WP fork swap

[MonsterTruck]

So I have just completed a fork swap on my 2011 300. It was a Zokes/ Ohlins. Now it is a WP/ Ohlins. My suspension trouble started early. Basically, I did not follow the recommendations for decreasing the torque on the lower clamp. By the time I sorted It out, the forks had major problems. I tried some revalves with LTR (best wishes) and with a local guy and good friend Adam at Kreft MOTO. Ultimately it came down to ditch the bike or swap the forks. Well, I struggled with the decision for a while. Where I am now, I am super glad to have gone throuht with the swap.

Details: this is to be a dedicated mountain goat, alpine single track machine. I am a moderately aggressive rider. I don't race. I am #190 naked, and 210-220 with gear.

Fork: 2008 WP closed cartridge. It has had the full meal deal done at Kreft MOTO including his Dynamic Float Midvalve in a woods set up. It has 46 wt springs in it.

Triple clamp: I had the good folks at Emig Racing make me a new lower clamp to hold the WP forks. We kept the GG stem, and reused the upper clamp. The WP fork is bigger dia than most others. I was not comfortable milling out that much metal from the GG clamp. The Emig clamps are beautiful CNC aluminum, burly and have a 2 bolt pattern. $400

I got a smoking deal from oemdirtbikeparts.com on a set of used KTM wheels, axle and a friend gave me an old brembro brake.

Total cost was just at $1000. Good help from some good friend made it a fun project and a sweet fun ride.

Set up:
The WP fork is longer than the Zokes, and has less axle offset. Also, I run a trials tire in the back, which has a tall profile. We ended up with the forks fairly low in the clamp. So the front is about 5mm higher than it was with the Zokes. The steering and perceived weight balance are unchanged from stock.

Adjustments to the rear end: as has been mentioned, improving the fork does reveal hidden weakness in the rear. Basically with the low friction fork and woods valving, the rear end was to stiff and too slow. So Kreft MOTO did a revalve on the back. No details other than it was a basic revalve. I have a 5.6 spring. 110mm rider sag, 36mm free sag. Now, tracks sweet. No kick on square edges. Still supports the bike nicely in the turns. Whoops would blow through my set up. This bike will not see a lot of whoops.

Overall impression:
I got lucky and was able to get parts at a good price, and had a ton of professional and bro help. The end product is amazing. Super happy floats over all manner of rocks and roots. Still corners like a GG. I have offers from (orange bike riding) AA friends who want to race my bike at the next rocky course. Don't know if that will happen...
Happy Trails

[GMP]

Excellent. This is what we all hope the '12s will give us.

[nambo-trev]

Nice write up monster! Sounds like a killer setup.

[jeffs2200]

I also have 48mm cc WP forks on my 2011 300. The forks are from a 2010 Husaberg fx 450. I had the sachs on my GasGas so all I did was swap out the forks and bought a new gforce wheel for KTM from RMC. The Nissin caliper bolts directly to the WP fork lugs so no need to switch to Brembo unless you want to. The fork tubes on the WP are a little larger than the Sachs at the bottom triple clamp but it is not enough to need to bore them out. The clamps are not tight enough to cause any binding or stiction. I have run this setup for over a year and the WP forks are way better than the Sachs even after being revalved.

I have an extra set of open chamber WP 48mm forks that are in great condition that I would sell for $150 if anyone wants to experiment with them. I think they are off an 05 300exc.

[MonsterTruck]

Yeah, I do think that the 12 with the new Zokes will be sweet. I am very curious to see what happens once people learn to use the midvalve float adjustment. It could be a whole new level in function and fun. I have faith that the 45 Zokes could be made decent, provided the rider quickly sets up the lower clamp bolts to GG riders club recommended torque specs.

I'm also glad to hear that others are having fun with fork swaps. I was real hesitant at first. Mostly I wanted to preserve the GG trademark handling. I think after the swap, the handling is even better. Before it cornered sweet. Now it corners sweet even going over rocks.

I think those old open chamber forks could be a great starting place for someone interested in giving it a go. Also, oemdirtbikeparts.com has tons of used forks, wheels, brakes, axles etc. (especially Honda stuff). I spoke at length with Boston, the owner so he will be familiar with a GG front end swap. Boston is who referred me to Emig for the clamps. The crux for me was getting the custom clamp made. However that is done now and it would be too easy for anyone else to call up Emig Racing and have him bust out another one or two.

We are having a super early thaw down here in SW CO. Which is good because we usually can't ride the mountains until June. But the sun is out and the trails are already dusty. Good fun now. Pray for rain.

[BrentMartell]

I agree about the 45's but I also think a shop who is honest with you will say the 45's will not hold a candle to the CC 48/47's. That is the primary reason for me switching. My compliants, after about 11-12 revalves, is that the fork is good to excellent in certain stuff, and average to poor in others. I need a fork that can handle a wider variety of terrain and speed. What I find interesting is that there is wider variety of folks with the same issue as me, yet who ride totally different terrain. I am not saying the forks are junk but OMG does anyone ride those things stock without compliants? I rode 2 KTM's at 6 days that were stock rentals and had no compliants. I have ridden several stockers at home, no complaints.

I am happy for those who are into the 12's and would imagine the 48 zokes will be part of the answer to the issue's with GG.

[GMP]

Its all about range of acceptable function with regard to terrain. My 45s work great in the rocks but are loose as speed picks up in faster HS races.

Monster, I'm assuming the internal anodizing of your uppers was trashed? No matter what fork or clamp you run, keep that lower clamp torque as light as possible.

[BrentMartell]

I agree, however, I am seeing lots of folks in the slower stuff complaining. Regardless, my experience was that I could not enjoy those forks in the rocks and even at full soft they were brutal and harsh. It was not until after the 3rd revalve, fixing the pistons, and building a mid valve set up that I could ride the creek bottoms and rocky trails with confidence like I did my KTM. The good news is that they did work well for that sort of thing after some considerable tweaking. I have a buddy who bought the mate to my bike wanting to swap forks. He is a slow trail rider so I believe my Zoke set up will work very well for him. Looking forward to puting my forks on his bike and see what he thinks.

[MonsterTruck]

GMP, exactly. There are some nice big ovals where the coating is worn through, don't know if the metal is affected.

Brent, I agree that a lot of people are frustrated with the 45s. I know of a guy, don't know him though, who sold his 2011 after 3months. He liked the bike, but couldn't get over the fork. I'm a kid who brakes all his toys, so by the time I hit the wall with the Zokes, the bike looked like it had been attacked by wild dogs! It rides great, but the plastic is all beat up. As you would expect on a woods machine, with an eager, aspiring but not as of yet overly skilled rider. So my hand was forced to do the swap. I am so glad I did. I am so pumped about this bike now. The handling is spot on for singletrack, the power is spot on and now the suspension too. It is a freakin' woods dream machine! Also, my whole Orange bike riding crew spent last summer wanting to stay off the GG, now it is a bit of a hot item.

I have some Zokes for sale...brand new SKF seals too.

[GMP]

I used a three point bore mic on an extension to determine the base metal on mine was still OK. If so they can be stripped and internally re coated for around $100.