock to be adequate but find the fork to be horrid in stock condition. The fork's compression piston doesn't flow enough oil IMO to be effective at all for any serious riding. Revalving the fork and shock yields a very smooth and balanced suspension action that is miles ahead of the stock setup. It cost a few bucks to get the springs and valving right, but the result is worth it IMO. Some might say that it's too much money to spend on a KLX, but I notice many owners of bikes costing $8000 or thereabouts need their high dollar steeds revalved also. I would not want to ride my KLX or any other dirt bike off road in anything very serious without proper valving.

 

fork valves do make a big diff

 

In lieu of re-valving, has anyone tried using thicker fork oil or changing the oil volume? I think my 07 could use a little firming up. It is basically stock & I am 170#, so I think the springs are very close.