has done the final DR650 suspension upgrades… FFRC’s new Plex Valves work wonders for the front forks and are a significant advance on the emulators and intiminators used by DR650 riders to date. The suspension geeks at Full Force Racing Components have been scheming on ways to transform the prehistoric suspension on the DR650 into something worthy of a modern bike. James from Full Force Racing Components spent a lot of time developing this Plex valve on their dyno machine, but also with various riders testing the DR650 suspension on easy dirt roads through to the punishment of a motocross track. It is hard not to rave about how different the DR650 suspension feels, with that smooth ride on dirt roads and easy dirt tracks right through to the most challenging terrain you could imagine. FFRC’s dyno and real testing suggests that most riders will find the FFRC Plex valves will be suitable for the stock springs for riders up to 100kg.The length of the Plex valve compresses the softer part of the springs sufficiently to achieve the right amount of sag with the DR650’s suspension. A while back FFRC customised the DR650 rear shock with excellent results, and tried the usual cheap mod of heavier fork oil up front with mediocre results. FFRC’s second level of DR650 suspension improvements have been incredible though. The rear shock was already dramatically improved with their custom valving, but now they have added a customised piston that makes the rear suspension even more plush over small bumps. And up the front suspension FFRC have invented their Plex valve which works so well the rod forks are now the equivalent of good cartridge forks, a job started by Race Tech emulators and intiminators by Ricor. The DR650 suspension is very plush over small bumps and corrugations, and yet now handles extreme abuse like this 60 foot jump with ease. As covered in a previous video, the rod forks are a very old inadequate design, and the DR650 suspension at both ends is too soft and underdamped. Also the rebound and compression damping at both ends is badly out of sync so can’t be solved with just using heavier oil, which was one of the requirements to make intiminators and emulators work. The usual suspension upgrade for the DR650 forks has been fitting Race Tech emulators or Ricor intiminators. Many riders report better performance with these in combination with heavier springs. However, while they are adjustable, emulators require disassembling your forks and modifying them, which many DR650 owners balk at. The intiminators do not require taking your forks apart, but they do require putting in a different fork oil weight as they only affect compression damping, not rebound damping, on the DR650 suspension. FFRC’s chief suspension guru, James, has been designing state of the art suspension components for years, not only for motorbikes but also rally cars and V8 racing cars, and wanted to create the ideal fork fork upgrade… the Plex Valve that would be the match the performance of quality cartridge forks, and could simply dropped into the fork, be adjusted if needed, would not require changing the fork oil, and even better could work well with the stock fork springs.
The prehistoric suspension on the dr650 a while back, ffrc customized the and tried the usual cheap mod of heavier but the second level improvements have been incredible – but now they’ve added a customized piston that and up front they have invented well the old rod forks are now the equivalent of good cartridge forks! and yet
Also handles extreme abuse like this 60-foot jump with ease. and the suspension at both ends is too soft and under damped. it can’t be fully solved with just for the forks have been fitting ’emulators’ or ‘intiminators’. emulators require disassembling they forks intimidators don’t require taking your forks apart, but they do need a
Different ffrc’s chief suspension guru, james, has been designing state-of-the-art suspension component for years, not only for all sorts of motorbikes, so he wanted to create the ultimate stock fork upgrade… a custom valve that would adjustable if needed, would not require changing the fork oil. james spent a
Lot of time developing the plex valves on their dyno machine, and also with various riders testing suspension from easy riding it’s hard not to rave about our different the dr650 feels with that smooth plush ride on any terrain you can imagine. ffrc’s dyno and real world testing suggest most riders will find the
Plex valves will suit the stock springs for riders up to around 100 kilograms. it looks as though stiffer single-rate fork springs will only be needed for heavier riders, a safari tank, or very aggressive riders. previously we had discussed how designed, but the length of the plex valve compresses the softer part
Of the spring rate this dyno chart compares the results of the budget option of 15 wait fork oil with the set of kayaba sss forks from a yzf 450 which are a very good cartridge fork. you can see how closely the plex valve mimics a cartridge fork, the rear suspension was already brilliant after james created custom
Valving for the rear shock. the addition now of a customized piston allows a wider range of settings with the shims, resulting in an even more plush feel, which is ffrc decided to test their latest upgrades in extreme conditions before developing it for more they reasoned if their suspension mods worked well in those
Conditions and the stock components held up okay it should also work all the test riders agreed the suspension was great, and even landing from the biggest jumps the stock fork springs are far too soft for makes so much sense to spend the extra money and get an excellent suspension setup tailored to your
Needs. and the dr650 will still be much cheaper than most adventure bikes in its class.
Transcribed from video
DR650 project: best suspension upgrade ever!︱Cross Training Adventure By Cross Training Adventure