So I've talked to several folks of the last couple of years and have tried to sort through the BS. Here's what I've got: 1. Cush hub protects the transmission from torque during hard acceleration and hard downshifting on tarmac. 2. Some say not necessary for knobbies or supermoto applications some say it is essential for street riding. What's the inmate advice? I ride 20 road/80 off-road and have Dunlop 908RR tires f/r. Opinions, upsides/downsides, supermoto or knobbies, etc. Thanks for comments!
Cush drives dont really have any down sides except for maintenance on the rubbers and one extra bearing but the positives far out weigh the negatives . If you want to keep the bike long term definatly cush her up heavy sand riding also is very hard on gear box the constant loading and unloading causes heavy wear If you turn them over quickly mabey not if you want to keep it long term cush cush cush
The cush wheel is a lot heavier, and it might not be necessary on the 530 as it has a damper built into the clutch unlike the previous generation bikes. On the RFS bikes I run a cush hub on both my motard and dual sport wheel sets. Besides the 525s often cracking the solid hubs in high traction conditions, it also helps with wear on the countershaft splines, which can be problematic.
Have you considered a dampened counter shaft sprocket as a cheaper (slightly less effective? ) alternative? The splines on your counter shaft are the same as those on a 690e/r/smc which use a rubber dampened sprocket. The difference being that the 690 sprocket is slightly thicker which could be easily cut down to fit the exc. Sprockets are available in 15/16/17 tooth for around $30. I have not personally tried this but I have put a non-dampened exc sprocket on my 690 using a small spacer behind it, so it would make sense that it could be done the other way by removing material from the inside of the sprocket.
Varying opinions. Some swear by it, and others dismiss it as not needed. There was a rental company out West that runs all EXCs and their bikes get flogged mercilessly, all with 10k+ miles and they don't run em. Were I doing a lot of SM riding I might consider it, but linking trails together and the occasional jaunt to town like I do? (80/20) Nahh..
I searched and couldn't find a picture of anything but standard. Do you have one. Dave Hopkins claims to be doing one output shaft a week due to ruined slines from DS bikes.
A dampened sprocket isn't going to do anything for you. The sprockets just have a rubber piece on either side that touch the chain as it passes over the sprocket. It's basically for noise reduction, not for reducing driveline shock.
I guess I never looked at it to see what it was all about after removal, but that is good to know... At least I don't feel so bad about running the non dampened sprocket now! Disregard my last suggestion
KUSH is the name,it`s a rear sprocket with dampeners,,you can do a search and check it out on the net...bottom line.......i know a guy that didn`t get 10 miles out of 2 of these sprockets........they shoot the dampeners out like bullets B
I was waiting for others to experiment before i'd consider it. I had my doubts looking at the photos.
I had a set of Marvic wheels on my 750 Ninja and FZR1000, they both had the sprocket with the "dampener Doughnuts", they worked fine.
Have a Cush Hub on my 2010 530. 2000+ miles on it now (street/dirt 30/70) I'm still on the fence if it was a good investment or not. When going on a pure dirt type ride I run the stock rim. For aggressive street riding I do like having the cush hub wheel on. But if I were riding mostly dirt and not too aggressive on the street, I'd spend my money on something else. street/dirt 80/20 yes 50/50 maybe 20/80 no
The winter mods may include this. I have a lot of sand in my area and some day may slap a paddle on her so it may be a good investment. I don't plan to swap out the bike anytime soon and would like to do some longer distance riding, like the Continental divide. Sounds like it can hurt. The GS does most of distance stuff now but the capability of the 530 is in the back of my mind when hairy stuff pops up. Thanks folks!
I tried it on my 08. have 640 hub laced to a 2.15 530 rim if you want to buy I am open... Even better if you pay for shipping for both i will trade it for a clean 08 or newer ktm 530 complete wheel (no sprocket, no disc). Is heavy and keeps the back end tracking up and down whoops when should be bouncing across the top. Weight does add an added sense of traction though. Cush hub = 2 to 4 mm of dampening, drive chain has 1 inch knobbies, 4 inches of tire at 12 psi, and play in chain. Between the huge amount of play in rubber tire I am not convinced cush hub adds any real benefit.
Everyone sure keeps commenting on how heavy the 640 hub is. I can feel the side effects of a heavy tire but didn't think the hub would be so noticable. Doesn't sound good for my whoops. Rad. Manufacturing makes a light weight billet unit with small rubbers/ hub assembly.
I have a RAD cush hub with a 2.5 excel via heavy duty stainless spokes as a second rear wheel for my 530. The hub is light and extremely well made (its very similar to the KTM 950/990 standard hub) but I can't feel any difference when riding compared to the stock wheel. The only reason I went with the cush drive hub is that I wanted a second wheel for the more open/faster/longer rides and all the Aus Safari riders swear by them. On the dirt it doesn't realy matter what rear wheel your running, as long as your having fun.
I don't think the RAD Mfg hub that Woody uses is any lighter than the stock Adv one, at least another member posted that's what he was told. Being made from billet it should be stronger, though. LC8TY, if there was such a thing as wheel porn, you would win!