FRONT FORKS Once I’ d improved the rear and it had become more settled, the behaviour of the front KYB fork stood out more. I’ m running the fork compression at three clicks out, which is firm. Normally, I’ d expect to be running a softer setting than that. But the VARG needs holdup because once it breaks into the stroke, it dives quite hard; it doesn’ t feel like a smooth, progressive settle, it feels like it can drop through the stroke and suddenly you’ re riding a lower front end than you want. So, I’ ve ended up leaning on the compression to keep the front up, even though it’ s firmer than I’ d typically prefer. The fork is the next change I’ m going to investigate. The goal is to add support further into the stroke without making the initial part harsher, I’ m thinking something like spring seat changes to help with hold-up deeper in the travel without going too hard into valving changes. I did have one strange issue I’ ve never had on a KYB fork before, premature bushing wear that showed up as a knocking / clunking sensation through the fork, almost like a weird hydraulic-out feel. I can’ t put the wear down to anything obvious because it felt fine when new, and the fork has been serviced regularly. I ended up throwing new bushings in, and they have been fine since, but it’ s worth noting,
purely because it surprised me.
GEN 1 SWITCH ANNOYANCE The other long-term“ real world” issue has been the handlebar control unit; specifically the on / off button. When the bike gets wet and picks up a bit of grit, the buttons can stick behind the waterproof membrane. It was mainly the on / off button, and when it’ s stuck even slightly, the bike can’ t properly interpret whether it’ s being turned on or off, so it sort of freaks out. I had a call with Stark, pulled it apart and cleaned it, and it came right... for a bit. Then it happened again... and started happening more often. In the end, I just replaced the control unit. It’ s not a massive deal, it’ s easy to change and not crazy expensive... but it is annoying. It’ s worth mentioning that the Gen 2 units have a different switch design, and mine is a Gen 1 with the plug-in cable, so it seems like something Stark has already moved on from.
CHARGING ANXIETY The battery and charging is still the limiter, so I ride around it. My opinion hasn’ t changed here, I still wish it charged faster. I’ ve been riding a sand track a lot lately and got a consistent real-world number... 33 minutes on the 45hp setting with 50 % regen, and that’ s basically running the battery to
52 KIWI RIDER