Just an update on the suspension upgrades. Still loving the DX after the suspension build. Scheduled a track day at Laguna Seca but the sport bike decided against joining. While the DX is not the obvious choice for a road track, she handled it with grace. I was hoping to have a suspension person fiddle with the settings for the track, but none were available, so the ADV settings were left alone and the suspension was great.

It was a Ducati day so every superbike known to man was in the paddock. The Desert X was a huge hit, except for the bike tech, who questioned my bike choice for the day. LOL.

Definitely not a magazine worthy pix, but the stock tires were plenty grippy and I was comfortable leaning, a little bit, into the bendy bits.

 

Another tip o' the hat to Paul at Evo Oregon Suspension. He re-valved my shock so the local frost heaves in our roads no longer rattle my teeth! I don't have the facility to hoist the entire bike long term so will be doing fork work a bit later, I've been without the bike since November (only 3 weeks due to the suspension update) so want to ride a bit for now.

 

Have a look at Teknik Suspension offerings - very good and affordable solutions. Been very happy with their upgrade kits front and back. DUCATI DESERTX 2022

 

Also had my suspension adjusted with the help of Paul @evo.oregon and could not be happier. Paul revalved my shock and sent me a set of springs for my weight. I have still yet to do his valving mod on the compression cartridge -- waiting for him to stock some parts -- but even with just the right springs and the valving mod on the shock, the difference from the stock machine is substantial. I am not new to bikes or suspension tuning and tend to have to rework all of the bikes I ride, and while sometimes the changes are incremental, in this case it is a massive improvement. There is a lot less dive, yet the bike is a lot more compliant and composed; good balance. I can now push it nearly as much as my sport bikes in the twisties, too, and it does amazingly well.

I will probably go for the full Tractive set-up at some point in the future just because I can never leave "good enough" alone and I am picky but in all honesty, the way the suspension performs now it is hardly needed -- at least not until my riding will include a lot more rough off-road conditions.

This is a very cost-effective upgrade and a very functional one. If you do the work yourself it is especially a no-brainer.

Paul is great to work with, really knows his stuff, and his turnaround time for any work is impressive. Highly recommended.

 

Bumping this one up to give both Paul and my local guy, Tony Bennett, not that Tony Bennett, from 91 Octane Moto some props! Tony is here on the Central Coast (San Luis Obispo) and after some back and forth on tuning my DDX suspension, I sent him this thread. He reached out to Paul and the collaborated on getting my stock suspension sorted out. New springs, valving, and all the fixings from Paul and Tony worked his magic. What a difference!!

I’m new to adventure riding, but as a bigger boy, 6’3” & 235, I know suspension is critical for my bikes to perform. Road the stock stuff off road 3-4 times in different conditions, and while it wasn’t horrible, bottomed out the front and rear routinely. Signed up for 3 day off road adventure ride with Rawhyde, another quality outfit, and knew I needed to get the binders sorted.

We rode 500 miles on and off road in the Mojave Desert on dirt, sand, rocks, shale, tight canyon roads, fast sweepers, etc. The bike and suspension handled everything with poise. Super excited to have confidence the bike will stay composed in all conditions at my current riding level. Looking forward to more off road riding here in California and maybe beyond.

Another big thanks too Paul for sharing his skills, knowledge, and parts with my local guy Tony!

If your local to the Central Coast, you can find Tony 91 Octane Moto Motorcycle Suspension

 

Its been widely discussed that upgrading the stock KYB suspension makes the bike ride much better. I've personally sold and installed multiple sets of the TracTive components. However, not everyone wants to spend a lot of money to upgrade the suspension on this bike. I set out to improve the stock suspension components so people on a budget can have a better ride.

Not owning one myself, I borrowed one from the Ducati dealership in Portland (OR) I had a spare set of stock components one of my customers left with me when he upgraded to the TracTive products.

I rode the bike as I received it from the owner. He's a big guy, around 240 w/o gear so the end result is we were for sure going to Respring for him. For the sake of my testing, I rode with stock springs on his components and my revised components. Aside from my comments below, I do find the stock suspension to be a decent ride for those who are not riding aggressively, or are not riding off-road.

Initial impressions:
1) A ton of brake dive
2) A lot of deceleration dive
3) A lot of acceleration squat.
4) Below 35 mph it feels ok off-road when hitting potholes and mild washboard. Above that you start feeling the deficiencies
5) Riding up a semi-whooped trail, you notice how under sprung it is. To note, I am 205 w/o gear. I rode with MX Boots, Arai XD Helmet, and a Oneal Baja Jacket (not overly heavy)
6) Preload was maxed out on fork and shock (as received)

Opening up the forks, they use a split function (you all know this) much like a lot of other forks. Rebound on one side with no base valve. Compression on the other fork with a shim mid-valve, and a simple check valve base compression valve.

Improvements:
1) Replaced compression check valve only with a shimmed High Speed compression valve which is fully tunable. This required machining on the stock part. Changed shim stacks to fit my parameters.
2) Shock is a simple re-valve, no need for any other modifications. Originally only ran with a modified compression stack, but ended up redoing the rebound as well since it wasn't keeping up with the stock springs, let alone much stiffer springs.

Test riding:
#1-3 above were largely dialed out. To note, I had minimal spring preload on both the shock and the fork yet still saw those improvements.
Taking it on the same loop as before, while still undersprung, the bike still held up in the stroke much better, with it being less apparent. Someone at 180-200 lbs may not even need to Respring.
I tried a few different shim setups for my new arrangement, settling on one that has good hold up, but is nice and plush, even when hitting potholes.
Even the on-road Performance felt more confidence inspiring. I hit a section of Hwy 6 on the way to Tillamook (locals know what I'm talking about) that is rather rough and with the improvements, it was far better.

The final piece is springing the bike for Rider weight. I ended up installing new front springs I had made to OEM dimensions, coupled with the 0800-0225 Eibach spring for Rider weight. The front springs do not require any adapters/ tomfoolery to install since they are built to OEM spec. I will be stocking these springs in different rates for riders up to 320 lbs.

Right base valve is from a DesertX. The one on the left is a similar base valve from the Aprila Toureg 660.
View attachment 2462

Modified Base Valve
View attachment 2463

Custom wound springs at different rates
View attachment 2464

Test Bike Graciously loaned to me by Shahin from MotoCorsa in PDX
View attachment 2465

Hi how do i contact and purchase from you.

 

CONTACT — EVO Oregon Suspension

evooregon.com

That is my suspension shop. Please send me an email. I am out of pistons for a few weeks, so I can put you on my list. I have the fork springs in stock depending on your weight.

--Paul

 

I do find the stock suspension to be a decent ride for those who are not riding aggressively, or are not riding off-road.

Initial impressions:
1) A ton of brake dive
2) A lot of deceleration dive
3) A lot of acceleration squat.
4) Below 35 mph it feels ok off-road when hitting potholes and mild washboard. Above that you start feeling the deficiencies
5) Riding up a semi-whooped trail, you notice how under sprung it is. To note, I am 205 w/o gear. I rode with MX Boots, Arai XD Helmet, and a Oneal Baja Jacket (not overly heavy)
6) Preload was maxed out on fork and shock (as received)

Your initial impressions of the stock KYB are consistent with my own. Adequate, but far from ideal at higher speeds off-pavement, even after being resprung, minor tweaks to the stock shock valving, and playing around with the clickers & preload.

 

FWIW, I ultimately ended up with full TracTive suspension (cartridges, shock). Even with the correct springs and revalving, I was unable to get the KYB units working to my satisfaction.

IMO, the KYB internal components are undersized and have great difficulty in flowing enough fluid without cavitation. Plus, I wanted hi & lo speed compression adjustability on the shock.

 

I recently changed out my front springs to the correct weight on my DX supplied from Paul. Made a huge improvement even on the stock valving . Thanks again

 

So if we sent you the oem bottom base valves you could modify them and send them back so we could reassemble the forks ourselves?

 

Thanks Paul & glad my OEM stuff was put to good use after you installed my Tractive stuff.

To others here this is a great option if you want to maximize your OEM suspension on a budget & I can tell you firsthand Paul does amazing work. You will not be disappointed with any work he does for you if you are local or parts you buy.

 

I give Paul highest marks as well. I have a tuned Tractive suspension from him and a second suspension for a dual sport at his shop now. Great to work with too.

 

How much does all this cost? I'm currently building suspension on my Honda XL600R and would like to upgrade the DX next.

 

Loose suspension, looking at around 1K including springs. That’s front and rear.