GPS steering damper kx500

[dsrtrider]

i have a GPS steerng damper on another bike i have and want to buy the bracket for my KX500 so i can quickly attach it tho that bike when i take it out.  What mounting brackets do you use or are they only availalbe with the kind that the post welds to the frame?  my other bike has a collar that fits around the sterring stem.

[BMH]

these guys make great stuff I just put one on my 5 hundie clamp type.


http://www.dh1racing.com/

[Johnniespeed]

  I took my GPR dampner off my old cr, called Randy at GPR he sent me the correct bracket that clamped around the frame/steering tube on my KX500.
 I cannot say enough good things about the GPR company. They stand behind thier products. When I wanted to put the GPR on my vintage CR, Randy's dad took my measurements and went right out in the shop and milled out a bracket for it.
  When my dampner was damaged from a crash, they replaced it for free and even upgraded it to a newer model, for FREE..
  If you have ever been jacked around by idiots, you will know why I endorse this company of professionals.
  John

[BDI]

  I took my GPR dampner off my old cr, called Randy at GPR he sent me the correct bracket that clamped around the frame/steering tube on my KX500.
 I cannot say enough good things about the GPR company. They stand behind thier products. When I wanted to put the GPR on my vintage CR, Randy's dad took my measurements and went right out in the shop and milled out a bracket for it.
  When my dampner was damaged from a crash, they replaced it for free and even upgraded it to a newer model, for FREE..
  If you have ever been jacked around by idiots, you will know why I endorse this company of professionals.
  John

I can say the same I have had nothing but great experience with that company I have gprs on every thing I own.

[dsrtrider]

thanks.  i'll check these out!  and yes i meant GPR not GPS!  i am also looking for a GPS so i had that on my mind

[Johnniespeed]

We all knew what you meant. Enjoy the damper. What GPS are you thinking about getting ?  I dont have one, but all Michigan trails are able to be loaded into GPS systems.   Some people I ride with have them and seem to like them. I just use photo copies from my trail books. I use clothes pins to clamp them to my center bar.  I guess I am still  "old school"

[dsrtrider]

i already have a GPR for my ktm 300 xc-w but when i take my kx500 out i want to quickly remove it from my ktm and attach it so i was looking for the mount only and didn't want to weld the post if i didn't have to.  Sounds like GPR has a mount kit so i will contact them./  I have their mount for my ktm and i like it.

[TheGDog]

Hi Guys,

I'm sitting at home now nursing a broken collar-bone due to how my KX 500 seems to like to deflect off of rocks when I'm on a rocky trail.

I don't seem to remember having this issue with other bikes in my past.  Or at least, not to this degree of being soo noticeable. 

This issue of having the front wheel rather violently become deflected off rocks... is this the kinda thing having a GPR steering stabilizer might be able to fix or at least reduce??

Other than this weird behaviour in rocky sections.... I absolutely LOVE this bikes suspension in the desert areas I ride.

ALSO.... since it is sounding like I would probably benefit from a Steering stabilizer... I'd like to NOT go the welding route... but do the clamp-on type mounts work ok?

ANY AND ALL comments would be appreciated, as I DO NOT want to go thru another dang broken collarbone again for the rest of my life (if I can help it).

[jazg]

it could be the set up on your forks. i'm not familiar with the k5 suspension but i know a mate of mine was going down every time we hit a rock outcrop because he changed the oil levels and rebound. he was complaining of the front kicking out and the result being him lying on the ground! it was quite amusing i gota say but since he got the setup right he's nailing it through the trails. another thing is you say you riding desert as well so your terrain sounds like it could be similar to what we riding

[TheGDog]

That sounds exactly similar!  Though before now.. I've always just been able to muscle her back into line.

What was "wrong" with his suspension adjustment and what kind of adjustments did he make (or have made) which stopped the front-end from kicking out like that?

Your input is be extremely appreciated and give me something to read on Tuesday when I come back from surgery to have the dang plate put on the collarbone to hold it in place to heal. 

[jazg]

man how badly is your collar bone broken?!
k he said he took too much fork oil out the one day when he was working on his forks so they would compress really far in and then in order to rebound all that distance they'd shoot back and instead of then lifting the bike against the tires grip it would just kick out and down you go. so to fix it he put the correct amount of fork oil in and to help the situation also slowed down the rebound a little bit
hope it helps, i'm not very clued up on suspension!

[dsrtrider]

Gdog - what have you done so far with suspension and what is your wieght?

what i have heard in general is that most bikes come with weak springs that are overpreloaded and stiff valving.  suspension companies reverse this and use heavier springs, lighter valving and reduced fork spring length to lessen preload.  this is what they did to mine years ago on my old 1990 kx500.  that was supposes to help with deflection, etc.  it seemed to work.  my current 1994 has stock suspension and i ride desert and for the most part it works fine and i don't get into to much trouble but  i am getting ready to rebuild and revalve and add heavier spring to improve it more.

[TheGDog]

The suspension was setup by the same shop that did my KTM that I loved the suspension of soo much. 

The previous owner was probably around 235 Lbs and I judged him to not be as WFO as I tend to be so I was actually quite stoked that he had the stiffer springs and so-forth already put on.

I hover from like 205-215 Lbs mostly.

I got a personal message from jazg... and I think adjusting the rebound to be just a touch slower is going to be the trick.

Hmm.... I also noticed that black junk managed to drip out of my steering head bearings when I inspected my bike after the crash.

I'm thinking this is probably due to this one ride where the dang breather vent tube fell-off while I was riding and a lot of fuel got sloshed around on not only the bike, but me as well. Oh yeah... the lungs just loved that!  Desert heat, together with gasoline fumes... gives me a woody just thinking about it! (insert cynical smirk here).

So anyhoo I'm thining that the fuel maybe got into the grease in the steering hed bearing maybe!?!?

[dsrtrider]

i run a sterring damper on my ktm and they help with bars whipping side to side and can help if you get a sudden hit that casues whipping.  Although i have heard the term deflection alot i am not sure i understand exactly what deflection is.  if i can get a good description i can try and see if the damper would help with that.

just curious - who set up your ktm suspension?  i am looking to modify my new ktm suspension in near future for desert an am looking around.  i hear facotry connection is ok for a local firm.  athother than them dicks racing and trail tricks are suppose to be good but require shipping suspension out.

[TheGDog]

I'm in the OC.  So I just had 3 Brothers Racing do the suspension work... they... in turn... farm-out that job to "CLEAN RACING". 

A gentle-man by the name of Mr. Stearn.  I was very please with the follow-up aspect of this guy.  A day or two after I picked-up the bike from 3 Brothers Racing... I got a call from the guy and he spent some quality time on the phone with me making sure to explain that since these were new springs... after a few rides I may find that I need to redo the sag on the rear.... although he went on further to explain to me that he goes easy on the sag (less sag) in anticipation of this as well... so that I shouldn't have to re-adjust it.

The gentleman's number is:
714-434-9201

I'm thinking of hvaing him go thru my KX500... so if you should happen to utilize his services please let him know that Gary Hart referred you - via KXRiders.com (Who knows.. maybe the guy'll knock a few bucks off my K5 work!?)

Anyhoo... the KTM I had came back with the suspension absolutely plush and amazing!