Out of the box, for off-road use, I didn't see the need to re-valve the suspension on my
2008 KTM 450 XCR-W. It felt plush where it needed to be, settled in the rocks & roots and just never did anything goofy. Essentially, I was perfectly happy.
Late last month, Alan Stillwell of
Stillwell Performance said that I needed to let him work his magic on my boingers, that it would feel like a new machine. Alan tunes for
Shane Watts among others, so I figured there might be some improvements to be had.
Over last weekend, I finally got the chance to shake it down on a cool & very wet day at
Rampart Range.
Now, impressions of a suspension re-valves are pretty subjective things and often times it's difficult at best to really communicate the before and after differences. None the less, I'll do my best.
1. The bike felt more lively and positive, responding to my inputs more accurately. The bike just seemed to go where I wanted it to more quickly. Mind you, riding season starts late here in Denver, so this was even with a little rust on the skills. I was quickly ripping a long with boosted confidence.
2. Jumping downhill off the tops of whoops, the bike still felt very plush and while I wondered if the folk was going to blow through the stroke and bottom out abruptly, this didn't happen. Very plush, progressive and controlled compression and rebound.
3. On a numbers of loops at Rampart, there are some nasty, close together, fairly deep stutter bumps. Before this revalve, the bike seemed to buck pretty good, even though it tracked straight. Now the bike stays on top of the bumps better, noticeably smoothing out the ride. If you're on the tired side, this is a welcome improvement.
4. Despite being soaked to the bone, a bit on the cold side and still getting back into the swing of things after winter, after hours of riding, I had good energy and felt pretty fresh. I had blasted the deep puddles, pounded plenty of whoops and did lots of turning. I can't say I've been hitting the gym hard of late nor eating like a health food nut, so I'm going to have to give some points to the re-valve here.
Knowing what I know now, I'd have re-valved the suspension the day I got the bike. Not that riding it before sucked or anything, it's just a better bike now. So, while I've had thoughts of selling my bike the last couple of months, after my ride on Saturday, I'm keeping it. Nice job Alan. I'm impressed.
What was done?
Basic revalve with springs (no GV's/no bladder conversion) as follows:
- Fork springs $110 (only if needed)
- Shock spring $160 (progressive-always change to this unless it is an MX application)
- Revalve forks $225
- Revalve fork mid-valve $50 (needed on KTM's)
- Revalve shock $225
Total $ 770.00
New oil, nitrogen, cleaned, etc. Set the bike up for your weight, ability, riding areas (i.e. off road), valving was
4 stroke specific. GV's and bladder will make an for additional 30-40% plusher ride....
http://www.stillwellperformance.com
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