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Author Topic: XT500 better forks?  (Read 2710 times)

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dave

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XT500 better forks?
« on: July 28, 2009, 08:52:33 pm »
I'm considering putting some better forks on my XT500 for racing. Do IT175/250 fork go straight on as they seem easier to come by and cheaper. Any advice please.
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Offline LWC82PE

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Re: XT500 better forks?
« Reply #1 on: July 28, 2009, 09:27:54 pm »
Are your XT forks the 80/81 versions (leading axle) or the Pre 80 forks ( non leading axle)? yes you could fit 36mm IT forks. keep in mind they will be a bit longer and you may need to do some adjustements to the rear end to bring it into line with the IT forks. Generally its not acceptable to put leading axle forks into triple clamps that originally had non leading axle forks, so if you want to fit a leading axle set to a pre 80 XT then it would be a better idea to fit the matching triples that go with the leading axle forks. How ever having said that i know a guy who races a TT500 with leading axle TT forks in non leading axle triple clamps and he thinks its great/no problems.

Also keep in mind when fitting leading axle triples to a XT with non leading axle set up standard, that the triples/forks may hit the tank and some adjustments/different tank may be required.
« Last Edit: July 28, 2009, 09:31:39 pm by LWC82PE »
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dave

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Re: XT500 better forks?
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2009, 08:27:08 am »
Mine's got leading axle forks in it. I'm also starting to hunt down a cheap PE swinging arm for it also.
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Offline brent j

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Re: XT500 better forks?
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2009, 12:47:04 pm »
What fork mods you do depend on what you want to do with the bike.

For just pottering around and trail riding you would be fine with heavier springs and PD valves or cartridge emulators in your standard forks.

If you want to race then a different front end will be better but you will still need to change springs and damping.

Brent
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dave

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Re: XT500 better forks?
« Reply #4 on: July 29, 2009, 01:16:34 pm »
Hey Brent
Well I've previously raced mx and was going to have a punt on this thing. Previous bikes have been Husky's 250's, 390 & WR400 plus various other rm's and yz's 125 & 250's so this thing feels heavy in comparison. Although, I have ridden (enduro'd) a few big 4 stoke's like XR350, XR600, KLR600/650's.

It looks like an easy and relatively cheap improvement to do the XT500's suspension. Obviously the std shocks and forks aren't gonna cope with jumps and rough tracks especially if I've got to run this thing in Evo class.
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Offline cloggy

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Re: XT500 better forks?
« Reply #5 on: July 29, 2009, 10:45:08 pm »
If you are going to run this in OZ evo class then the forks may have more than 9" of travel. I would say that any 36mm fork on that weight of bike with 10" +  of travel is going to be flexy. My DR400 certainly was with 10 and half inches. It's fine with 38s
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