Our first review this month covers the changes Pete Russell at Novation Suspension made to our 525. We choose Pete because of word of mouth - recommendations about his knowledge and tuning abilities of WP suspension.

 

Novation Suspension

Novation is becoming increasingly popular around the world due to their innovative S.S. Valve. This valve replaces your shim stacks in your forks and allows for 4-way adjustability consisting of high speed, mid speed, low speed and even suppleness. Pete had developed the S.S. Valve to solve the problem of having to revalve his forks for different types of riding. Not only does Pete live and breathe suspension, but he also races desert, motocross, and arenacross at a pro-level and goes out of his way to make sure his customers are happy. He even offers a money back guarantee on his S.S. Valves, you can't argue with that kind of service.

We had Pete modify both our forks and our PDS shock. Up front the S.S. Valves run about $280 and can be installed very quickly by any half savvy home mechanic. Pete will install the valves and inspect your forks for an additional $45. In addition, you can also do what we opted for; on top of inspecting the forks Pete will modify the rebound and midvalve for $90. In the rear a special spring is used in conjunction with valving and other internal mods to remove the harshness and increase the adjustability of the PDS shock. These mods are supposed to help the bike stay lower under acceleration but also allow a stiffness to keep you from getting too low. The shock mods run between $275 and $325 depending on what model of bike you have.

Testing

In order to get a feel for the individual effects of the suspension changes we started with the stock 20mm offset inserts in the DirtTricks triple clamps. For a fair comparison for how the suspension handled this rough tight terrain we also brought a 2002 KTM 520 EXC and a new 2004 KTM 525 EXC along, both with stock suspension. The first thing I noticed when hitting the trails was that our bike seemed to stay glued to the terrain. Compared to the suspension on the stock bikes, the Novation Suspension remained plush, but felt much calmer; lower, and stable over rocks and small whoops. 

Riding the 525 Project Bike against the '02 and '04 resulted in some interesting findings. The 2002 520 suspension was stock but the settings were dialed in for a screaming fast Washington woods rider. His bike felt good, very plush, but also a bit jittery. I felt the bike handled the obstacles ok but compared to our modified '03 it was very bouncy and loose feeling. The suspension on the 2004 was completely stock with the suspension settings in the stock positions. This bike was super plush over everything and felt a bit spongy compared to the '02 or '03, probably due to the stock settings. The one thing I did like about the '04, is that it cornered better than either the '02 or our modified '03 project bike, possibly because the 18mm offset KTM is now using.

We took a quick trailside break to discuss our thoughts on the suspension. We agreed the forks felt great and really couldn't fault them in any area. They were plush on the rocks, big tree roots, and braking bumps - yet very controlled over the small whoops. While riding a normal pace, we left the fork settings as delivered for this terrain. As we began to pick up the pace and charge through some bigger trail whoops, the forks needed to be a bit firmer. The S.S. valve allows you to adjust high speed, mid speed, low speed and even suppleness. After going one click harder on the high speed and mid speed, we regained the firmness we were looking to handle the bigger obstacles. We didn't touch the forks - or make any comments about them for the rest of the weekend; they were that good.

Our bike didn't seem to track as well in the corners as either of the other bikes, so we headed back to camp to check the sag on the rear shock. Sure enough, the sag was off - so we reset the sag to 4? and headed back out on the trail. The bike immediately started to track much better in the corners, and felt much more balanced. Ed, AKA Mr. Washington woods rider, pounded the bike for a few miles and still commented that he would like the shock to have more movement in the first part of the travel for this type of terrain. He really lets the back end of the bike fly around and bounce off anything and everything that comes in its path. We fiddled with both the compression and the rebound and ended up with one softer on compression and rebound.

Conclusions

After all the fiddling, the bike worked extremely well for me over everything, but Ed still had concerns. Knowing how fast Ed is in the woods, his comments have some validity for fast woods riding. We'll check with Pete about what adjustments can be made to make the first part of the rear shock travel a tad more reactive for woods type riding.

At this point I am very pleased with how low and solid the bike feels with the Novation suspension modifications. The ability of the S.S. Valves to adjust the forks for different terrain and riding conditions is one of the things that differentiate Pete's work from some of the other popular companies out there today. Pete's rear shock modifications did exactly what he claimed; they allowed the rear end to remain low under acceleration, which gives the bike a much more stable and controlled feel over the stock setup. We will follow up with updates on Pete's recommendations for making the shock more compliant in the woods as well as our findings on how well the S.S. Valves really does adapt to different riding conditions.

I look forward to to some desert rides, and working it out on some favorite Vet Motocross tracks to really test the S.S. Valve's adjustability - so check back with us.

Novation Suspension Update - November 2003

This past month I had the opportunity to take the 525 on a 90-mile dualsport ride and make a trip to the Elsinore MX track in Southern California. After both of these rides I am gaining a better understanding of what impact the different adjustments on the S.S. Valves have on the feel of the bike. It takes a bit of testing but I now have a grip on what changes I need to make to dial the forks for different riding conditions. In addition I spent some time making some adjustments on the shock and was impressed with how well it handled such a variety of conditions.

During the dualsport ride we encountered mostly fire-roads with some nasty rock sections. The settings I had the bike adjusted to up at Kennedy Meadows were a little off for the rocky sections on this ride. At Kennedy there are lots of rocks but they are scattered and you are bouncing off them instead of riding over them. On this ride the rocks were continuous and made up the entire trail. For these conditions the front end needed the "low speed" adjuster softened to be more compliant over the rocks and smaller continuous objects in the trail. I found the shock settings I used at Kennedy to be fine for the dualsport ride so I left it alone.

Elisinore MX Park really let me feel what each adjuster does to the handling of the bike. I do not claim to be a motocross rider but I can make it around a track and even jump a table top or two and maybe even a small double. With the settings from the dualsport ride the bike felt way too soft around the track. I was bottoming the rear shock and the forks were using too much travel. I firmed up the "suppleness" adjustment two clicks and what a

difference. It felt like I added stiffer springs as the initial part of the travel firmed right up and the bike stayed up much better, actually too good. I ended up backing the "suppleness" screw back out so it was only one click firmer that original.

While this helped the bike stay up in the corners the bike was still soft both front and rear off the jumps. Back at the truck I went stiffer on the "mid speed" adjuster and settled on two clicks over the original settings. While making these adjustments the bike became a little firm over the braking bumps and small chop. One click softer on the "low speed" adjuster and everything was smooth again. I would have liked to mess with the "high speed" adjuster and feel what it does but I will save that until next time.

In the rear the shock was fine on the dualsport ride but on the motocross track it was way too soft. I went three stiffer on the compression and the bottoming stopped. Between the forks and shock adjustment the bike started kicking the rear off the jumps. I slowed the rebound damping down a click and the bike was once again balanced. While I more than happy with the shock performance on the track Pete asked me to send the shock back for some updates. He and I discussed Ed's comments about the shock being to slow to respond in the tight singletrack and Pete thought he had some ideas that should help.

With these settings I was really impressed at how well the big dualsported 525 handled around the track. I felt more confident on the track with my blinkers and horn than I did on my old YZ250 of yesteryear. What really surprised me is that other riders where blowing by me on the jumps but over the whoops the 525 held its own, tracking straight and sucking it all up. It is great to able to go from slow technical singletrack to a motocross track once in a while and just make a few clicks on the adjusters. Desert season has arrived and our Annual Ocotillo Wells trip is planned so check back next month to see how the shock updates went and how the suspension works in the desert conditions.

ETs Guide to the S.S. Valve Adjustments - November 2003

Suppleness: An increase feels like you are increasing the spring rate. Helps to hold up the front end and make it firmer in the initial part of the travel.

Low Speed: Similar feel to the stock adjuster. Allows the forks to be suppler over rocks and roots.

Mid Speed: Provides increased bottoming resistance over whoops or obstacles that make you blow through your travel quickly. Gives the front end a more or less progressive feel.

High Speed: I have not played with this adjustment enough yet. This adjustment is mainly used to control the harshness of the front end after you dial in the "Mid Speed" and the rest of the settings.

All of these adjustments work together to make the forks completely adjustable for your skill and the riding conditions. Making an adjustment in one area may create the need to adjust another area. Once you figure out what impact each adjuster makes on the feel of the forks you can dial them in pretty quickly. It does take time and thought to figure it out but once you do I think it is well worth it.

Novation Shock Update - January 2004

Pete from Novation has really stepped up to the plate with his updates to the PDS shock. You may remember one of our test riders thought the Novation shock on the 525 was a little slow to respond in tight single-track conditions. We sent it back up to Pete for some new updates he had recently been working with. After receiving the shock back from Novation and hitting the desert for a few rides I can say the shock is no longer slow to respond. We dialed in the shock sag and settings over two desert trips and now the shock feels so good we are going to have to fiddle with the S.S. Valve adjustments to bring the forks up to par. Ah the agony of dialing in suspension!

For desert riding I found that I personally liked the sag set at about 4.5 inches, as I prefer a more stable bike to a more active one. This setting lets the rear end squat and remain planted over the rough desert terrain while still allowing the bike to carve turns fairly well. Where the shock previously felt a little mushy in the initial part of travel it is now very responsive yet still plush. One of our test loops runs through some 1st & 2nd gear tight rocky and sandy canyons. The shock was very plush over the rocks yet snapped back quickly to stay on top of the sand and be ready for the next obstacle.

At one point during testing I tried running 5 inches of sag and the shock was a little slow, as one would expect. It wasn't quite sure whether to start swapping or stay put. After dialing in the 4.5 inches of sag the rear end now stays straight and very controlled but still isn't too twitchy over the high-speed whoops and rough sections. For MX I would probably set the sag around 4 inches for a bit more pressure on the front wheel and an even quicker turning response. It would also allow the rear end to snap back quicker over jumps and kickers found on the tracks.

We plan on doing some further adjustments to the S.S. Valves in the forks over the next couple rides to rebalance the suspension. My initial guess is that I will stiffen the mid setting a click or two and possibly make the suppleness one click firmer. The mid adjustment will provide a little more firmness through whoops while the suppleness adjustment will hold the front end up a little higher in the initial part of the travel. Pete recently let me know that he has just made available some new-patented mods for the fork midvalves. I really doubt we can resist the chance to feel what Pete's new mods will bring to the 525 so check back with us in a few issues!