[Mark FalveyMember]

Got the package, Ollie?

[Mark FalveyMember]

I’m in a training course for the next few days so if the phone’s being ignored, try me on mark@markfalvey.com.au and we’ll swap details.
‘Quick and the dead’ alright!

[Mark FalveyMember]

Smart work, Hatto; thanks! …and I’ve got a fair bit of reading to do!

[Mark FalveyMember]

I think you have to have a good crack at unemployment to get the idea. Like being a student, I’m not convinced one box you fill out on your tax return necessarily defines who you are.

But if that box read “Rock god” or “Role model for Chuck Norris”, they could be risks I might be willing to take!

[Mark FalveyMember]

Not surprised a bloke’d be into orchids; if Angelina Jolie was a plant, that’d be it. As for this stunted cabbage, trail-time thieves include:
-Designing and making simple websites
-Designing medical gear (a Braun Prize winner on the go… sorta) an excuse to draw
-Doing volunteer work at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
-Day job at a Telco
-Playing (recently invented) ‘Nine Inch Nails Hangman’ with my mate Nez down the Drunken Poet over a pint of Guinness
-Seeing local bands (sorry Perth, Melbourne’s the dog’s pods in that regard
-Forming an unnatural relationship with a recently acquired 1983 Fender P-Bass.

-Reading

Yes, that’s right: no kids, no mortgage and I have to wash my own skiddies. I’m not standing-ovationally good at any of the above, by the way! I reckon I’ve got time so start screen-printing and leather-work (belts, guitar straps etc) again…

[Mark FalveyMember]

An amazing piece of kit the 450, I’ve read. Great to see more Green on the site – welcome aboard!

[Mark FalveyMember]

Big up for support of the dirt lasses, Mick! It’s that kind of forum, hey?

Brief aside: I’ve been quitting Uni, getting a job on a big fibre optic network and getting sacked by my girlfriend of 14 years. Gotta be worth a couple of sick days?

My mate has a daughter with some of the steeliest race-face I’ve seen in ages. The younger son is probably faster. I’ll see if he’ll come aboard, watch out though, cos he tell awful lies about my riding (ahem) ability!

[Mark FalveyMember]

Onya Tracey! One of the best posts (and best photos) I’ve seen on this site! I’m never going to worry the front runners either but have a shed load of fun anyway. The upgrade to the XT must have been six Christmases cable-tied together! I’ll be sharing your story with a few female friends…

[Mark FalveyMember]

I’ll write up the MXR’s soon!

There are more complicated USD forks out there, but if an amateur like me can do the job without a shed, there’s satisfaction and better riding to be had without major expense!

[Mark FalveyMember]

Off-subject Chris, but I can’t pick out your post about the headlight brackets (the Acerbis has been in the plastic bag for months!) The clocks are heavy, BUT they work, bore the coppers and cost nothing to keep! Buggered if I could bend stainless with anything I could bodge up in the kitchen but I reckon I could sort something in 2mm aluminium. Just want to check for ‘gotchas’ before I wade in!

[Mark FalveyMember]

1-10? It’d have to be a very solid 8. Losing the airbox lid, tampering with the muffler and getting it dyno’d would be a 5 by comparison. Sometimes you just aren’t going to wind it on because you know the custard front end will tip you off! I had to think hard to separate the big plus of the springs from the monster grip of the new MXRetreads but I’d stick with 8/10.

In amongst all the rest of the physical disintegration, weight isn’t something I’m touchy about! I’m about 70kg (fine for the standard rear spring) but if I remember correctly, the standard front is spot on for a 40kg rider.

http://www.racetech.com/evalving/menu/searchdirt.asp This link will help you see what spring weight you’ve got in the bike now and what you should have. They cover most bikes you can think of.

I was tempted to try a cheaper option like oil until I saw what a joke the standard springs were. I think TB mentioned realy soft springs for the Finke and top shelf valving, but that was the next step up and I didn’t feel I could justify that kind of expense or time without the bike. Good luck with the decision making!

[Mark FalveyMember]

I’m back after a seriously weird couple of months. Have missed the OB site! Anyway, a ride report on the springs…

I took the bike out to Bunyip and tried the Blue Range loop. Even on the road, it was obvious the front sat higher and was stiffer. I should add that I only started trailriding about five years ago and won’t be worrying any of the front-runners; The Knighter might be more discerning if he can sleep his way to a ride with “Team KLX”.

The extra ride hide was had the usual pluses and minuses. The ground out there is like concrete and the ruts/washaways are cartoon deep (think Roadrunner.. anvil..) despite the extra height I still scraped the sidestand in some ruts (pegs pushed back, feet up near the rads). Standard springs and a rider weight over my meagre 70kg would have grated your plums over the filler cap. Minuses? Short leg on the long side as a friend would say, but 30mm vertical is worth ‘enough’ diagonal, sometimes. Worth the entry price alone?

Now for the stiffness. Before the transplant it felt a bit better at the front than my old XT225; yes – whoopee. It did not inspire confidence! Downhills that had my spasming fundament ripping stars out of the rear guard DID NOT compress the front end to the slinky spring nausea of the standard items. The result was a lack of lurching in the trials bike situations that only has you working that much harder when the bars are way too far in front of the axle. Sadly there wasn’t much single trail or sand to check out the difference. But I reckon it’s money in the bank.

The rear spring was only a fly-sht too stiff for my weight, so no poor match for front and the combo made me happy. I’ll do something about the MXRetreads soon…

[Mark FalveyMember]

Welcome, Jules! If it’s of any use I’ve just been given an old copy of ‘Weekend Warriors’ with a pile of ride maps around Melbourne; let me know if a scan’s of any interest (as they seem rarer than rkoicg hrsoe siht).

[Mark FalveyMember]

Cheers Ollie!
I got mine in the post today and a thing of beauty it is too. Packed small enough so I didn’t have to collect it from the post office but padded well enough that nothing was going to damage it. Very happy.

[Mark FalveyMember]

Cheers TB!

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