www.DRRiders.com

... did you say penny? Dude, did you score a set of forks for one cent?

Another option would be to go for the KTM LC4 forks (the USD ones); their travel is 270mm, just 10mm longer than the DR stock forks, so this difference can be easily counterbalanced with a 5.10" rear tyre.

However, I do not know whether the LC4 forks fit in the steering head of the DR; I suspect they must since other KTM forks fit in the DR, but I don't know for sure.

I have a set of these forks from a 98 250sx, anybody ever tried these on the dr? Any general opinions on these forks?

If I understand you guys correctly, this is from the bottom of the steering head down to the wheel axle with the wheel in the air?

Yes, exactly.

My bike has them on by the PO. GREAT FORKS for serious DS riding. I measured 692mm from the bottom of the steering head down to the center of the axle with the front wheel in the air.
Sag, about 75mm for my 85 Kg bones (187lbs) which is just right (27%) but I am not 100% sure it has the KTM stock springs in there.
This front sag has been there for a rear Sag of 86mm which is supposedly right as well but with a 1mm shorter WP shock and a 70Nm spring.
Though, I feel the bike rear end too high - even though the WP fork being 21mm longer and I suppose less saggy than the stock forks.
(Anybody has any stockish front vs back sag for a similar weight guy?)


275mm is what I found in the what I measured along the shiny sliding part and what is written in the official "BEDIENUNGSANLEITUNG" manual.

They do but I have to ask the PO if he made any custom steering stem or so.
What is missing is the steering angle stopper and the stock lock has no where to grab to. I use a wheel lock.
As for the angle stopper, the IMS tank is pretty flexible and has not been fractured in 9 years or so.
This flexibility saves the handlebar from bending but who knows, the tank be may broken eventually.
For the time being, it seems it would take such a crash I would have different trouble to worry for...

I mentioned 2 pages ago of a slow sat-modem here but we've been upgraded to proper land connection so I'll have pictures uploaded in a few days of my bike with the WP combo setup of the previous owner..

So the LC4 USD forks are only 21mm longer than the stock ones; this differene can be eliminated by simply using a 5.10 rear tyre instead of the stock 120/90 (the 5.10 is exactly 21mm taller than a 120/90!)


Sag... When I started riding (about 25 years ago), the recommendation from the experts was to use 20% sag for MX and 25% for enduro. Over the years these percentages have gradually increased, and today the experts advise to go for 30%/35% sag values. I suppose you can pick any value in between these extremes as a starting point and adjust according to your personal preferences afterwards.

I only weigh 58kg so I cannot advise you on appropriate spring rates, but from what you say, the springs you have there now appear to be fine.


Good to know, thanks!


If you could find out, that would be a great help for the rest of us!

If you could find out, that would be a great help for the rest of us![/quote]

Some have made it fit, LukasM, and others like me had problems matching bearings. Different solutions depending on what bits you actually have. I sleeved the steering head, or bushed the outer races, and used entire KTM bearings. Details in the build thread linked in my sig.



Steve

If I read your thread correctly, you used KTM forks off a 450SX? These are clearly not the same ones that the LC4 uses (48mm vs 43mm diameter, 300mm vs 275mm travel), but I presume you're saying that they share the same steering head internals -- and thus would have the same fitting issues in a DR650?

As I understand it, KTM steering head bearings are much the same across the range and years, much like the Suzi ones seem to be. However, I have not measured any LC4 steering heads. Note that others have successfully used the Suzi outer cups with the KTM inners, like LukasM has reported. This failed for me due to variances in the angle of the cups with a couple of sets of bearings. Others have managed to swap the shafts, but in my case with the adjustable offset shaft that was not a simple thing to do. Another option is to sleeve the shaft to take the Suzi inners. All I can offer other than what I did, was to suggest that you have a close look at what you have, and suggest that its probably unlikely that you can mix and match bearings.

YMMV
Steve