Ktm Xplor 48 Forks

[borgwarner]

http://www.enduro.de/vorstellung-das-neue-wp-fahrwerk-2017-38984/

 

Here is the Guy who was part of the design team for the forks and shock.

[dieselcruiserhead]

I have the 4cs 2015 model on my husq. Once tuned, they are the best forks I've ever used. Instantly made me so much quicker on hair and hound & desert style riding. I welcome the "lack" of change, personally. I sent it to pro tune in Ohio. Cheap and perfect. Alex at Konflict is also argueably one of the top tuners in the country and where I'll send this next set. Pretty sure I'm going to sell the 15 and buy the 17 with these new explor forks.

Edited October 3, 2016 by dieselcruiserhead

[vic2340]

Hope so.

We would like to think that but let's be real... definitely not. If you had ever ridden KYB SSS set up by a reputable tuner you would know that it doesn't get much better than that.

[Bearwood]

Well, now that I've ridden almost 5h with the new Xplor fork and shock I can say that I really think that KTM an WP has done their homework. It swallows the really gnarly terrain with ease. Both my brother and a friend that tried my new 350 Sixdays positively reacted to how nice the fork worked.

Earlier models of the EXC and the EXC-F range (2012-2016) had the difference of the old open cartridge and the 4CS on the Sixdays versions.

The only thing that differs between the ordinary and the Sixdays version on the 17's regarding the fork is that on the Sixdays you get the powerpart preload adjuster as standard. Otherwise it's the same Xplor on both models.

So it's NOT a new version of the 4CS as some of you speculated. It's a completely new fork and shock and the fork is an open cartridge. Not a closed cartridge as the 4CS.

Here's a great vid showing the Xplor fort put to pieces:

[Creeature]

Bump. Any reviews? What does the preload adjuster do? 

[harrperf]

We just finished some development on an xplor set for this years baja racing (250-500-1000)

 

The xplor is a rebranded open chamber fork much like the older pre bladder fork bikes.

It uses essentially the same fork tubes as the 4cs (inner/outer tubes) with what you can call ktm 85 fork internals. 

Its an open chamber design with adjustable spring preload on the main caps , non adjustable base valve bleed (bottom) and what they call adjustable rebound/compression. one fork is "normal" the other uses a mid valve design that doesnt do much, all rebound valving is housed in one fork side. 

For our baja bike we removed the "bad" midvalve and replaced it with the matching mid valve from the other fork. This requires the rebound adjustment needle, stem post, and mid valve plus shims.

This allows both forks to contribute damping equally. This isnt strictly necessary we almost went purely assymetric with NO damping in on leg and all the other but for now we didnt.

 

all in all the fork is a step towards the past but to a design that has proven very sucessful in offroad type riding and is very reliable. 

[Creeature]

2 minutes ago, harrperf said:

We just finished some development on an xplor set for this years baja racing (250-500-1000)

 

The xplor is a rebranded open chamber fork much like the older pre bladder fork bikes.

It uses essentially the same fork tubes as the 4cs (inner/outer tubes) with what you can call ktm 85 fork internals. 

Its an open chamber design with adjustable spring preload on the main caps , non adjustable base valve bleed (bottom) and what they call adjustable rebound/compression. one fork is "normal" the other uses a mid valve design that doesnt do much, all rebound valving is housed in one fork side. 

For our baja bike we removed the "bad" midvalve and replaced it with the matching mid valve from the other fork. This requires the rebound adjustment needle, stem post, and mid valve plus shims.

This allows both forks to contribute damping equally. This isnt strictly necessary we almost went purely assymetric with NO damping in on leg and all the other but for now we didnt.

 

all in all the fork is a step towards the past but to a design that has proven very sucessful in offroad type riding and is very reliable. 

So it's pretty much an old design with cheaper internals? Have you ever seen any sherco valved Xplors? 

Safe to say that in general, oc carts are softer and more reliable than cc? My WP cc forks were way too stiff for off-road, very punishing. Took a lot of time and money to get them to work. 

[harrperf]

1 hour ago, Casing-daily said:

So it's pretty much an old design with cheaper internals? Have you ever seen any sherco valved Xplors? 

Safe to say that in general, oc carts are softer and more reliable than cc? My WP cc forks were way too stiff for off-road, very punishing. Took a lot of time and money to get them to work. 

 

The misonomer is "cheaper internals". Its high quality parts. KTM has realized hardly any consumers ever keep their suspension stock.. why bother adding adjustment that most people do not know how to utilize...once most people set a clicker setting they leave it there anyways.

 

Depending on what you want this stock xplor fork is very soft stock. Good for pure offroad. Unusable for moto stock. 

Ive read some reviews on the fork and watched some various videos and had to laugh... this industry is full of marketting... 

To start off tuning... the average consumer could remove only "rebound" fork base valve by turning the fork upside down carefully and not draining fluid... and add shims or remove to get a direction they prefer for the future. This could be done quickly and cheaply...and highly effective.

 

Its very likely we will be offering an adjustable base valve to give guys more range of tuning but again its not needed if you get the valving where u want it

[harrperf]

I forgot to add - the "compression" side fork that doesnt have rebound damping or conventional mid has cartridge holes that do NOT allow rebound damping if you DO install a midvalve.

These holes have to be plugged up  before a functional rebound stack can be made

[ktmxcw250]

Does anyone have a setting they like on stock forks?

[ktmxcw250]

This is the 450 six days, feels so unbalanced.

[markit]

This is the 450 six days, feels so unbalanced.

Is it sprung for your weight? Whats your sag set at front and back?

[Arctic Pride]

On 4/1/2017 at 4:18 PM, harrperf said:

 

The xplor is a rebranded open chamber fork much like the older pre bladder fork bikes.

It uses essentially the same fork tubes as the 4cs (inner/outer tubes) with what you can call ktm 85 fork internals. 

 

 

On 10/7/2016 at 1:26 AM, Bearwood said:

 Both my brother and a friend that tried my new 350 Sixdays positively reacted to how nice the fork worked.

So it's NOT a new version of the 4CS as some of you speculated. It's a completely new fork and shock and the fork is an open cartridge. Not a closed cartridge as the 4CS.

 

so....

[rider2371]

Couple useful vidz by a buddy of mine.

 

 

 

 

[borgwarner]

The Xplor is one of the best Forks I`ve ever ridden. I think some like to thrash KTM on their forks, but the Xplor is a really good one for gnarly terrain.

Everyone who rode the a Xplor around here was impressed. An some of those where actually shaking their heads in disbelieve.

The guy I ride most of the time with bought a '17 250 EXC and other than springs nothing was done to the suspension.  It is impressive to see how much faster he is on the new bike and how less tiring it is for him. 

Keep in mind we are not riding desert style (or whatever this is called) we mainly ride first to fourth gear gnarly stuff and also a lot of soft sand.

[stevebaum]

Wow, not sure if I got a bad batch of Xplor fork, but I have a 17 KTM 300 six days and my regular riding is rock, roots and gnarl. We rarely get into 4th gear. Honestly, I'm a little over the spring weight ( 170 lbs. w/o gear), but did the fork & shock preload adjustments prior.  The fork always started out great, but after a few hours it seemed to just blow through the stroke like my oil went from 5 weight to 1. I'd bleed the hot air, increase the compression clickers, but they seemed to just 'tire' out and stop damping ( for lack of a better words ) after several hours. 

I ended up sending the fork & shock to Kreft for a small fortune. It's everything I hoped for. Highly adjustable ( clickers seem to make more of an impact ), no more fade ( rode 10 miles of the Rubicon & I wore out well before the fork ).  

[Southernend]

I recently had my 17 xcw revalved front and back for rocky singletrack riding. Thought the stock suspension was good and thought suspension work was for racers and experts. I was wrong! For $500 the bike handles incredible in the rough stuff. Still running stock fork springs and one size heavier in rear. I bought the heavier springs several months ago, so suspension shop didn't charge for different springs. Very very happy 

[M A T R]

I recently had my 17 xcw revalved front and back for rocky singletrack riding. Thought the stock suspension was good and thought suspension work was for racers and experts. I was wrong! For $500 the bike handles incredible in the rough stuff. Still running stock fork springs and one size heavier in rear. I bought the heavier springs several months ago, so suspension shop didn't charge for different springs. Very very happy 

Where'd u get em done?

[Southernend]

KB5

[-AC-]

This is an old thread, but certainly still relevant. For what it's worth, I've never had a fork soak up the trail chatter (roots, rocks, branches, raccoons) like the Xplor 48 on my 17 300XCW Sixer. I had Ohlin's on my 1995, and they weren't this nice. It's fairly shocking (pun intended) how well they work on the sharp annoying stuff. Big-hit stuff, I'd call them good but not great. Mine are stock, but I might throw some money at them this winter. I'm interested to see if a good shop can take them from really really good on trails to something transcendent...