ride height

Many (most?) of the KTM Talk riders run 110-120mm racing sag in their '03 and later KTM's. I personally prefer about 115mm sag on my '04 KTM 525 EXC after having experimented with a variety of sag settings both front an rear. I like the steering and stability that it provides, not to mention the fact that it makes it easier to touch the ground with my feet.

At the behest of **** from ****'s Racing (who serviced my shock), I set my static sag at 37mm for typical off roading. His setting would be 25 mm for mx.

After a few rides, adjusting clickers, etc... I am pleased with this set up. Marginaly better than new - where I set race sag around 90mm.

I reckon if the spring is correct for your weight, then what is to be aimed for is static sag, not race sag.

Bike is an 02 BTW...

Taffy, I'm running 115mm and its ok but I still am learning the new bike. Its sooooo good that I hate to try anything until I can identify a specific problem. I really don't think I have mine broken in yet with only 270 miles and 11 hours. I think that Lee (Fryguy) said that the desert guys like the stability more and thats for sure what I am after if I can control the bottoming and packing. For me the back is not as important as the front for plushness and as long as it don't kick or pack I am ok as long as it doesn't get too twichy ( is that really a word). I am not in the same class as you or Lee so my turns are for the most part at 20- 40 mph and WIDE and they aint tight thats for sure. If I were more moto or tree oriented I may have more worrys as to the steering speed.
I want the front to be plush and comfy on the small stuff so an old fat guy can sitdown but be able to handle the big hits that you don't see coming when the mind wanders or the stray rock that will reach out and send you flying. Corse the Scotts really helps there.
Mine is an 05 stock spring and valving. Just in the ball park at 185 lbs after loosing 40 lbs of blubber.

Hi Gang,

A general rule for all suspensions is 5-10% of travel for static and 25-35% laden, or race. Front and rear. The harder the use, the less race value. Then fine tune to suit. My understanding is that with the PDS 90-100 mm max as the Position of the PDS abbreviation is crucial for damping. Too much sag in the rear will also unload the front and can create a harsh imprecise feeling in the forks, ie stiffen the rear to soften the front.

Works on road and dirt bikes, race and otherwise.

Happy New Year
Steve

The later PDS shocks 03/04 on the KTMs got a top out spring fitted internally- this is probaly what you are referring to Taffy.

Not sure what year the Bergs got them- the top out spring makes the sag a little bit harder to get right.

I know they are shown fitted in the 04 Berg parts book.

Cheers

Taff,

The suspension is a mysterious black hole to me which I wish I knew more about. Because of it I have not touched them since I got the bike except for stiffen all the way - 2 or 3 clicks when I ride the dunes, soften all the way +2 or 3 clicks when riding the hard stuff. When speaking with others about suspension mods I hear the same thing over and over, "This is the best money ever spent, I never knew.....(fill in rest of conversation here)". I have been told on a few occasions that an investment on the forks and shock through a reputable specialist is best investment and worth its weight in gold. After some snooping around I have my eye on Dicks Racing and would love to send my parts out for a full tune and let the pro do it. I would love to know more about these but after looking at an exploded diagram of the fork and knowing absolutely zero about them, it is obvious to me that this is out of my realm of tinkering with. I don't know anything other than what I have been riding for the past couple of years so I have nothing to compare it to. Splat once offered to let me take his bike for a ride after he had it serviced by **** but I never got a chance. I have just started to get the itch to dive into a jetting project on my bike for the first time and after a few months of messing with carburation will try my hand at suspension. Seems a bit more friendly to do jetting than mess with shim stacks, oil levels and weights, and seals to me. I am always reading these posts to see what others are doing and learn from them, I will be following this to see what you find but I don't have much input for you on this.... interesting read though.

Regards,

Taff,

Just finished breezing through the H & S part of the document and all I could think was, "Wow, where did all this info come from and why haven't I kept up with the game?" There is alot of good info in there and would give someone who has pulled a fork apart a time or two some good stuff to work with. I was a little overwhelmed with most of the info, good stuff though. I will have to do some more reading up on this and learn the area before unbolting my forks and putting them in a vise if you know what I mean? I tend to do things a bit like you do I think.... Start by unbolting the forks and flipping them around in my hands while inspecting and thinking through what each component does and wondering what is concealed by the other parts. One I have a firm grasp on what I am looking at and a theory, I will undo the next bolt or nut and hesitantly start pulling the pieces apart exersizing caution as to not get hit in the eye by a flying do-dad or widget, or spring. Keep the eyes on what you are doing here and making notes or diagrams and sometimes pictures if needed. Slowly start pulling one section apart and never move on to the next until you understand the previous. This is my "garage technique" and it has served me well so far, just have to do a self check to make sure common sense is still being used if you follow my meaning. When summer comes and the trails are 116 degrees I may try tinkering with my forks and such, gives me plenty of time to be patient and fix things correctly if something goes south on me. Im not pulling these things apart right now in the middle of prime riding whether thats for sure. Take care Taff, always good hearing from ya mate.

ps. "The Doc" is the single best piece of info there is on this site, Im affraid it may do damage to the discussion in the forums though.... Soon every post will have a response: "See The Doc"..... "See The Doc".... "See The Doc".

Regards,