As many on this site already know, I ride about 500 miles a month, race local and National everything except Motocross, and have always run stock suspension. On my last 500, I swapped the forks for units from a new KX250, using a modified tripple clamp. Worked great. However, on my current 500, I run all KX500 suspension. We have used Daryl at Acme (same as Destry Abbot & Brian Brown use) for years, and have never been disappointed. When we get our new bikes, we immediately disassemble the bike to check and loctite everything, and ship the suspension to Daryl. His turn around time is great, and the mods work great first time out of the gate. The key to any suspension tuning is information. When I first switched to a 500, I test rode the stock suspension for a couple hundred miles, keeping notes on what I liked and disliked. I sent Daryl a 2 page letter with my thoughts on the stock suspension, and he fixed everything I disliked, and improved everything I already liked.
As a note, a friend of mine, Brad McNew (top 10 National Hare & Hound rider) used to have all of his work done by Pro Circuit. He was never really happy, and the cost was double Daryl's. I finally convinced him to give Darly a try, and he is now hooked for life.
Finally, never even thought about switching from the stock rear shock to anything else. Once Daryl is finished working his magic, you will never agan think about the suspension while you ride. It just works, period. Don't know anyone who has switched the suspension on a KX from stock.
The only other mod I have done to my forks is to install Motion Pro fork bleeders. I stumbled on these units a couple of years ago, and a sponsor was finally able to get me a set. The bleeders take the place of your air bleed screws, and are nothing more than spring loaded push button bleeders. During a long race, when I pull in for fuel, one person's job is to push the bleeders and release the air. This eliminate some harshness on the small bumps caused by the air accumulation being compressed. Not really a requirement, but the older I get, the more I like the little things that help me stay on top of my game.
If you do switch your shock, let us know what you think.
Rick
