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'07 BMW G650 XCountry

Mod: Have OEM front forks modified:

My experience with the rear shock was horrendous, compared to that the front forks are not so bad, however they still needed some improvement. I've read they are a plain version of Marzocchi USD (upside down) fork, a BMW spec'ed variation of it. More specifically, they are not the higher spec Marzocchi Shiver USD fork (common on higher performance off-road bikes, with full adjustability).

After considering a cheap easy route like simply getting a replacement spring either a progressive spring from Wilbers or others, or a more complicated route of buying a better set of forks off of a KTM (see AdvRider thread)...

Finally I blew a seal in the right fork leg and decided this would be a good time to spend more money and send them off for mods.
I decided to send my fork tubes to Javier at TrailTricks.com, who is a well respected suspension expert and has special tools to deal with the simple fork on the XCountry.
The XCountry fork does not have an adjustable valving but Javier has tricks - he does not want me to discuss it on the Internet so I won't but I will say he installed a stiffer straight rate spring and was also able to vastly improve the damping characteristics.

I learned that the right fork tube only has compression damping and the left fork tube only has rebound damping, apparently this is something BMW does.

Bottom line is I am very pleased with how they perform after his mods, and his labor rates are in line with other suspension shops.
When you send your fork tubes in, you fill out a detailed form about your riding style, and he talks to you before he performs the mods. This even includes what size rocks (baseball, basketball, etc) and drop offs (12", 36", etc) you want to hit and at what speed, etc. Although I don't race he can handle race setups as well.

Not much to take pictures of, but here are a few:


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