I cannot substantiate, but was told that Spectro makes the fork oil sold by Racetech...

 

I believe the cheaper subsitute for Racetech fork oil is the Maxima 85/150 5wt... I'd have to go back and look at my research, but I want to say that the CST specs are very similar for half the price.

I used Motorex for the rear shock... I don't remember the weight..

 

Would adding the gold valves just to the forks be worth it or should i do the forks and shock at the same time?

 

Doing the forks gets rid of the spike you get when hitting a square edge... Experienced folk will tell you it is because the stock valves can't flow enough oil even if you re-shim.

I don't think the rear shock was all that bad to begin with, so just doing the forks is not a bad plan.

I did do the rear shock, and it is was a improvement... but that might just be because I spent the time and money to do it...LOL

EDIT: Make sure to read my first post about the Gold Valves for the '09+ vs the earlier bikes.... If you tell them you have an '09, you only get shim stacks for the 2001GV kit, not the S2040, and the charts are different.

 

The shock mod may have more value depending on your weight. If you're in that lightweight category for which this bike comes OEM...140-160 pounds...the rear shock and spring work quite well. If you're heavier and especially when a heavier rear spring is needed, you will definitely benefit from the new valving. I weigh 190-190 without any gear, so my 6.0 spring and shock noticeably benefited from valving compatible for my setup.

 

im bout 180 and already have .50 springs up front and 6.4 out back

 

I got in touch with a suspension shop up here since im getting ready to have my suspension re valved and the shop said that the gold vavles aren't worth the money and that just a re valve should be good enough for the sharp bumps. Now this is a pretty good reputable shop....I am getting a few more opinions from a couple other shops before i pick where i am sending them too. But is that right?

 

Well, "the gold valves aren't worth the money" might be somewhat subjective. I guess that depends on the person...or shop who's selling their own suspension mods. Heck, some people feel the OEM factory setup is just fine, so...

The valves/pistons/rings in the Race Tech setup are very good. Their design and flow performance are great. Most of the magic is always in how you set up the shims. I have no idea why they think they are not worth the money, but maybe they are indeed a premier, top tier suspension shop that has a fork/shock dyno. If they do and know how to use it...and you're willing to pay the labor hours...I'm sure they could outperform the over-the-counter Race Tech setup. If they are not really a "suspension" shop but only a motorcycle shop that knows...or at least claims to know...how to tune suspension components, I'd say they accomplished a lot if they equal or out perform the RT kit.

The beauty of the RT Gold Valve kit is that you can buy the kit, install the kit, and have spare shims to tune to even different parameters if you so decide...and you don't have to pay shop labor to have it done. OP, I'm not going to tell you that you can't get a good result from whoever it is you're mentioning here. I just think it's a little bold to make the claim they made on its face, because "worth the money" covers a lot of ground.

I've had excellent results from the RTGV kit in my fork, and I know many others have too. Even better performance can be obtained by digging up an older KX fork and tweaking it, but I don't consider the modded OEM fork to be that lacking. It's a KLX. You could install Pro Circuit components on it, and you'd still have a 300+ pound, underpowered, dirt bike. The KLX shines because it's just about bomb proof reliable when decently cared for.

 

There's not much to work with in the stock KLX forks, only a spring and a few shims. And, you can't even get to the rebound shims.

Ride on
Brewster

 

For the $130 or so I spent on the kit and oil (shop around, deals to be had), plus the 5 or 6 hours I spent on the installation and tuning... I think it was well worth the time and money *grin

That said, I'm an old fat guy that doesn't push the suspension that hard, so someone who is looking for (and can recognize) good performance might be less impressed.. LOL