Air vs. Spring Fork: Which Are Better? | Track Tested with Race Tech
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The air fork revolution in motocross began a decade ago when the KYB PSF1 fork debuted on Kawasaki and Honda 450 MX bikes. Showa followed suit soon thereafter and soon enough, WP joined in on the fun, too. While all Japanese manufacturers have returned to mechanical spring forks for their more consistent feel and performance, the Austrian brands – KTM, Husqvarna, and Gas Gas – have continued to stand by the air spring design. Meanwhile, Several suspension hop-up shops have successfully developed a mechanical spring retrofit kit, and Race Tech is among the most popular. Several weeks ago, Race Tech revalved both ends of our 2024 KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition test bike and installed its spring conversion kit in the WP fork. Tester Alex Ray loved the upgraded performance but wanted to try the modification back to back against the same modified suspension components, sans the mechanical spring kit. We spent a day at Fox Raceway with the Race Tech crew and did some true comparison testing with both mechanical spring and air spring setups. Which configuration did ARay prefer? Press play and find out! The Race Tech Spring Conversion kit for WP AER48 forks costs $549.99 and is AMA legal for Stock class competition. Learn more at racetech.com
