to valve or not to valve.... that is the dilema.
 

ok i need the fork seals on my wp 43 forks replaced either way, but i am trying to decide weather or not to have the valving redone at the same time. to do the seals would be around $150 at ltr, and if i had them revalve, they would just put in fork seals when they put the forks together and charge me for parts. the fork revalve job is around $160 and the seals would cost $44 for both, so total plus shipping and wear parts would be around $240 max. i dont know what to do. i am a novice rider (about 5 months of experience) so i dont know if a revalve woud be beneficial or cost efficient for me to do. the girlfriends dad told me that because i was still a new rider, that it wouldnt be worth the money. but i was thinking that if i had them set up for a rider with more experience than i have that i would just grow into them, and it would save me the money of sending my forks to les twice to have him take them apart. what do you guys think? should i just get the seals done? should i get them valved for me at my skill level? or should i get them set for when i have more experience?

I would say, ride it for a year, get a feel for the way you ride and in what area you want to improve things first.
The WP's aren't a bad fork, and there enough adjustment in them to play with for a while, that will give you time to learn how different adjustments effect the way the bike rides, you could play with spring rates and oil hight's before a re-valve. It's all a learning curve, and a steep one in the first year. Chances are your be hitting things 80% faster in a years time.

IMHO.;)

This is not trying to take work away from LTr, if I was in the US i'd use him in a heart beat, but "FOR GOD'S SAKE MAN" do the seals yourself, it's really easy. Or get a friend to help, that will give you an idea in how they work and whats going on in there.

see the thing is, i dont know whats in my forks as it is. im at least the third owner, and the previous owners were all intermediate riders who probably weighted close to 200ish. weigh 165. and what i was thinking is that if i have to have the forks torn apart anyway, i might as well have them set up for me. cause from what im told suspension set up for me will help my riding improve significantly faster than trying to ride with suspension set up for someone else. so for 60 bucks or so i would have proper suspension. so i dont know what to do. im starting to lean towards revalving, so if nothing else i would have suspension for me, not for the guy who owned it 2 years ago. thats where im torn.

You could replace the springs for your weight when you do the seals, get some used ones, wouldn't cost much.

I doubt the revalve service would include springs anyway?

springs would be considered wear parts and priced accordingly, and valve or not im sending them in to have the seals done, im just not quite brave enough to try to do them myself yet.

If it was me, I would send the forks to LTR, when he pulls them apart to change seals, ask him to inspect the valving and springs as to what they are, and then to call you and advise you on whether they are way out of spec for your abilities or not, they probably arnt, as it seems OK-ish to ride now. And you can go from there.
But thats just me, if I wouldn't do them myself :)

i like noobi's idea but...... the fork seal replacement at ltr would be around 160, ok, but to ship two forks out to the west coast of the US from minnesota im looking at 80 bucks in shipping, and three weeks without a motorcycle. and i dont know about you guys but the withdrawals from a week without is pretty bad, so i dont think id like to experience 3 weeks worth. i think im just going to have a local shop do them this time around, then maybe next year ill have ltr do the works on them. and i would honestly do the seals if i thought that my shop was clean enough, and if i could afford to screw them up, which i cannot. and believe me, with the luck i have, i would find a way to screw them up. im the kind of guy who could burn a salad.

Then get any bike shop thats cheapest to do the seals, and get them to look at the internals while there at it. Tuning forks isnt rocket science, its not hard to do, but is hard to do well, the biggest thing is probably whether the springs are right or not. Get them to find out what rate they are for you.

i sent forks and shock to les wv - oregon for $35 via fedex ground.

$160 is revalve and seals at ltr i believe - you may need springs. and you'll have to buy seals.

fork seals are really quite easy.... if you watch these 2 videos you'll see:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y43k1...layer_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9ICr...eature=related

you can do it without any special tools.

I have the WP's and stock they were very soft and compliant on roots and rocks. If you are thinking yours are harsh (didn't you mention that in another thread?) someone may have had them set up tighter to be better for motocross type riding.
I would definately have the valving checked and adjusted as needed. I highly recomend LTR also as he did my revalve front and rear tailored to my riding style. He will take the time to do the same for you.