.52 front spring might be harsh for trails but ok for tracks im going .50 for trails
love to know what that race tech gold feels like before i spend the money to get get one, but I know I want it.
Remember , Springs are for your weight to hold up the bike , not for the plushness , that is in valving , unless your a A rider then you want to go 1 rate stiffer than what a "normal" rider would run , you could leave the 0.52 and go to a 1.75 Pressure Spring (stock is 1.90) that will help some with the initial harshness , , , i run Gold valve kits in both my bikes , my X is plush enough for Endurocross , you can just hit stuff and its like butter , my R is the same , except i valved it stiffer since i do ride MX with it as well as off-road , if you go with Race Tech , talk to Louie , or ask them to get you in contact with Mike Crow , he helped me thru some issues with valving my 02 R (the hardest one to valve correctly because of the smaller size shims than all other year R's) , i can also walk you thru anything you might get stuck on doing it , personally , i would do both the Compression and Rebound/mid-valve , you will get the most benefit from it (Ken sells the Gold Valve kits here)
On a side note when i dropped from 225 to 212 (i am now 190 after having a heart attack on New Years day) i was using 0.52 , then went to 0.50 , and i had to stiffen the clickers to compensate for the softer spring (i am on the far side of 57 and still decently fast , well i was till i broke my wrist last Aug. now i am just thinking about riding again and , now putting my bike back together after the wreck) , i was going to go back to the 0.52 , but will ride it with the 0.50 in it to see how my wrist does at first then decide where to go with springs and because of my 20+ lbs weight loss in the last 3 months , my 02 does single track well and MX , both very forgiving comfort
The thing with spring rates is you want the bike to stay UP in the stroke , if its so soft you are riding with the forks half way compressed , you will end up getting a stiffer ride than with a stiffer spring , as the valving is already past the point it needs to move , as valving works in stages , if the bike is so soft that your already using half the stroke , then the valving will open too late in the stroke and make the ride harsher , not plusher , and you will end up fighting settings without positive results , so if anything , keep the rate where it is and get your ride from the valving , not the spring rate ...follow ???
This is what gold valving allows , watch in the rocky corner , the ability to just ride right thru it , i actually pass my friend in the rocks , and i mean ROCKS