2013 KX450F gets air spring forks!!!

[John Orchard]

I just read on the Motocross Action website that the 2013 KX450F has got air forks, they list the benefits of air forks ...... wow my RM125B is 36 years ahead of its time!  LOL  ;-)

http://www.motocrossactionmag.com/Main/News/FIRST-LOOK-2013-KAWASAKI-KX450F-THE-MOST-POWERFUL-8963.aspx

[maico police]

Wow. Everything old is new again.
I want one!

[bigk]

Just like the old addage and how true it is. If you want to learn something new, ask someone old.
K

[Davey Crocket]

And there only 8 1/2 grand new.....if you live in seppo land.....

[Nathan S]

I remain sceptical. It's one of those ideas that's dragged up every 15 years or so, but disappears again.

I understand why the engineers want to use air springs, but until they overcome the 'too progressive' nature of air as a spring, the drawbacks outweigh the benefits.
Not to mention that a leaky fork seal will let the air pressure leak out, leaving you with a collapsed front end.

[maico police]

I'm sure they've put a bit more thought into it than just taking the springs out and putting valves in the fork caps.
Maybe a separate air chamber in the forks?

[JohnnyO]

Kawasaki already lead the way in fork inovation with compression/rebound damping in one leg and the spring in the other.. They wouldn't be bringing an air fork system out if it was prone to failures.

[tony27]

Spring in 1 leg & dampening in the other isn't new, trials bikes have run like that on & off most of this century & possibly in the 90s as well

[clutchslip]

There are parallels with the mountain bike world here, where quantity sold can cover development costs. The usual suspects are active here, Marzocchi and others and of course Mr Fox himself. Most of these systems have been splitting the role of the two legs for many years..

Like these,

http://www.foxracingshox.com/product.php?m=bike&t=forks&p=32306&ref=fhexplore

Or

http://www.foxracingshox.com/product.php?m=bike&t=forks&p=40101&ref=filter

With only 8 inches of travel these are pre 78 legal too 

[Nathan S]

The Kawi/KYB separate function fork wasn't exactly a step forward.
The Cannondale, YZF450, and Ossa reversed motor didn't turn the world upside down.
The BMW/Husky concentric sprocket and swing arm pivot was probably actually a step backward.

There's a bunch of good reasons why dirt bikes have evolved to be all so similar. I appreciate that some companies are willing to take risks, but there's no certainty that it will be a step forward.

Steel-alloy coil springs are the standard for suspension across all sorts of cars and bikes for a good reason or seven.
I'd love to be proven wrong, but I stand by my earlier comment about being sceptical.

[maico police]

Right now, there's a whole Kawasaki R&D department commiting 'hurri-curri' because they didn't run their new concept by a forum dedicated to old jallopies.......

[JohnnyO]

Spring in 1 leg & dampening in the other isn't new, trials bikes have run like that on & off most of this century & possibly in the 90s as well

I was actually talking motocross but no worries.

[JohnnyO]

The Kawi/KYB separate function fork wasn't exactly a step forward.

The factory KYB suspension guys at the MX GP's use this fork for ease of setup, you only have to strip 1 fork to change the valving or 1 fork to alter the springrate. KYB suspension is used by many of the teams in the GP's and the US, they obviously work.

[GMC]

Right now, there's a whole Kawasaki R&D department commiting 'hurri-curri' because they didn't run their new concept by a forum dedicated to old jallopies.......

You’ll have to forgive the skeptics here as anyone that has seen a few decades pass by will have remembered all sorts of innovative gizmo’s come and go including Yamaha’s air forks of 76.


Personally I wouldn’t be rushing out to buy the first version.

[Nathan S]

If (virtually) the whole leg is air space, it might be possible to keep the spring rate relatively linear for riders in the target weight range.

I CNBF doing the maths now, but... my gut feeling is that there will be coil spring conversions (possibly just 'booster springs') will be available within a few months of its release, particularly for 'full size' riders.