Little do many people know about the importance of suspensions and dirt bike forks. Many people believe that dirt bike forks are only important when it comes to road anomalies and difficult terrain. But this is not always the case. We will inform you with this article about everything you need to know regarding dirt bike forks.
Did you actually know that suspensions and dirt bike forks are responsible for the contact of tires with the road besides covering road anomalies?
The purpose that suspensions and dirt bike forks were created in the first place was not for the ease of riders as you might think but wanting to improve the motorbike behaviour by increasing the tire traction. The constant contact with the road is a problem that up to this day has not been handled fully and every dirt bike manufacturer is still working on it. A working and functional dirt bike fork and suspension are therefore necessary for your comfort as well as for your safety.
What are the parts of a suspension and how does it operate?
A dirt bike suspension comprises of two main parts: the hydraulic part and the spring. The spring that is known to everyone is there to absorb the tensions received by the dirt bike on road irregularities when turning and stopping but also comes with a serious disadvantage. When receiving a power, it tends to absorb it until it fades gradually. Its function is similar to that of a trampoline, something very disturbing and destructive for the bike. If it wasn’t for the hydraulic part, bikers would fall when hitting the first hole in the road.
The functionality of the hydraulic part is based on oil flow through holes of different diameter. Simply put, when oil tries to pass from a big opening to a smaller one, it slows down since its flow speed decreases. In action, this prevents the spring from returning to its former state abruptly.
So, the manufacturers found a solution and constructed complex systems for the oil to pass and managed to not only stop the spring from oscillating but also to easily adjust the passing speed externally, depending on the biker’s needs and the use of the dirt bike. Now there are multiple solutions and oil and gas combination regarding adjustments and we are now at the point where there are active suspensions that are adjustable on their own depending on the driving.
Of course, every dirt bike is equipped with the relative suspension and dirt bike fork. So, for instance, most bikes for every use are not equipped with high quality suspensions and multiple adjustments like a high performance dirt bike or a race dirt bike.
Dirt bike forks are also very important and there are two types of dirt bike forks: upside down ones and regular, telescopic ones. All these things are designed to ease the biker and assist him or her in every situation and type of terrain according to their needs.