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#1
24 Aug 2009
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KLE500 (2006) front fork air pressures
Has anyone tinkered with the pressure in the front forks. The Manual says 0 kpa adjustable!! I have been doing a bit of rough country riding but find the front forks just too soft they bottom out frequently.
Obviously this can be adjusted but what is the pressure range?? 
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#2
25 Aug 2009
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Hi Phil and welcome to the forum.
Despite warnings from Kawasaki and the dealers about not playing with the air pressure in the forks there are several posts in here with pressures up to 35psi. I'm not that game but I did take mine up to 10psi and it made a big difference. Diving under brakes has been reduced and the general "feel" through corners has improved. I set the pressure with the wheel on the ground.
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#3
25 Aug 2009
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Hi the forks can easily handle the 20 psi in mine whether thats on road, off road or jumping over the odd bridge and i'm about 95kg
The handling and braking are significantly improved which i think outweighs the possibly shortened seal life Although i would like some WP 48mm USD forks with twin discs eventually and a slightly longer rear shock
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#4
26 Aug 2009
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Ive been running mine with 10psi with no problems. Deffo improves the handling and the fork dive under braking.
Roy 
__________________
"Whats in that thing??", An R1 owner said.
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#5
26 Aug 2009
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After reading about upping the air pre load in KLE's I decided to try it on mine _ with good results . I have 10psi but may choose to try a bit higher . With no air pressure I may have well been using a sponge as a fork
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#6
26 Aug 2009
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THanks for the feed back, I will give it a go and see if it helps me from destroying the bike and myself on those very rough bush tracks.
As for the rear shock I need it shorter not longer as I suffer from "ducks disease" short legs and I have a lot of trouble supporting the bike when stoping on rough or broken ground. I am having the seat remodeled to take it as low as I can.
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#7
6 Oct 2009
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Your oil seals are going to leak if you pressurize the forks. Rather install progressive springs. Make the seat narrower in the front. it makes your legs reach the ground easier
__________________
Pleco If its stupid, but it works, it aint stupid.
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#8
6 Oct 2009
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Quote:
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#9
21 Oct 2009
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I have some kx forks that will going on mine soon with a 320mm disc and better caliper (basically a motard setup, but still using 21" front for dirt) - got em on ebay. Will let you know how it goes....
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#10
27 Oct 2009
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If you want to improve your suspension, rule no. 1 is to change the spring first. You probably need the spring with bigger "spring rate" The original one is about 0.4 kg/mm (22 pounds per inch) and it is too soft.
__________________
www.NMsite.com Last edited by Nikola_M; 27 Oct 2009 at 10:24.
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#11
1 Nov 2009
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Hi,
we recently changed the standard front fork springs of our 2006 KLE 500 for Wilbers Racing ones, progressive. Boy that made a difference. The bike doesn't dive as much under braking, but more importantly has better road contact through corners, where surface is more on the rough side. The feedback is so much better. Unfortunately, for me as a dad, our son is now curving on the foot pegs through corners, as he feels the bike has become more direct, more predicatable. He never did that with the old springs, as he felt not 100% in control. About two weeks after we have changed the springs we have also changed the front brake hose for a steel flex one, and it really has transformed the bike into a very nice unit. If you pull the lever, you can now hear the tyre scream, if you want so. Now you can talk of stopping power even with two up, which was a vague expirience before. For a relativly small amount of money this bike is now a pleasure to ride. Next project might be the seat.... Cheers from downunder, Michael P.S.: Adding air pressure in the front fork will make them stiffer, but even less sensitive. By their design those valves are only there to release built up pressure in the fork after hard riding. That is to my understanding.
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#12
28 Aug 2011
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How do you adjust the pressure?
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#13
29 Aug 2011
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Pressure adjustment
A bicycle pump works fine to adjust the pressure.
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