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dr350-digest          Sunday, October 3 1999          Volume 01 : Number 180




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Date: Sat, 02 Oct 1999 12:46:06 -0700
From: Bryan Cowger <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (dr350) Race-Tech gold valves

>
> Question:  I have a '98 DR350SE with the Showa forks and shock.
> I'm upgrading the fork springs and shock spring and installing
> the Kouba link.  I'm wondering if the Race-Tech gold valves
> are a significant upgrade of either the forks or shock.

I have the RT Gold Valves both front and rear, and love them.  Long-time
readers of this list have likely tired of hearing me rave about them in the
past, but again:

PLUSH!!  That's the number one benefit of the GVs, in my opinion.  A close
second would be vastly improved bottoming resistance, as well as much
smoother over the small bumps.

The whole idea of the GVs is to increase the flow of fluid through the
suspension valving.  The problem it solves is that the stock piston (shock)
and valves (forks) contain relatively small orifices through which all the
fluid must pass during compression and rebound.  For high-speed movement,
the fluid volume/second can be quite high, and reaches a point where the
fluid simply will not flow that fast, also known, I believe, as hydraulic
lock.  This creates a non-linear suspension, similar to the disadvantage of
the damping rod forks in the older DR models.

With the GVs, the orifices are large enough that the point of hydraulic lock
is never reached.  Instead, the shim stacks provide all the damping, which
is exactly what is desired from the suspension.

The great thing about the GV kits is that each installation is custom tuned
to each rider.  You get a package of about 100 shims of various thicknesses
and diameters, and a worksheet to fill out.  The worksheet takes into
account your size, riding style, expertise, bike type, whether you like a
firmer or softer suspension, etc.  The outcome of this is a custom-built
shim stack for you.

In addition, triple stage compression and dual stage rebound stacks are
employed.  For compression, this means that there are shims to control the
small bumps, other shims that kick in for medium sized bumps, and yet a
third set of shims that come into play for jump landings, for example.  As
such, you end of with a suspension that is soft for the little stuff, yet
stiff for the big stuff.

In summary (all this IMHO), well worth the money.  And they are easy to do
yourself, as part of the regular suspension maintenance that should be
performed.  Adding stiffer springs, GVs, and Kouba links is *the* great
solution to the DRs otherwise so-so suspension.

For those with damping rod forks, the Race-Tech cartridge fork emulators up
front and a GV in the shock is the way to go.  And for those seeking the
ultimate suspension solution for a DR, switch everything over to RMX
suspension, as John Gill has outlined before.  (You still around, John??)

BTW, I have a write-up on how to service a DR shock that I've posted before
- -- e-mail if interested.

Bryan
'96 DR441
Sacramento
[e-mail]


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Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 22:56:41 -0700
From: The Strickler's <[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: (dr350) Suzuki parts dealers ???

Guys:
In response to aftermarket parts &OEM, try www. mxsouth.com.  He is located
in Florida.  Jeff will work with you to no end, and he really knows his
stuff.

Prices spank ever other distributor I have used, and I have received orders
in as soon as the second day!!!.  NO matter if you are located in the east
or west, he ships the product direct from the nearest wholesale outlet to
you.  It's terrific!  Just log on to his website.  Then send him an e-mail,
give him a call, or just browse his catalog.

Strick

[e-mail]


- -----Original Message-----
From:    [e-mail] [SMTP:[e-mail]]
Sent:    Saturday, October 02, 1999 11:38 AM
To:    [e-mail]
Cc:    [e-mail]
Subject:    Re: (dr350) Suzuki parts dealers ???

Bob;

If you are talking about genuine Suzuki parts then I would reccomend
Sloan's.
These guys are located in Murfeesboro, TN; it is a full dealership for
Suzuki, Honda and Yamaha. They will give you a break on factory parts that
are mail ordered from them. I may be wrong, but I don't think there is a
straight percentage discount; they usually evaluate the profit margin for
some of the parts before they give you an answer. When I had my Yamaha
RT180,
the ONLY place to get parts was from the dealer and I used these guys quite
a
bit; they are very service oriented and have a good parts inventory.

If you are looking for a mail order house for aftermarket parts, then I
would
recommend Dennis Kirk. His firm is located up in Minnesota and I have
ordered
many items from this company. His prices are not as cheap as some of the
other big mail order houses, but his prices include UPS ground shipping.
The
only other caveat is a $5 service charge for orders under $100.

I personally like to find good dealers/mail order houses that are NOT
located
out on the Left Coast.......to many of these places are so big they really
don't give a hoot about customer satisfaction.

These are just my opinions, based upon my experiences (which have been good
so far) and I'm sure there are guys out there who'll lambaste Kirk or have
other large dealer/mail order outfits to recommend.

You can find Sloans at:

1-800-342-1681
I know they have a website so you'll have to get that from them if you call


Dennis Kirk

1-800-328-9280
www.denniskirk.com

Hope this helps out.....

Mike
' 93 DR350

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Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1999 15:08:51 -0600
From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Enrique_Su=E1rez_Reyes?= <[e-mail]>
Subject: (dr350) Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1999 23:06:36 +0200

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