Fork rebuild/overhaul

I have been reading up lately on the BRP and my first maintenance thing (that I am not doing myself) will be a fork/shock rebuild (the bike is a 2000) I was quoted 300 for both front and rear with rebuild/new seals. Is this too much? My husky revalve was only 400... for both front/rear. Also, is there anyone who I should (best option) go to in the south east?

$300 sounds like a fair price, to do any better you should see if there is a member near you that likes to do that stuff. For example I probably do it if you were in CO and I probably charge $100 + parts cost. Forks are not all that hard to do. But otherwise yeah $300 sounds very fair to me.

You really don't know if it's a good deal or not without knowing the shop's familiarity with those exact forks. Personally, I'd recommend you get a rifle shipping case and send the forks to someone who works on those exact forks all the time like Borynack (SP?) who is on here I think, or linked from the top of the home page here. Or I'd send them to Precision Concepts. That's my preference (PC) but you should check prices first.

So to repeat myself, I really don't like taking my dirt bike stuff to guys who don't work on that exact stuff all the time. And I don't like to take stuff to shops that are outside of their expertise. So while I like to get engine and suspension stuff done at PC, I wouldn't necessarily take my bike there to be dual sported, or take a street bike there for example.

I'd ship them to PC but Borynack and another guy in So Cal (can't remember his name)are all pretty good unless your income depends on a podium finish and you can tell the difference (I doubt I could...)

You might also post to the Yahoo Group. There oughta be some members in the south who have a recommendation.

Not talking rocket science, he said a fork rebuild not a modification process. Just my .02 cents.

Then again maybe my idea of a fork rebuild is different then yours come to thing of it.

Well, the nice thing about going to a pro shop like PC or Borynack is they do the stuff every shop should do IMHO. And that is to make the stock parts work better while they are in there. By that I mean asking the customer how much he weighs for example. If he's 70lbs. heavier than the bike came sprung for then perhaps suggesting that some appropriate springs would be an outstanding investment is in the customer's best interest.

Sure changing seals and R&R the oil is basic. But it's the guys who offer to do a lot more for a little more cabbage while they are in there that I like. Years ago I saw the advantage of going to a pro shop that specializes in suspension. I took a bike about 13 years ago to a guy's garage at his home and dropped it off. No receipt or anything. But he was one of the Kawasaki supercross mechanics and when I got the bike back I couldn't believe it was the same bike. Since then I get all my bikes done. My wife's too. When i took my BRP to PC I had them do everything minus the CR500 rear shock mod. The difference is profound. Buddies who have Racetech even are surprised by the difference.

That said, I'm from LA and that makes finding the top people a lot easier since so much of the factory stuff is done there.

IMHO, even though the stock bike is anemically slow, I'd still do the suspension first.

modette wrote:Not talking rocket science, he said a fork rebuild not a modification process. Just my .02 cents.

Then again maybe my idea of a fork rebuild is different then yours come to thing of it.

Interesting write up and makes sense. I guess I have learned to live with stock bikes, as I never have been into mod'ing them. I pretty much change the oil, seals, and other little bits that come up on the parts fiche.

Although you can say this is the first bike I have moded :-) I'll probably do my suspension rebuild myself...at least get it back to NEW stock.

And when I do you'll have to meet up with us. I'll let you ride my bike. It is basically what the Team Honda guys raced with the HRC head and all. The bike is really surefooted at speed. And it has a two-stroke like bark in the midrange.

I've generally left the engines stock and mod'd the suspension because I've never felt I was such a great rider I needed pro class power. Travis Pastrana I ain't! But the stock BRP was so slow I really disliked riding it. It felt heavy, sluggish and uncooperative. So I started with the intake mods. Then suspension. Then the cam, T-4 pipe, and jetting by PC. Then the HRC head. Next is the milled HRC piston. I have it ready to go but am waiting to find the HRC cam chain and tensioners and all that stuff to go in with at the same time. Plus PC gave me jet kits with instructions for 0'-5000', 5000-10,000, and 10,000 and up.

modette wrote:Interesting write up and makes sense. I guess I have learned to live with stock bikes, as I never have been into mod'ing them. I pretty much change the oil, seals, and other little bits that come up on the parts fiche.

Although you can say this is the first bike I have moded :-) I'll probably do my suspension rebuild myself...at least get it back to NEW stock.

It's much cheaper to simply replace the forks. I've just replaced mine (full set) after bending a fork leg for £75. Perfect condition with good seals and nice action

fireblade reject wrote:It's much cheaper to simply replace the forks. I've just replaced mine (full set) after bending a fork leg for £75. Perfect condition with good seals and nice action

So you can check the fork oil condition by looking at the outside ?, wow impressed
They might look pretty but don't mean they are working good; how old are the forks ? the oil goes like whale spunk...I think that's the normal description just wondering who found out what whale spunk looks like in the first place

If they feel nice, thats good enough for me! ......... And you can go through a few sets of afters for the cost of an expensive rebuild.
Just a thought