Suzuki DR 350 Front Fork Swap
A lot of people have older DR 350's that have less than desirable suspension. The 1998 and 1999 off road models have the best suspension of any of the DR's but many people own 1997 and previous years of dual sport and off road models.
A lot of people have grafted different front forks onto the Suzuki DR 350. Some with reportedly good results and some with reportedly bad results. Typically the procedure involves buying a COMPLETE used front end off of an MX type motorcycle. You then press the stock Suzuki DR steering stem out of your old front end and press it into your new front end. If you purchase the used front end complete then the brake, caliper front wheel, etc. will be much more easily grafted. If you purchase the forks only then you will be searching for various items to make the different pieces fit together and work properly.
Also you need to consider certain things. If you take a pair of front forks off of a lightweight MX bike and put them on a very heavy Suzuki DR then you are going to need springs. When you go to search for springs you may very likely find that they don't make springs strong enough for your needs. This is because the forks were never intended to be installed on a super heavy bike and thus the springs for that much weight are not available. In this instance you will need to have custom springs ordered and made to your specifications.
You also need to consider how the front end swap will be affecting the geometry of the bike. Will the new forks raise or lower the front end? If so this can affect the handling of the bike. Preferably you would want the new swapped out forks to leave the bike in it's original geometry.
I am not a huge fan of this fork swap procedure. I personally feel like the OEM 98-99 model off road suspension has more than enough potential to satisfy even the most demanding DR rider. If you take the 98-99 model OEM off road suspension and do front and rear springs, front and rear race tech gold valves, you will have very good suspension with a nice amount of tuning ability. You can also add a beefier upper triple clamp, steering stabilizer, front fork brace, rear swing arm brace, etc.
If I were going to do a fork swap on a Suzuki DR I would try very hard to find a set of forks that came off of a bike that had a similar weight as what the DR has. This would allow the fork swap to be more easily completed and you also would stand a better chance of better end results with the swapped fork being designed for a similar weighted bike.
To date the most thorough fork swap I have seen was done by the very knowledgeable and perfectionist Mr. Griffey. And oddly enough, while Mr. Griffey left no stone unturned in attempting to produce the perfect front fork swap he ended up being unhappy in the end and he actually re-installed the stock front end.
If you are interested in tackling a front fork swap on your Suzuki DR 350 please feel free to follow the links below:
All of these links are being replaced with new and better information right here so stay tuned!
Click HERE to read a very excellent fork swap write up by Mr. Griffey.
Click HERE to read a very excellent fork swap write up by Steve.
Click HERE to read a very excellent question and answer group discussion.
Click HERE to read another very excellent question and answer group discussion.
Click HERE to read some very in depth fork swap interchange information.
Click HERE to read a very excellent fork swap write up by Thomas.
Click HERE to read a very excellent TE610 to Suzuki DR 350 fork swap write up by Thomas.
