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8/27/2006
Location
Acworth, GA
US
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1/18/2019 10:20am
1/18/2019 10:20am
Edited Date/Time
1/20/2019 11:28am
When I rode the suspension was always the hardest part for me. That bottoming out and constant feeing back into your arms causing them to pump up bad made it difficult to ride at times. Sure you could spend 2000 for suspension and I did and it helped.
That got me thinking about a factory bike. Is the suspension like freaking butter? Do you even feel anything?
Also the tires. I put some Dunlop 756rr I believe was the name and the traction was unreal and increased my speed big time but they wore out after a day of riding and got flats all the time.
So between the suspension and tires I would imagine it’s just unreal but wanna know for sure for those that might know how drasticically different suspension feels compared to something most public would buy.
That got me thinking about a factory bike. Is the suspension like freaking butter? Do you even feel anything?
Also the tires. I put some Dunlop 756rr I believe was the name and the traction was unreal and increased my speed big time but they wore out after a day of riding and got flats all the time.
So between the suspension and tires I would imagine it’s just unreal but wanna know for sure for those that might know how drasticically different suspension feels compared to something most public would buy.
Maybe if they all had to run stock it would slow the lap times down a little bit, imo the speeds have gotten to fast
And its causing more severe injuries.
If not suspension than?
What else could slow things down a litte bit ?
I was on an MX track with an SX set-up... so all I really recall was that it was stupid fast with an insanely hard hitting motor and suspension that would only move if I flat landed everything
The Shop
I hadn’t even ridden a heavily modified bike until I was able to build a yz250 from the ground up at the age of 25. When I raced, even at the national level, my dad could only afford one bike so we just raced the stock classes.
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Pit Row
In 2014 we got to buy an Ex Factory 449 Husqvarna SM bike , used by Mauno Hermunen in the WC in 2012, we still have the forks, and brakes off it , full of Ti bolts, handmade frame with adjustable headstock and adjustable clamps, motor had to go back to Zupin to be refreshed as they wouldnt sell the parts , Two factory ECU's with multiple maps with gear sensors and a sound map too. Only 4 built. I scored points on it in the German International class, was fantastic to ride , but my sponsor, wanted abike we could develop and have fun with , and this thing needed fuel putting in and cleaning. He got got offered good money and it went, the new FS450 is much better for me , but it was cool to have a full spec bike for a season.
KR has a similar setup - hard compression in front, soft rebound in rear. It's partially what led to his broken arm. He over jumped into the bottom of the section, the rear fully compressed, rebounded too fast, the forks kept the front high going up the face, and the combination sent him over the bars.
1997 Pro Circuit KX125 (supposedly RC's practice machine, it had the #70 on it and tons of trick parts. Trying to find a pic)
2007 Kyle Lewis CR450
2002 Ty Davis YZ250 (desert)
Various Paul Krause KTM desert machines, from a 125 to a 525 (all mid-2000s).
My brother had an Alessi KX80 practice bike... Nothing special. Suspension, pipe, graphics.
Quite honestly even at my feeble slow pace they all felt good to me except the 525... Which had a very strange rebound feel in the shock. Vague and you'd never know when it was going to kick you into an endo. Could have been a compression issue, it was a long time ago.
The KX is the most memorable. I was only 14 or 15 when I rode it and I can still remember how surprisingly smooth the power was. Pulled bottom to top and was never abrupt. I've never experienced that on any other 125 since. Suspension was good in literally everything, but again I was young and never was fast so it's not really anything to go off of.
Needless to say, I left the track $4000 lighter, with two blue bikes in my truck...
Post a reply to: Ever ridden a factory bike or close to it?