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02-12-2008, 04:43 PM
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#1
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Monkey
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: 16 powers st BKLN NY
Posts: 322
Rep Power: 2
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Kowa 160s Singlecrown - initial impressions. Huge Pics.
Our friends over at Covic Racing sent us one of the new 160mm adjustable travel single crown forks from Kowa Suspension in Japan.
The comprehensive and ongoing review is on our Blog. So check back here throughout the season for updates.
We've always been impressed with the manufacturing capabilities of the Japanese,
and first impressions of the Kowa didn't dissapoint.
The beefy box section crown is hollow to save weight, and holds in 35mm "sima" hard ano coated sanchions....
...that enter the lowers at a bulged section, providing space for the substantial seals,
and probably (we're guessing) some huge bushing of some sort.
In conjunction with a standard bolt on 20mm thru-axle, these features contribute to the incredible torsional stiffness
which ,to our surprise, was close to par with that of a 888 triple crown even at it's highest travel setting ( reviewed here).
Compared to the Fox TALAS 36 we've been riding all season, external adjustments on the Kowa seem sparse,
and are limited to 2 stroke adjustments and 1 travel adjustment:
Positive progressive Air via a shrader valve at the bottom of the left leg.
External rebound via an aluminum knob on the bottom of the right leg.
Some minor complaints are the Boxxer disc mount, which is less of an industry standard in North America and had to be purchased separately. Lack of external compression damping of any kind is a little worrisome, but the lack of bells and whistles doesn't detract from everything else the Kowa has going for it so far, and should appeal to those riders with a K.I.S.S. mentality.
Another gripe is the user manual which is probably well written in the native Japanese, but if you speak English something is lost in translation.
According to the site, the fork is designed for "Downhill, Freeride, Urban, Park", which we'll take to mean that we have liberty to wail on them all season and report back with updates, including a obligatory tear-down and rebuild of all its juicy innards.
For pricing and availability, contact Covic Racing right here on Ridemonkey or shoot them an Email.
Last edited by BrooklynMachine; 02-12-2008 at 04:53 PM.
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02-13-2008, 10:27 AM
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#2
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Turbo Monkey
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: DC/Bluemont VA
Posts: 2,241
Rep Power: 3
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This is the one with full 0-160 travel adjust, right? I'd love to see it on my STP. Could be the perfect "1 bike" fork.
__________________
Anyone want to buy an 06 Iron Horse Yakuza Kumicho 19 inch frame or complete? How bout a 95 yamaha yz125?
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02-13-2008, 09:25 PM
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#3
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Monkey
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: 16 powers st BKLN NY
Posts: 322
Rep Power: 2
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According to the manual, it's 30-180mm of travel adjustment, even though the range is much larger.
It extends to 188mm:
From a minimum of 5mm:
though the fork is unusable at this point as you can easily bottom out the last few mm of travel with your arms.
As far as being one fork for everything, that's yet to be seen. Without external compression the fork is every bit as plush at 30mm as it is at 160mm (quite amazing actually), so if you want to stiffen things up at the park you're limited to upping air pressure.
Last edited by BrooklynMachine; 02-13-2008 at 09:38 PM.
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02-13-2008, 10:39 PM
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#4
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Turbo Monkey
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: DC/Bluemont VA
Posts: 2,241
Rep Power: 3
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Adjusting air pressure is not really a problem for me as different kinds of riding dont usually happen on the same day, just on the same bike. Having a useable 80mm for climbing and then bumping it up to 130-60 for the dh is probably the most extreme single ride adjustment I'd want, but it would be great to also be able to set it slammed and stiff for jumping and urban.
__________________
Anyone want to buy an 06 Iron Horse Yakuza Kumicho 19 inch frame or complete? How bout a 95 yamaha yz125?
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02-13-2008, 10:43 PM
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#5
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Ociffer
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: All up in your Bill of Rights
Posts: 6,485
Rep Power: 6
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wow, that's purdy. any ballpark figures on price?
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02-14-2008, 01:16 PM
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#6
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Monkey
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Louisville, CO
Posts: 123
Rep Power: 2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by manimal
wow, that's purdy. any ballpark figures on price?
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The 08' 160ss retails for $799 but Kowa is running a bunch of specials on all of their new forks right now. So likely I could get you one for alot cheaper if you were interested.
__________________
-Joe Krajcovic
Kowa Factory USA
Avalanche Downhill Racing
Relic International
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02-14-2008, 01:22 PM
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#7
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Monkey
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Louisville, CO
Posts: 123
Rep Power: 2
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[QUOTE=BrooklynMachine;2829103]According to the manual, it's 30-180mm of travel adjustment, even though the range is much larger.
It extends to 188mm:
QUOTE]
Even though the fork is physically capable of almost 190mm of travel, it is not recommended to run them at more than 180mm.
__________________
-Joe Krajcovic
Kowa Factory USA
Avalanche Downhill Racing
Relic International
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02-14-2008, 01:33 PM
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#8
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Ociffer
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: All up in your Bill of Rights
Posts: 6,485
Rep Power: 6
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what's the weight comparable too? marz 66? totem?
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02-14-2008, 02:57 PM
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#9
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Turbo Monkey
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: DC/Bluemont VA
Posts: 2,241
Rep Power: 3
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[QUOTE=CovicRacing;2829861]
Quote:
Originally Posted by BrooklynMachine
According to the manual, it's 30-180mm of travel adjustment, even though the range is much larger.
It extends to 188mm:
QUOTE]
Even though the fork is physically capable of almost 190mm of travel, it is not recommended to run them at more than 180mm.
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that sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.
__________________
Anyone want to buy an 06 Iron Horse Yakuza Kumicho 19 inch frame or complete? How bout a 95 yamaha yz125?
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02-14-2008, 03:50 PM
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#10
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Monkey
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Louisville, CO
Posts: 123
Rep Power: 2
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[QUOTE=skatetokil;2830039]
Quote:
Originally Posted by CovicRacing
that sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.
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Not really. Running the fork at 188mm is not a failure mode by any means. When run at max travel the fork tends to run into the top out bumper which results in a harsh stop at the top of the stroke. If you run the fork just 2mm less than max this effect is avoided.
__________________
-Joe Krajcovic
Kowa Factory USA
Avalanche Downhill Racing
Relic International
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02-14-2008, 06:16 PM
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#11
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Poop Deck Edgar
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Hanging out in Hollywood
Posts: 5,406
Rep Power: 4
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that thing is sickhouse. when and where can i get one in the states?
__________________
high-tech low-life
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02-14-2008, 10:10 PM
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#12
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Monkey
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Louisville, CO
Posts: 123
Rep Power: 2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mandown
that thing is sickhouse. when and where can i get one in the states?
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My company (Covic Products) is the US distributor for Kowa forks. PM or email me if you are interested.
joe@covicracing.com
__________________
-Joe Krajcovic
Kowa Factory USA
Avalanche Downhill Racing
Relic International
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02-15-2008, 09:17 AM
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#13
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Monkey
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 335
Rep Power: 5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BrooklynMachine
the fork is every bit as plush at 30mm as it is at 160mm
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Might I suggest you actually ride this fork before you make such inaccurate statemants as this?
Joe, I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but BrooklynMachine isn't reviewing your fork here, they are advertising it. That is why his identical thread at mtbr got locked down.
Brooklyn, I have ridden this fork. Why don't you post your findings [if you actually ever ride it] over at the open thread about this fork in the suspension forum at mtbr?
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02-15-2008, 09:59 AM
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#14
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Turbo Monkey
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: DC/Bluemont VA
Posts: 2,241
Rep Power: 3
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ohh snap
__________________
Anyone want to buy an 06 Iron Horse Yakuza Kumicho 19 inch frame or complete? How bout a 95 yamaha yz125?
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02-15-2008, 10:02 AM
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#15
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Poop Deck Edgar
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Hanging out in Hollywood
Posts: 5,406
Rep Power: 4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Renegade
Might I suggest you actually ride this fork before you make such inaccurate statemants as this?
Joe, I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but BrooklynMachine isn't reviewing your fork here, they are advertising it. That is why his identical thread at mtbr got locked down.
Brooklyn, I have ridden this fork. Why don't you post your findings [if you actually ever ride it] over at the open thread about this fork in the suspension forum at mtbr?
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Renegade, can you give us your impressions? If you don't want to post them up in public, fire me a PM, I'd be interested.
__________________
high-tech low-life
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