XR Up Side Down Suspension

[Sage]

Hi All.

Any of you out there that have put CR up side down forks on your xr, pref a XR600R, I know the 1989 go on no problem and 90/91 need a bit of work to make them fit, I have read on the net that the 89-91 forks are some of the worst that Honda ever made.

Anybody out there who has done this mod what are you thoughts ?? How much better or worse are they than STD??

[AlanH]

Hi All.

Any of you out there that have put CR up side down forks on your xr, pref a XR600R, I know the 1989 go on no problem and 90/91 need a bit of work to make them fit, I have read on the net that the 89-91 forks are some of the worst that Honda ever made.

Anybody out there who has done this mod what are you thoughts ?? How much better or worse are they than STD??

I'd rather have upside down forks than an STD any day

(I'll get my coat)

[Sage]

Hi.

In what way do you find them better? did you have to put heavier springs and oil in as they are off a lighter bike.

[todd5774]

Its not worth putting on the 89 USD setup, parts are hard to come by and the forks are no better than what you have already got on there.

The only reason for putting on a USD setup is for performance. Get hold of a post 2000 front end off some thing and have a stem machined up to fit. These modern forks will perform much better than the 89's.

I put a 2005 setup from a yz426 and it has transformed the bikes handling, its now so much better in the corners and under braking, yes you do sacrifice some of the low speed plushness but it more than makes up for it when you pick up some speed.

i had this machined up for me for a cost of £40 and it made it a bolt on job.


Even the xr caliper is a straight fit to the yz forks!

[Sage]

Hi.

Thanks for the reply, what you said about the 89, seems to go for 90 &91's as well, well that what I have read on the net.

Interesting on the Yam 426, friend of mine has just bought one, I will have to see if he wants me to put it my shed for a couple of days, was the stem the right length, the machine work to sort the bearings wouldn't be to much of a problem for me.

[todd5774]

No, perhaps i didnt explain it right.

i went to the engineer with the yz triple trees and the xr600 stem( the xr stem is too small to fit into the yz triple trees and having a new stem made is better than putting a bushing around the xr stem to make it fit the yz yokes), and explained to him that i wanted him to make a stem that would replicate the dimensions of the xr stem but be able to fit into the yz triple trees, that way i still retain the xr bearings.

Thats why if you look at the picture of the stem there is large part to the bottom that then steps down to fit the xr bearings.

the plus side of having a new stem machined up is that it is stronger than the original and the threads on the top dont wear out as he made it out of a high tensile steel instead of aluminium.

Clearer?

[Sage]

Hi.

Thanks I thought you got him to sort the std Yam one, is it hard to get the stem out of the bottom yoke, is it pressed out, or is it pinned at all ?

Thank you for the information, saves a lot of head scratching

[Daz Max]

The mistake a lot of people make,is to bolt the standard MX forks straight on and then ride it.
You really do need to change the spring rates/oil weight to get the proper benefit.
As stock they are set up for massive jumps and impacts,which is next to useless,for road or trail riding.Early CR forks are absolutely fine,as long as they are set up right,but as Todd has said,its getting hard to source the parts for them,as I am finding out......

[Sage]

Hi Daz.

What bits are you looking for ?

[todd5774]

I changed to some springs from the wr450 as they are better for trail
riding and I also used a heavier weight of fork oil, to make them more plush.
The only reason I got the yz setup in the first place is because it was cheaper than getting a wr setup.

As for getting the stem outits just a case of hitting it with a big hammer!