HOW TO - Set up the KTM WP Air Fork - Mike Sleeter

[@greggorioworden6202]

Thanks for breaking that down. I'm new to the air forks

[@ryanflood635]

i actually prefer the air forks. i find the clickers change the feel of the bike way more than normal forks. it is a balancing act. but if you get them right. i really cant fault them.. edit - this guy just said you can actually feel one click.. you definitely do notice even 1 click . my old bike you could do 3-4 clicks and hardly notice anything.

[@jared6163]

I think your the only person I've ever heard say they prefer the air fork

[@ryanflood635]

@@jared6163 i think alot of people have never even used the air forks. but still make a judgement.. dont get me wrong. they are not as plush as normal forks. but for me. i have a 250sx and like the front to be stiff and have the back end loose. so for me the bike feels awsome.

[@evanjohnson5480]

Ive got 400 hours of riding and racing on them. Maybe im not that fussy, but i think they are great.

[@mixalis6168]

@@jared6163 No, people who actually ride air forks and set up correctly dont sit and whinge all day long ! I love mine to, and i love my older yamaha, honda set up too..

[@pauldayton5285]

@@jared6163 I have a 2017 KTM450SXF & I too prefer the air fork. I think because I rode MTB with air forks for year's the change didn't bother me at all. I can set the fork up to hit ramps & 5 min later have the fork set up for trails. You can't beat the air fork for adjustability & the weight you save over a spring fork is awesome.

[@dr187mx]

The sleeter clips are sweet

[@GYPSYTALES]

Thanks mate we got some more good ones coming

[@39Thacker]

@@GYPSYTALES you delivered the recent ones were killer

[@Duken4evr29]

The video is spot on. The air pressure is just ride height, same thinking as the spring rate in a spring fork. Set it to where the height is correct, then mess with clickers or ultimately revalving. Like too soft fork springs, too low on the pressure and it will make it stink buggy, and be in the harsh mid stroke. Correct pressure is plusher than not enough, as it keeps the fork up higher in the initial softer part of the stroke. The older AER forks benefit a lot from a "glide kit" which frees up their inherent stiction quite a bit using the green SKF seals inside and outside of course. To be bluntly honest, once they were properly set up with stiffer springs and with the green SKF seals on them, I like the simple open cartridge spring forks on my old 2010 450 better for the off road riding I do than the AER forks on my '18 300 😆

[@Pereke69]

WP AER 48 forks are designed for big jumps, smooth super fast track, they arent good on ruts,gnarly tracks, let alone woods or enduro, for make them turn you need to brake really hard while being sit on the front, they dont have feel of the ground, lifting the tubes on triple clamp and dropping the pressure and soften the clickes will work a little, but for really take the juice out of them you need to revalve or add any aftermarket mods

[@Rpnpap44]

I got the KYB spring conversion kit done by JBI in Murrieta and it is sooooooooo much better than the stock air forks on my 2021.5 Husqvarna fc450🤙

[@Austincm512]

I rode a my buddies 23 yz250f and its suspension laughs at my 23 fc250. So I ordered the kyb conversion with bladder

[@ThAT1GuyNaMedAJ]

I got my WP air forks done by the best in my area, the damping was great, super plush yet held up fantastic on big hits. The issue is that the last thing I want when I'm pushing my pace is my forks to be changing how stiff they are as they heat up and cool down. My 2014 ktm spring forks were harsh and deflective but I knew exactly what they were going to do all all times. I found it much easier to get into a groove and make moves when my forks were consistent even if the damping action wasnt as good. I will never own another bike with air forks even if they "feel" great they are too inconsistent. I am picky and I am not that fast but the sports dangerous enough as it is, dont need my bike having multiple personalities while im riding around the track.

[@peaceprayer595]

I simply set mine up with the rising pressure (typically 2 pounds) in mind and let er rip.

[@aaroncummings59]

@@peaceprayer595 Seriously. People act like air forks heat up and TOTALLY change their behavior. It's not that stark or fast of a change

[@myronstambaugh761]

Yet, in a long hare scramble, I have hit something big and hard and deep and my forks seemed instantly broken. I was sure something had failed. They became super deflective. They didn't absorb much of anything and traction went way south for awhile. I even thought (though being the operative word here) that I heard a hissing sound. I was sure during the race that I had blown my air chamber and my outer chamber was simply pressurized with the dump from the air chamber. After the race when everything had cooled down my air chamber read the exact same pressure as at the start of the race and the bleeder didn't hiss more than the usual. Go figure! My conclusion is the fork just got hot enough (built pressure) and that big hit put it past a place of effective damping for awhile until I let it cool down. @@aaroncummings59

[@spookyjase3082]

Y’all need Jesus. Switch your “air” to nitrogen in the forks and u no longer have the inconsistency with the heat and cold causing fluctuations in feeling and performance…. There’s your free factory tip of the day.

[@orange1666]

@@aaroncummings59the difference is really no more than a spring fork heating up or building pressure due to dirt in the seals , even a spring fork is also part air fork !

[@davidbeauvais1364]

In heavy rocky roots areas it’s hard to get them soft enough without dropping them to like 110psi they can never use enough travel yet hold themselves up for me. I will agree that once you mess with them enough they are good for fast woods single track stuff or jumps but that’s about it. If you wanna use them in the woods exclusively I would get nitromousse plushie up front. I ran them on a 2022 250sx and a 125xc but eventually had to change them to spring fork conevalves

[@OtisFlint]

I'm a woods guy and could never find a setting that had enough holdup in the fast sections without creating deflection in the slow sections. I don't run a plushie up front because it's not very good in the faster stuff, but that would have helped deflection for sure. With a KYB i have both the holdup i need and near 0 deflection in the tight stuff running an X31 front with a platinum nitro mousse. My air fork is getting the 6500 kit now so hopefully that resolves it.

[@davidbeauvais1364]

@@OtisFlint I ended up going to a set of 2024 AER48 forks they honestly deflect less then my conevalves. Running 85-90 psi and clicker are 20 comp 12 rebound.

[@enduro-parts-aus]

Setting the psi to ktms specs were way off for me im meant to run 140 i now run 120 with 20mill less oil in each fork , i just couldnt seem to get any plushness out of them without dropping the psi way lower then spec 👌🏻 , also i only ride woods maybe the specs are correct for mx tracks

[@mxgryan]

the fact that he keeps saying "dampening" is scary

[@jeff40]

Not to mention he's considered a pro rider! I've noticed a lot of Motocross Action and Dirt Rider test riders and writers often do the same! It's a damper not a dampener. A steering damper dampers the steering it does NOT dampen or make anything moist or wet!

[@pedrasbrasil4763]

Hard not to hate on this dude.

[@Runk3lsmcdougal]

Coming off a 17 350sxf to a 21 I can say I absolutely love the xact pro fork, it's incredible. Nothing more to be desired, unlike the 17s

[@sassafraswakeboyz4121]

Hey man, how did you setup your suspension?

[@Runk3lsmcdougal]

@@sassafraswakeboyz4121 on which bike? The 17 or 21, on either if your feeling harshness you need to slow the rebound down more than likely. Bro if you got a 21+ the myKTM app tells you really good settings, you put in your weight, speed and conditions and tell you a full setting for front and rear. Really awesome. What are you having problems with

[@Andy-co6pn]

@@Runk3lsmcdougal usually slowing the rebound down would make the forks pack down and feel harsh?

[@Runk3lsmcdougal]

@@Andy-co6pn Well it was harsh for me on big hits/landings, not chop so backing the rebound out to 18-22 instead of their 12-15 recommendation really helped

[@Andy-co6pn]

@@Runk3lsmcdougal backing the rebound out to 18-22 speeds it up. Less damping =faster rebound

[@AnonYoukno]

While air is your spring but it's also easy to adjust unlike a spring fork or shock. So why not adjust it just like you would with your clickers etc. Also you can't compare air to spring ride ht, it's just different. The psi you end up with will not have the same sag numbers as a spring fork so throw that in the trash too.

[@groomlake51]

Sleeder is legit good stuff!! Exposing Game to us Lay Folks🚀🦾😎

[@thatfast3002]

The stock aer 48 are way too stiff for me, I'm 210 lbs and ride woods. I did spring conversion with proper valving and now my suspension is fantastic and I dont have to mess with air

[@pauldayton5285]

I ride ramps , the air fork feels great !

[@RyTrapp0]

Wait, so the adjustable forks are too stiff - so you just replaced them instead of, ya know, like setting them up? Riiigghhht....

[@thatfast3002]

@@RyTrapp0 I didn't want to mess with air and its inconsistent compared to spring. I'm sure air is great for some but with so many people converting that says something. You dont see anyone trying to convert spring forks to air do you? I'm sure ktm makes money off the air fork because they're cheap to produce which is why they're venturing in to this realm

[@pauldayton5285]

@@RyTrapp0 I wonder what bike liberty man 1776 rides? If he bought a 250/350/450 SXF & is trying to ride technical woods trails than maybe he's saying the flex & feeling of the fork is too stiff? People buy race bike's & try to ride them like trail bike's than wonder why their bike's don't feel right?😂

[@Ty-no8lj]

​@RyTrapp0 dude is 210 lbs. Us heavy guys have to run alot more air pressure to keep from bottoming out. Which in turn makes chop and ruts fuxking awful. So yes....he made the exact right move.

[@benrichey1241]

@gypseytales, yall cut off when you guys started talking sag, he sound he doesn’t even bother w sag much any more, did I hear that right? If so, what’s the thought behind that brotha?

[@peaceprayer595]

Bingo! Answered All My Questions!!!

[@donaldblalock9925]

11.1 bar, -3 compression, +1 rebound (+ - from stock)

[@williambonilla7145]

How much u weigh?

[@evo5349]

Run a Yamaha coil. Simple very good, for all speed riders.

[@popclutchco.7208]

yamaha suspension comes nice from the factory, all my ktm friends battle their bikes daily to find comfort

[@mixalis6168]

@@popclutchco.7208 off course they do !!

[@hyposez1129]

So basically WP XACT forks with AER technology have damping functions on the right side and air on the left, i understand the left side(air side) but is the damping side like coil fork or is it just damper, spring, oil or is it damper and air or something?

[@gumpycognac4505]

And then the pros say fk it and throw kyb conversion on the inside 😂lol

[@smalltownlifestyle]

Great info thanks. I'm new to ktm and air forks just picked up my 2023 ktm 250 sxf I'm a begginer level rider and heavier around 220 pounds just wondering what a good base might be for air pressure in the fork? I know it varies and nobody will give me a perfect number I need to find that myself but just looking for a starting point psi wise? Also, does anyone know the recommended sag/static sag? I haven't scanned the qr code to check the manual yet but I'm sure it will tell me there but figured I would ask. Thanks in advance for any help Sean

[@levidertien5978]

Sag is personal preference you’ll probably have to put a stiffer spring in the rear. Static sag should be anywhere from around 30 to 50 and race sag is personal preference but usually from 100 to 110. For fork pressure id try around 150 psi

[@smalltownlifestyle]

@@levidertien5978 thanks ya unfortunately the heavier spring rate spring is back ordered until December and even the tool to tighten the plastic ring is backordered but I'm going to play with it tonight and see how tight I can get it by hand since I'm stuck with it for now. Bike rides surprisingly good considering I'm at like 134mm sag which I'd way too much lol

[@wernerxldata]

Air pressure = spring setup = bike geometry, just like the sag in the rear, nothing complicated about it.

[@jpesicka492]

I’d prob buy a bike with a kickstarter, before I bought a bike with an air fork. What a chore.

[@evo5349]

I have raced for 25 years and tried all suspension and the bikes today are very good now air forks I've tried and never liked but coil have always had great feel in corners so you can push the front in low traction levels and coil you can feel when it's about to tuck. The truth is Yamaha has stuck with coil and every other bike maker moved to air for lighter weight but now they have all gone coil, really give me a break. I now ride a top of the range mountain bikes and run coil and it's so much better as long as you stay with in weight to spring spec. The new Specialized Kenovo Expert has forks like motocross bike but there air and not impressed even after modified to HSD and LSD etc but will go to coil as still not there. It's all about weight on bikes but give me a coil any day.

[@evo5349]

@@ThatWasPrettyFunny Yes it wouldn't put me of buying a Ktm as I have rod them for 6 years and ended on a Honda 450 but a blown femur slowed my racing at the moment as well as covid bull. The air is very adjustable and just needs adjusted for air temp in the morning and afternoon or if riding deep sand, but on the Yamaha 450 the excess air needs to be bled after practice and so on.

[@clintonlied]

"Damping," not "dampening." :)

[@green461]

So if you go to a place that has gnarly rocks, climbs, sand washes, you are screwed because you cant get these to work right.... fighting these damn things for a couple years and cannot the initial first hard hit out...

[@illwil1005]

Is it better to get a cone valve set up or go kayaba swap? Or revalve stock aer48? I'm confused.

[@richr161]

Get a different bike. Changing forks to me is like changing a motor. Unless your a pro that can justify changing forks it doesn't make sense to lay out a few grand, when you can buy another bike with decent forks.

[@mxfreaks]

Cone valve are best by far, you really only need these if you are an A or B class rider. I have revalved AER and they are alot more plush than stock but I bet kyb coil spring conversion would be better than revalved AER. The 2021 air forks are supposed to be great right out of the box though, better than revalved old AER's even from what I hear.

[@mixalis6168]

How fast are you, just get stock set up correctly !!

[@illwil1005]

@@mixalis6168 stock is set up pretty good, but I want to progress and have that safety factor of over jumping a little, and not hurting myself.

[@Runk3lsmcdougal]

Stock forks are great lol

[@KevinJohnson-wy9mx]

Don’t care what anyone says- the track changes every single lap, so 99.9999% of the opinions based on the AER air fork are worthless. Not one single bike or suspension setup feels identical throughout the day. Whether the forks lose or gain 1LB of pressure. These people forget their tires do the same thing (increase and decrease) in pressure depending on weather etc. so yea they’re all in their own heads about it. The air forks are amazing, just have to know how to ride the dirtbike first

[@richardcurtis2469]

Thank God at last someone with sence

[@stevesmith756]

Yeah but I’m old and lazy. Don’t want to mess with the air every ride

[@jarrodbrandin7492]

@@stevesmith756 do you check your tire pressure?

[@phil9634]

So this is different but heavy equipment has it also but nitrogen. So you can drive down a road and not loose control. The main problem with failures and erratic is if there’s a bladder or seals in tube. Bladders work the best.

[@christophervillarreal8565]

Never had a issue with my air forks and they feel amazing I rarely ever get pressure changes and if I do then when the bike is on the stand I let out the bleeder valves and bam it’s good to go also I don’t get how people can’t read the manual it literally has base settings to get you close to what you want.

[@shanemoto97]

How to setup wp air fork ? wp spring conversion, done.

[@JamesyMusial14]

And that’s the problem, too many peoples first instinct is to just get the wallet out and spend money that probably doesn’t need to be spent. A little time and some patience fiddling with clickers and understanding how your suspension works and you will find what works for you.

[@shanemoto97]

@@JamesyMusial14 no it’s not the problem. The problem is it’s too time consuming messing around trying to find time a fork that can never be fine tuned. The air is inconsistent and increasing psi as the moto goes on due to heat. Weather temp plays a roll also. Do you own a bike with wp xact suspension? Have you seen how time consuming it is to test air forks?

[@JamesyMusial14]

@@shanemoto97 all I know is there’s guys that smoke me on race days using stock wp air forks and for that reason I think for 98% of riders they’re adequate.

[@pauldayton5285]

@@shanemoto97 I'll bet you can't even ride race pace for an entire moto let alone ride hard enough to notice a psi increase difference due to heat in the air forks ! It took me three rides to figure out & dial in my air fork with them being completely new to me.

[@V4Amore]

*Damping Dampening makes you wet. Damping makes you fast.

[@littemisscarrage2909]

Damping not Dampening

[@johnbarnhart7174]

The word is Damping, not dampening.

[@keithpeterson3447]

Dampening? 🤣 ....it's damping.

[@rassy7]

Literally just went looking through the comments for this one, :-)

[@christamblyn6780]

DAMPER, not DAMPEN.

[@travelingmike40]

and they still suck, you can make them suck less, kinda like the less smelly pile of dog Pooh in the yard. Local B moto guy said after spring conversion “ I forgot what good suspension was”.

[@weStayModest]

Yah and everyone saying the airforks are good I ask one question, why is there no one doing spring to air conversions? I rest my case

[@leftyeh6495]

​@@weStayModestAir is awesome once you figure it out. The number of people I know that won't even move their clickers because "I might mess up" is downright scary. Coils are the old familiar feel so it makes sense that people would want it back.

[@RydenAround]

Damping

[@1176hambone]

Psi is impossible. Terrible access, can anyone remove the fitting without loss? Design is a joke. Without a no loss valve built in, nobody knows how much psi is in the fork. I'm so done fucking with this piss poor design. No improvement in performance, just lighter while causing other pain in the ass issues. Lighter so KTM can lower cost. I'm dumping these internals.

[@duckdiver5549]

the valve is no loss; the air you hear is from the hose of pump not the fork. however, when you connect to fork there is slight loss as air fills hose. says in manual that forks do not lose air when removing pump.

[@1176hambone]

@@duckdiver5549 Roger that that. I get a loss of 2 psi 9 out of 10 times. If it reads 150 , twist it off swiftly, put it back on it reads 148. Twist it off slowly and it's 3psi less. Done it over 20 times. Got a works connection extension adapter, works better. My experience. I detest the air forks. Numb feel of the ground at any setting. Lacks the "bone conduction" of springs.

[@duckdiver5549]

@@1176hambone make sure to have bike on stand when measuring and adjusting pressure. when you connect pump and will lose some pressure; just pump to desired pressure and keep pump handle pushed in as you remove. you will heard loss from hose, etc. when you reconnect the pressure will always be off from the loss of connecting. you just have to trust that when you pump to desired pressure and disconnect; it stays as you put it; only when you reconnect do you lose pressure.

[@1176hambone]

@@duckdiver5549 gotcha. Will do

[@leftyeh6495]

​@@1176hambonebecause every single time you connect the hose you're filling the hose from the fork bladder. 😂 You might not be any smarter than a coil spring bud. 😂