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Emulators vs USD fork swap for a 230?

By atnipjd,
in CRF150F/L, CRF230F/L & CRF250F

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Apprentice

atnipjd

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Ok guys I'm looking for several opinions here so the more the better! I've got a 08 230 and as we all know something must be done about the suspension. I'm sending the shock off to Hlebo, thanks to Vortec, so I've already got the rear taken care of. What I'm debating between is what to do with the forks.

I can't make up my mind between emulators or doing a USD conversion. The emulators are obviously much cheaper and will cause a lot less headaches when it comes to installation. However, I don't mind spending the money or the time if the USD forks are going to be substantially better than the emulators. Vortec has advised me very well on every issue I have come to him with so far, and he advises going the emulator route. That being said it's gonna take some convincing to make me change my mind, but I do need all the input I can get on the issue.

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Grand Master

gruberyz

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thats not the question here. one i don't have the money for that and two i don't want all the maintenance

well you start out with a fat under powered tank of a bike. Then want to improve it? Never understood this mind set. I mean a stock KX100 will destroy it in any type of racing. If you just want a play bike who cares about the suspension. I mean my wife had a CR230F for almost two months. Moved to a CRF150RB after only two races. Was a great decision.

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ride-onn

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I just did the usd swap and I thought it was worth the money. I used cr 125 forks and the Emig stem. I didnt revalve or shorten the forks and the bike floats over the big whoops now. The bike also looks way better with the fat bars and bigger forks to. For the rear I just set my sag and bought a crf150 link, still waiting on the link. Cost me a bit more money cause I had to get all the parts across the border the forks needed a rebuild and I kept all the old parts as spares for my dads 230 rather than selling them.

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230Fstroker

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I just did the usd swap and I thought it was worth the money. I used cr 125 forks and the Emig stem. I didnt revalve or shorten the forks and the bike floats over the big whoops now. The bike also looks way better with the fat bars and bigger forks to. For the rear I just set my sag and bought a crf150 link, still waiting on the link. Cost me a bit more money cause I had to get all the parts across the border the forks needed a rebuild and I kept all the old parts as spares for my dads 230 rather than selling them.

Any pics by chance??
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Grand Master

Chuck.

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I've used damper rod forks (like CRF230s), conventional cartridge forks (MX), and cartridge USDs (MX) and while cartridge forks provide the best damping a Racetech Emulator gets you about 90% at a much lower price.

For bikes without a front disc like XR200s almost any MX fork will provide a disc brake, and the later ones have cartridges with compression and rebound clickers. But they are 2-3" longer which creates geometry and handling issues. I suggest starting with Emulators to gain a better understanding of your bike's handling before jumping to MX forks.

So the easy way is to install Emulators and learn more about yo

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The Demolisher

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I've used damper rod forks (like CRF230s), conventional cartridge forks (MX), and cartridge USDs (MX) and while cartridge forks provide the best damping a Racetech Emulator gets you about 90% at a much lower price.

For bikes without a front disc like XR200s almost any MX fork will provide a disc brake, and the later ones have cartridges with compression and rebound clickers. But they are 2-3" longer which creates geometry and handling issues. I suggest starting with Emulators to gain a better understanding of your bike's handling before jumping to MX forks.

So the easy way is to install Emulators and learn more about yo

This exactly. Playing with the emulators was a ton of fun for me and now I can understand and fix handling issues on my bikes.

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Enthusiast

ride-onn

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how much did you end up spending overall on the swap?

$110 forks legs shipped

$200 Axle, wheel, triple trees shipped

$180 Emig stem

$80 for bearings bushings and seals

Rebuilt the forks myself so I saved on that

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Apprentice

atnipjd

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Emulators work beautifully on rough technical stuff, but the stock forks just don't have enough stability for high speed open trails. Emulators will also get it done for minor track usage. I used them for the longest time until I finally gave up on them and went to cartridge forks.

I noticed that you have also put in a wiseco piston on your 230. Did you have to do anything to the cylinder or is it the same overall dimension as the stock piston?

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The Demolisher

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Whoops were the main reason I went with beefier forks. I couldn't get the forks with emulators to handle whoops like I wanted. I got them close, but it was still just not enough. I think that with standard springs instead of the stock progressive rate springs it would be much better, but I never tried. Emulators set up correctly are still much much better than regular old damper rods in the whoops. If I did it all over again I would still have gone with the emulators at first before the swap. It was fun and kept me entertained.

Edited by gabechroust
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