WRF Forks – Time for an upgrade!

[GregMember]

Moto wrote:

Quote:

Quote:

Well also I figure the springs are the major factor here. There are still clickers to get some adjustment to the oil flow rates – which is what valving does, essentially.

Here’s my thoughts: the spring will set the ride height by how hard it is. The valving and clickers control the rate of movement of the spring and thus the fork. But the valving and clickers will not act differently on the oil flow just because the fork is in a different position. The rate of movement will be affected by the valving and clickers restricting the oil flow – damping the movement of the fork.

So a different (say heavier) spring will cause the forks to naturally sit further extended in any given moment. The rate of the movement will differ only in that in compression the rate of movement should in theory be slower due to the heavier spring, while any movement in the rebound direction may be faster, also due to the heavier spring.

My call on the affect of changing springs and not valves will be that in compression (which is where I currently have a problem) the forks will perform better. While in rebound there may be some added harshness. Given that there are clickers to adjust both compression and rebound damping, this should all be able to be controlled – to some extent at least.

Time will tell!

I agree 100%. Also, the stroke of the fork under compression will now have slightly further to travel since the firmer spring are holding the front end higher when you are sat on it.

I’m interested in your review because this is exactly what I thinking of doing with my bike.

The stiffer springs will give a harsher feelon the smaller stuff thats fact, I have a few front spring sets for my bike and swap them a bit so I know from personal experience it is harsher in the smaller stuff enough that it gives me sore wrists and I can still bottom it on BIG windrows. Honestly the only thing I notice is the rougher ride from the stiffer springs doesn’t seem to be any difference at the end of the stroke and that’s because of the valving

Yes the clickers will help your adjustment as they have before but as Blue said “the valving is most effective in making the system either lineal or progressive in it’s action as this is best undertaken by hydraulic resistance”

Either way I know Greg at Morris Motorcycles there in Orange will do a good job and it’s a great starting point ECKS if as you said it doesn’t work as the springs need to be replaced for your weight anyway

Keep us in the loop

TB

[Anonymous]

TB if you read what ECKS has written that is pretty much what he said :huh: He also states that he should be able to dial some of this out with adjustment of the clicker rebound settings.

Whilst this may not have the same effect as valve mods/replacement I reckon he has a good chance of finding a happy medium as he insinuates in his post.

[GregMember]

Moto wrote:

Quote:

TB if you read what ECKS has written that is pretty much what he said :huh: He also states that he should be able to dial some of this out with adjustment of the clicker rebound settings.

Whilst this may not have the same effect as valve mods/replacement I reckon he has a good chance of finding a happy medium as he insinuates in his post.

Is it Moto really is it I dont think so :laugh: :kiss: :laugh:

TB

[Eric SmithMember]

Got the bike back today and have ridden it home – all of 6 blocks. No idea how it will go once I get off the tar (yet). I still have to set the static sag and check the race sag then play with clickers.

Total cost was less than quoted (by about 25%) so I’m chuffed – even if I need to get valving work done at a later date it is still likely to be great value.

I have a ride planned for Monday so hopefully I will have it sussed then.

I’d be riding today, but I have an issue with a client and … well, lets say I am at work now and leave it at that. :angry:

I’ll keep you all posted on the results.

[Eric SmithMember]

All righty then, time for the initial report:

The suspension had new springs front and rear, I haven’t checked the spring weights yet though… :blush:

Checking the static sag… there was none! Checked the rider sag and it came in at 80mm and should be 95-100mm. So the rear was too hard. And of course I didn’t think to bring a drift with me to loosen the preload so ended up riding at Catombal with a rear spring waaaaay too hard.

Anyway, a quick jaunt around the motocross track was surprising for two reasons.

1. The plushness of the forks was still there and the front felt pretty compliant on the small stuff. The rear was just too hard, but that is easy to sort out.

2. The bloody forks still bottom out on fast hits!! :angry:

My mate Mick who runs the place is a WRF man and what he doesn’t know about them isn’t worth knowing. He tells me that the shim stack in a stock WRF fork is actually spring-loaded. This spring loses tension and on fast hits it blows through and all bottoming resistance goes to hell in a handbasket! Recently he has upgraded his forks – twice. The first time was to get a Teknik kit in the stock forks which includes a “T-Valve” which does away with the spring loaded shim stack. This also includes adjustable shims. The second time he installed YZF forks and now he is looking to offload the old WRF forks.

So a deal was struck and secret handshakes ensued.

The bike is now at Mick’s place and he will install the T-Valve in my forks this week sometime.

So it seems that TB and I were both wrong. I didn’t lose plushness in the forks, which I believe is because the forks are now sitting in the correct part of the stroke most of the time. I didn’t, however, fix the bottoming problem, and hopefully I have a solution to that as well.

So, I’ll go back to Greg (the dealer at Orange) and just let him know the story. I have no problem with what he has done whatsoever.I just think he should know that the problem was mostly due to the spring loaded shim stack and that WRF forks are obviously different to what he normally works with.

In the real world I would probably have been better to go to Mick initially, but to be honest I didn’t want to stretch the friendship. Next time I’ll know better!

Gotta say, I was tempted, when the bottoming problem raised its head again, to get a set of normal cartridge forks from something like a XR650 or DRZ400 and bolt them on! Bloody USD’s!

By the way, Catombal is currently in the best condition I have ever seen it! There was 33mm of rain over the weekend, the tracks are beautifully groomed, traction is awesome, there is bugger-all dust and all in all it is a dirt bike nirvana right now! The park is open next weekend for anyone not going to any other ride, $30 per day and if you want to camp it is $5 per night. I’ll be heading out on Sunday because of commitments with the Wellington Town Band on the Saturday. Anyone wants to know more, just PM me. (This ride is NOT associated with any websites.)

[Bruce CurtisMember]

The valving issue is well known in the world of Yamaha ecks, they’ve been doing it for years. Apparently they can also just replace the mid-valve with a straight poppet (T-Valve) like your mates got and then work on the extremes.

if you rely just on springs to stop bottoming you’d have to have the hardest springs for an MX track which will never work on the trail.
Also i will repeat a well uttered truism, never setup/test your enduro/trail bikes suspension on an MX track, chalk and cheese my brother, chalk and cheese.

I have gone through the same issues, except i was starting from the MX end, not the trail end and mine is still a bit so so in the mid-stroke for my liking,

BC

[GregMember]

Its mechanically impossible that the forks are still AS plush ECKS, impossible so on that point I am not wrong not that I have a problem with being wrong I do it a lot :laugh: . Also as you were told they will still bottom because its a valving issue but you have worked that out now it seems
The Teknics web site does mention the WR fix as I think SB250Y said

TB

[Eric SmithMember]

Not sure TB, it’s hard to judge the change. However, riding around Catombal the front tracked as true as ever, and soaked up the small stuff nicely. Maybe it is a touch harsher but I think the difference could be made by adjusting tyre pressures – its that imperceptible. It is possible that the change in spring weight was only one or two sizes which could account for the continued plushness. Whatever the case is, I can’t pick the difference for plushness. Maybe someone better than me could do it, dunno, don’t care, its my bike!

I rode Mick’s WRF with YZF forks on it, and noticed his didn’t track nearly as well as mine in the gravelly rocky sections, but had a much better feel mid stroke and no bottoming out issue. Just a little bit skatey in the front end which can be disconcerting.

Blue, I don’t ride the MX track normally, but it gave me an instant check on the bottoming out issue. The true test is on the trails, of course. As you say, chalk and cheese indeed!

[GregMember]

Thats a good point ECKS dont build it for the motorcross track if you dont ride it :laugh:

You will need plush and soft long stroke for your slow singles you love with good valving to stop it diving under brakes and bottoming

TB

[alanMember]

hay ecks think someone on here has already mentioned the spring in the valving wonder who before the work was done

[scott bockingMember]

My fix was a very simple one on my WR. Call Nick At Teknik, tell him the model year, my weight and my desired outcome. Wait two days, hand over $525 cash for new coils, valving, oil and seals. I have had a year on them now and they have not wept a mil of oil and they feel so good I packed out my chin padding in my helmet from grinning so much :laugh:
The problem with getting a good tune is that you need to stick to one guy, who is an expert, and go from there. I may have gotten lucky that they nailed it first time but had they not I had a satisfaction period where I could take them back and they would tinker with them for free.

STM

[alanMember]

just buy a ktm they come standard with good suspension wr forks have always sucked will they ever get it right

[Eric SmithMember]

white rocket wrote:

Quote:

just buy a ktm they come standard with good suspension wr forks have always sucked will they ever get it right

Wash your mouth out Al! I’ll go back to a DRZ before I ride a KTM! :laugh:

Some small developments that need a word with the dealer have arisen. I will give the story in full once I have worked out what is going on.

[Bruce CurtisMember]

white rocket wrote:

Quote:

just buy a ktm they come standard with good suspension wr forks have always sucked will they ever get it right

Are you serious Rocket???

a white power sticker no longer ensures anything out of the box, and hasn’t done so since KTM went Orange.

Some of the KTM forks i have used have sucked so badly in corners that I may as well have got off and walked, and the rear on most PDS… let’s just say more have been chucked off thean stayed on.

They all have faults and good points and KTM is these days just another mass produced brand hasn’t been exclusive since the first orange spew graphics model was introduced.

Yamaha has very reliable engines but terrible forks, rear is great, brakes are acceptable, forks are easy to fix.

[Bruce CurtisMember]

I meant to also say, the YZ forks are beautiful at holdig a line IF you ride like a motocross ride and load the front up, this isn’t a problem for me cause that’s where I come from, but on the Wr’s (and most enduro bikes for that matter) I find my loading the front up makes them understeer badly as they compress and the geo’s change.

What rate spring did you go to?

[Author]

Posts