My wife wants a KRX(Talon X Suspension info)

[PaulF]

Unless Weller added them, I don't think the X has crossovers - @TerryH ?

Weller adds them to the full shock tune.

 

[CID]

Weller adds them to the full shock tune.

In that case, raising the crossovers on mine made a major improvement in ride quality. I put zip ties around the upper spring coils to let me know if they were coil binding.

Another ride quality tip - since the sway bar ties the left and right shocks together, both spring rate and valving, unhooking and tying my sway bar up also make a nice improvement. Body roll increased a little but I'm not Ricky Racer so I was happy with it - it's a free experiment.

Zip tied like this. The zip ties never got squished but it was close. This was as far as I could go without coil binding which kills springs - it was 20 turns up on the rear crossovers from stock on a Talon R.

I was able to get the above photo by dropping the LF and RR in a rut like this -

 

[CumminsPusher]

In that case, raising the crossovers on mine made a major improvement in ride quality. I put zip ties around the upper spring coils to let me know if they were coil binding.

Another ride quality tip - since the sway bar ties the left and right shocks together, both spring rate and valving, unhooking and tying my sway bar up also make a nice improvement. Body roll increased a little but I'm not Ricky Racer so I was happy with it - it's a free experiment.

Zip tied like this. The zip ties never got squished but it was close. This was as far as I could go without coil binding which kills springs - it was 20 turns up on the rear crossovers from stock on a Talon R.
View attachment 288734

I was able to get the above photo by dropping the LF and RR in a rut like this -
View attachment 288737

what has been your personal opinion on sway bar disconnect since you’ve done that?

 

[CID]

what has been your personal opinion on sway bar disconnect since you’ve done that?

My apologies for the long post but it is Talon suspension related.

Hi CP - Locally, I was completely happy with the handling and ride quality improvement. I have two riding conditions here - 1. Smooth but tight trail system so speeds are slowish. It's also a high use area so keeping speeds down around blind corners is mandatory. 2. ROCKY mountain riding, also slow (duh).

This changed when I got to the open jeep roads allowing higher speeds in the Utah desert. As a solo rider, I tend to be pretty conservative and I can enjoy 'smell the roses' riding. But after a few day rides I got tired of the body roll backing me into turns like a trophy truck, over and over and over. So I hooked the SB back up and it's been that way until last night (YAY, quick disconnect SB). I'm headed out for a rocky ride today and wanted to see how it feels with the new rear springs.

New springs? Yep, I've added a ton of weight to the rear for exploring the desert solo, including 2 spares, a bed extender and 3 gallon Rotopax. The weight was too much for the stock spring rate so I contacted Weller and they sent me a full set, I've only installed the rears because that's where the weight is. I'll have them do the fronts plus a revalve when I get back to Arizona in the fall.

The buggy looks like this now, in Eagle Canyon under I-70, west of Green River, Utah -

Parked in the garage after cranking down the preload to max and chasing @Lil_Steve around the Arizona desert. Before adding all the weight, they were ~4" tall. @10" ground clearance, should be 14".

After adding the Weller springs, parked in the garage - 14" ground clearance.

 

[Josh97stang]

Did either of you adjust the preload and/or crossovers? Weller had my preload about right but the crossovers were pretty close to the main springs and they kicked in WAY too early, especially on the rear. This can cause a rough ride on rocky terrain. Here is my formula for the various types of riding I do...

Rock Crawling - #1 clicker, Sway Bar disconnected, crossovers up as far as they go without upper spring coil bind (my starting point).
Trail Riding - #2 clicker, Sway Bar varies by terrain, crossovers up as far as they go without upper spring coil bind.
Dunes - #3 clicker, Sway Bar attached and crossovers cranked down 10 turns from my starting point.

Be aware, I have an R so your tuning will be similar but a little different. You may want to try and experiment a little and see if you can get a better ride. Mine sure improved after figuring it out for my machine and riding style.

In that case, raising the crossovers on mine made a major improvement in ride quality. I put zip ties around the upper spring coils to let me know if they were coil binding.

Another ride quality tip - since the sway bar ties the left and right shocks together, both spring rate and valving, unhooking and tying my sway bar up also make a nice improvement. Body roll increased a little but I'm not Ricky Racer so I was happy with it - it's a free experiment.

Zip tied like this. The zip ties never got squished but it was close. This was as far as I could go without coil binding which kills springs - it was 20 turns up on the rear crossovers from stock on a Talon R.
View attachment 288734

I was able to get the above photo by dropping the LF and RR in a rut like this -
View attachment 288737

Thanks for the advice. I went back and read most of yall's posts in the other suspension threads and now have a better understanding of what and how to adjust and test. We will definitely be removing the sway bar link and playing with the crossover rings. It will be 4 weeks before we can get out to fully test again but we will report back our findings.

 

[CID]

Thanks for the advice. I went back and read most of yall's posts in the other suspension threads and now have a better understanding of what and how to adjust and test. We will definitely be removing the sway bar link and playing with the crossover rings. It will be 4 weeks before we can get out to fully test again but we will report back our findings.

There are more Talon basics linked in my sig if you haven't seen it.

 

[CID]

what has been your personal opinion on sway bar disconnect since you’ve done that?

Update - rode today in the high country, 30 miles of rocky road. Note - not big challenging rocks, just rocks and a lot of them. Not once did I miss the SB, it was a non-issue but my speeds were definitely low. On a related note - 9 lbs. front tire pressure and 10 lbs. rear with 8 ply 30" Chicane RX tires on beadlocks.

 

[snuffnwhisky]

Over the weekend we rode with a group in the Ozarks of Arkansas which are a lot of rocky trails. Someone had a 2021 Kawasaki KRX and said it rode like a Cadillac through all of these rocks. He gave me the opportunity to try it out so my wife and I rode it down a rocky road and it did ride very smooth compared to my 2019 Talon X2 non live valve which brings me here. I have already installed the Bandit tender springs on my Talon, which did help give it a smoother ride, however it does not compare to the KRX.

For those of you that have experience with Bandit Springs full replacement and/or Shock therapy spring replacement stage 1/stage 2, do any of these options help the Talon X2 non live valve compare to something like this KRX or other softer riding SXSs?

As you see in the title, after this test ride, my wife wants me to fix our harsh riding Talon or replace it.

Any help or suggestions on this topic other than trading it in will be greatly appreciated. @Josh97stang will also appreciate it because he is in the same situation.

The KRX has about 40-50% more wheel travel than a Talon X. Also has a lot better geometry, mostly in the rear suspension. Most of the added travel for the KRX is up travel, over twice the shock shaft showing at ride height. 0-30 mph you can get close to a krx ride. Over 30 and it's not really possible without sacrificing low speed.

A resprung KRX is night and day over a stock KRX also. Almost wreck and die vs didn't even feel it between that and what u thought was already awesome lol.

 

[snuffnwhisky]

Update - rode today in the high country, 30 miles of rocky road. Note - not big challenging rocks, just rocks and a lot of them. Not once did I miss the SB, it was a non-issue but my speeds were definitely low. On a related note - 9 lbs. front tire pressure and 10 lbs. rear with 8 ply 30" Chicane RX tires on beadlocks.

View attachment 288846

Seriously, that looks to be 30+, probably more like 40 in a KRX with a little finger out drinking a beer. Lol. It's really that bad ass.

 

[CumminsPusher]

Seriously, that looks to be 30+, probably more like 40 in a KRX with a little finger out drinking a beer. Lol. It's really that bad ass.

Where’s the fun in that? Sounds like an old farts rig.

 

[snuffnwhisky]

Where’s the fun in that? Sounds like an old farts rig.

The fun is my back isn't broken lol

 

[CumminsPusher]

The fun is my back isn't broken lol

Fair enough

 

[Montecresto]

The fun is my back isn't broken lol

How’s the noise level for you? I’m with ya on the back thing for sure, from what I hear the noise is a factor though???

 

[CumminsPusher]

How’s the noise level for you? I’m with ya on the back thing for sure, from what I hear the noise is a factor though???

Just get the Kawasaki stereo system and turn it up. Great stereo sound. Don’t forget a second set and microphones for the rare case you do have a passenger for a quick rip.

 

[snuffnwhisky]

How’s the noise level for you? I’m with ya on the back thing for sure, from what I hear the noise is a factor though???

I insulated the firewall and that helped. Took my primary spring out of the clutch and it made it a whole new machine noise wise on our last ride. No problem talking to a passenger at 30 mph. With the spring out, it makes the RPM closer match MPH when cruising. I would say its close noise wise to my pioneer with the HMF and IGR. I've had the rugged radio setup in it and only used it once on a long blacktop ride. With the spring in and high speed, ear plugs were nice to have.

 

[Montecresto]

Just get the Kawasaki stereo system and turn it up. Great stereo sound. Don’t forget a second set and microphones for the rare case you do have a passenger for a quick rip.
View attachment 288888

Lol, I’m just trying to preserve the precious little hearing I’ve got left before I get like Smitty 😂🤔

 

[CumminsPusher]

Lol, I’m just trying to preserve the precious little hearing I’ve got left before I get like Smitty 😂🤔

What?

 

[Montecresto]

What?

Don’t want hearing aids…..

 

[CumminsPusher]

Don’t want hearing aids…..

I hate the obnoxious noise from the belt system on our Yamaha (only real thing that’s bugged me on that) and added hmf exhaust to the Pioneer (the more quiet system) And although the extra noise on pioneer hasn’t bothered me (mainly because you can gear up when you want it quiet) the last Talon I rode in really hit me how damn quiet they are stock. I spent a lot of time revving it up for fun on the rougher stuff but then also had opportunity to just cruise the dirt road at about 45 with a friend and was blown away that dead stock you could just talk. I’m pretty sure it was quieter then stock pioneer. I had tunes playing on my phone because he didn’t have radio yet and you could hear it. Absolutely shocked. I made promise that day to wife I ain’t doing exhaust, it was nice to have enough power to really rip the back tires loose at any point then go into Toyota Camry mode. I like it.

 

[Montecresto]

I hate the obnoxious noise from the belt system on our Yamaha (only real thing that’s bugged me on that) and added hmf exhaust to the Pioneer (the more quiet system) And although the extra noise on pioneer hasn’t bothered me (mainly because you can gear up when you want it quiet) the last Talon I rode in really hit me how damn quiet they are stock. I spent a lot of time revving it up for fun on the rougher stuff but then also had opportunity to just cruise the dirt road at about 45 with a friend and was blown away that dead stock you could just talk. I’m pretty sure it was quieter then stock pioneer. I had tunes playing on my phone because he didn’t have radio yet and you could hear it. Absolutely shocked. I made promise that day to wife I ain’t doing exhaust, it was nice to have enough power to really rip the back tires loose at any point then go into Toyota Camry mode. I like it.

Yes sir, especially the X4, two big benefits of it would be that it’s very (comparatively) quiet and no heat because the engine is so far back…👍😎