Help picking the right suspension tuner

From your description it sounds like Terry Hay and Frank Pons versions. I could be wrong. I have a lot of confidence in Frank's work, so much that I'm a repeat customer many times over, and have facilitated his work down here for many people over the years. If you want a test track too, which I recommend, pm me, Frank is coming to my place in a few weeks to do suspension work, and he offers a better deal down here than in the shop.

If you follow this thread and look for mine and nolana posts you'll get some more info.

http://www.husaberg.org/index.php?name= ... sc&start=0

I know also that among others, as well as nolana, pids, cafey18 and MEDOGROCKET have had their bergs setup by Frank

I still have 1 or 2 spots available if you are keen, pm me, or call, 6453 3360.

Steve

I'm about 25 km from Cooma, about 4 hrs south of Sydney. A fair drive, but make a weekend of it.

Steve

I know Frank has consistently stated that the progressives are a problem. Iin the past when progressives were standard, RaceTech recommened SR, and now that SR is standard, progressives are their recommendation. Frank has identified that Gold Valves have their place, but are uneccessary in modern WP forks, as the standard valves flow fine, just need the shims to suit. It can be interpreted that RaceTech recommendations can be a lot about marketing. Good products, just not ALWAYS necessary.

I seem to recall that people have had good results with progressives, but there does seem to be a weight threshold, ie lighter riders can get them to work, heavier riders need sr. Whatever spring you get though, you need to make sure the shock is valved to suit.

Steve

bowser said:

I have a 09 FE45o, i'm 6ft and 90kg and about 100kg (220lb) in bike gear and want to get my bike revalved and resprung for my weight, riding style and conditions i ride at. I have spoken to 2 reputable suspension tuners in Sydney (i'm in Newcastle) and both have conflicting ideas on what will work best.

Tuner 1: 0.46 front spring, progressive rear spring, gold valves, adjust shim stack, fit KX450 fork seals. also fit spacer in rear to lower it a bit (apparently it helps) he has a track that you can ride at and he watches you before making any adjustments. Then fits the new gear, sets it up for you and watches you ride again and fine tunes it some more. only rear internet reviews of his work. he tells me he has done a lot of KTM's and also a heap of the newer Bergs WP's.

Tuner 2: 0.46 front spring, linear rear spring (claims not suited to this bike WP work best with linear rear spring), no gold valves (they are not suited to this bike according to him), std fork seals, no test track or watching you ride. Guy who races at work highly recommends this tuner. tells me he has a lot of experience with KTM's and also the newer bergs WP's.

both are around $900, my riding is basically in the bush, fire trails, rocky hill climbs, table drain jumps etc. My riding style is about mid class (not pro or a amateur). Have good tires fitted and also a scotts dampner. I found i can't get the right sag and bike suffers head shake and bad deflection.

which tuner sounds the best?
which rear spring, progressive or linear?

thanks guys

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Personally based on my experience with Javier @ Trailtricks(the best BTW),Factory Connection,MXTech service work I have had done here in the states Tuner #2 is on the money.

Frankly Tuner#1 is pushing parts not needed. The issue with WP forks is the sloppy machined surfaces and tolerances of suspension internals and fork legs(pre09). The new stuff is vastly improved and in your case I would change springs to get SAG correct with little amount of preload and play with clickers. Unless you race competitively you may not benefit from shim/valving changes so why spend money not required?

steve said:

I know Frank has consistently stated that the progressives are a problem. Iin the past when progressives were standard, RaceTech recommened SR, and now that SR is standard, progressives are their recommendation. Frank has identified that Gold Valves have their place, but are uneccessary in modern WP forks, as the standard valves flow fine, just need the shims to suit. It can be interpreted that RaceTech recommendations can be a lot about marketing. Good products, just not ALWAYS necessary.

I seem to recall that people have had good results with progressives, but there does seem to be a weight threshold, ie lighter riders can get them to work, heavier riders need sr. Whatever spring you get though, you need to make sure the shock is valved to suit.

Steve

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terry hay once told me that the progressives are better but they made them all wrong. so maybe you either work around the wrong spring or work around the wrong spring!

regards

Taffy

talk to both

go with the one who communicates with you in a way you think is most compatable with your needs

they both have very good technical reputations

sometimes the communication side of things is overlooked

pretty sure terrys BVs for these forks have smaller ports not larger as is usually the case with GVs.

generally the opinion is that these forks don't need bigger ports so don't need Gvs but the smaller ones i made are nice.

all things being equal there is an advantage in having smaller ports but with 2 different tuners all things won't be equal so the bike with stock valves might peform better nobody knows really.

on the springs no spring is ever really straight rate they all start out soft and get stiffer in rate but some progress differently to others

I like my straight rate ohlins spring in my old 08 frame. the WP straight rate springs measure softer initially and feel lumpy as they ramp up their rate. WP progressives are even more lumpy

a really high quality progressive could be smoother through the stroke than a straight rate WP but ive not seen or tried a RT progressive.

the general theory argument for straight rates is that the PDS rebound system can't handle the non linear increase in energy as the spring is compressed further. you can get around that IMHO and its a mute point really when straight rates are not straight rates at all. its more the lumpy progression that I don't like.

bottom line is it doesn't matter who does the work as long as you get olong with them really well it'l work out in the end.

their parts/oils etc are very expensive

no experience with their new springs or bladder conversions the different diameter coils should be good

give them a go I guess, let us know how they go