Beta Riders Having Issues With Sachs Forks
 

It looks like the beta guys are having issues with their Sachs forks/ geometry which might be causing instability in turns at other than low speed. It appears that a switch to the KYBs makes the problem worse.

http://www.betarider.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=541

Ok?

Lots of people have issues with suspension setup on alot of bikes. The OP switched to a set of OC KYBS - who knows how they set them up? bolt on as is I imagine. If changing forks you need to be aware of any differences in geometry and how it may effect things. As for Sachs.. Who knows.

Do you have cliff notes on that post??;) Never mind, I was in a hurry at work and thought it said 45 pages but it was posts. DUH!

It seems some of them have been having issues with there zooks also. Sounds like some premature wear. If you got a set of zooks on a good day in the factory you are lucky and they work awesome, but it seems like a high percentage of them have issues. Even Beta is not immune from this.

Suspension wise.

The Sachs I have (old compared to the newer designs), were well built in terms of clearance, coatings, etc. But were poorly setup valving wise. Few different piston designs around.. and for me the biggest issue - total lack of documentation and parts availability, coupled with odd shim sizes.

My experiences with Marzocchi indicate poor build quality and tolerances, also with strange valving setups stock. Poor parts availability (although better than Sachs), and redicoulous pricing on parts.

Personally, I'd avoid both. Would I avoid a bike purely based on suspension components? These days... probably. I'd at least factor in whats required to make changes in the initial purchase. The sooner these euro brands start using more mainstream japanese suspension components the better we all will be.

I wouldn't say a high percentage of people have experienced wear issues on the Marzocchis.. but given the low volumes of forks in circulation, and the number of reports seen, its not a very promising trend. The older Zokes have well documented coating issues.

All the guys I know that have the Sachs on their Beta's really like them even though DR mag says their a little too soft.

I like them on my '14 Beta 250, after Mr. Beane swapped me for some "fat boy" springs. Before they were sprung for my mass, they seemed fine but bottomed out HARD the first time I hit a G-out in a sharp ravine.

I've never ridden on Sachs forks, but I preferred my set-up Sachs shock over any set-up Ohlins I've had. I like that the Sachs had a separate high and low speed compression setting.

My friends have reported no issues other than spring rates etc. All the normal stuff most people deal with.

I'm finding quite interesting that unless it is a Yamaha, seems you can read about fork problems. KYB and Showa Air forks, Zokes, CS4, Sachs, ... all seem to have issues, It appears the revalve is being replaced by Kayaba SSS fork swap. Some of the revalves are getting so stupidly expensive it is no wonder the fork swap looks good. I do think there are some great reasonable tuners for these forks that no one seems to try. I have a spare set of Sachs that I'm thinking of sending to Les to prove my point. If my Zokes actually wear out (Two sets are very good after many miles) I have these anyway. I think the technology has passed the consumer and all the adjustments are getting people in trouble. Face it. It is really easy to get a bike screwed up. These bikes are all good.