Reworking forks ...

Enough blah blah blah ... so how does it work?  

I went out on a 20 minute test ride and hit every bump I could find.  

I am super happy with the results!!

The jolt/jarring is dramatically reduced.  If you drive over a brick at 45 mph you'll still get a jolt, but normal-ish road imperfections don't have the harsh impact now.

In one turn there is a ~1 inch pavement ripple, just floated over that, no jolt, no wiggle, just absorbed it.  

And how much did this costs?
$6 usd - oil
$7.12 usd - shims

$13.12 total!!  

Well ... there were tools ... and the GRiSO stand.

But the fork specific tools:
$15 - ebay fork spring compressor thing
$20 - Motion Pro damping rod pull up thing (guys on youtube are using a zip tie)

I already had the impact wrench, and the vice soft jaws.  The $15 long allen wrench set, I'll call that generic tool.

So if I had paid a suspension shop $250-$350 for a suspension revalve, I would have been happy with these results.  

So ... what change did what?  I did 3 things ...
1. Different compression stack
2. Lighter weight oil
3. Less oil in the forks

I feel it is a combo of #2 & #1.  And the oil the left fork was super thick ... so #2 might be the biggest difference ... don't know.

But Round 1 was a major success!!  

Actually, not sure I need a Round II.   Will hopefully get some more rides in this week and test some more.

Winner indeed!

Thanks

A good write up.

Picking up where Usedtobefast left off.

The OEM rebound stack is;

17 x 0.10
17 x 0.10
17 x 0.10
17 x 0.15
10 x 0.2
10 x 0.2

I have decided to replace the valves with Racetech Gold valves and use the spreadsheets /calculations they provide for the shim stacks. In talking to the Racetech technical department when I found they don't have the GRiSO in their system, he said 'we can roughly calculate a set up and adjust from there'

So using the 2006 Suzuki GSXR 750 to get into the system and then added 70 lbs to my rider weight, ( 175 lbs ), to compensate for the weight difference of the bikes ( roughly 420 lbs to 490 lbs ).

These are the baseline shim sets

Compression;

17 x 0.15
17 x 0.15
17 x 0.15
17 x 0.15
17 x 0.10
15 x 0.10
13 x 0.10
11 x 0.10
 9 x 0.15

Rebound

17 x 0.15
17 x 0.15
17 x 0.15
17 x 0.15
17 x 0.15
17 x 0.15
17 x 0.15
17 x 0.15
15 x 0.10
13 x 0.15
11 x 0.15
 9 x 0.30

A 5 weight oil & air gap of 120 mm recommended. However I have changed out the springs, so the air gap may need some fiddling with.

Cool! You doing the work yourself? Or having a suspension shop/person do it? Seems like a lot of 17mm shims! But then the racetech valves supposedly flow more oil ... so would make sense to need more shims.

Hope it turns out great.

Found a suspension guy who doesn't mind me looking over his shoulder & buying the parts.

Nobleswood wrote:

Found a suspension guy who doesn't mind me looking over his shoulder & buying the parts.

Let us know how it all works out. I'd like to get my forks done as well, and I'm not that far away, 'bout 100 miles. I installed the Race Tech valves in my Blackbird a long time ago. It wasn't difficult, but a bit tedious. Now my eyes aren't as good, and my stubby fat fingers aren't quite as nimble.

I will !
Are you going to be at the ‘Garage Brewed’ event in Cincy on 2/8 ?

Yes I will. I'm actually hosting a bunch of fellow CBXers that weekend, and we'll all be there. We call it our PMS party (Parked Motorcycle Syndrome).

Look for a custom Kawasaki in orange/rootbeer w/ single sided swinger. A friend of mine built it.

Nobleswood wrote:

Found a suspension guy who doesn't mind me looking over his shoulder & buying the parts.

Hey, how did your forks turn out? Did you get it done before coronavirus set in?

The whole experience went well; Jakes a good guy & didn’t mind a gearhead learning. Thanks to you pointing out what other bikes the Showa's were on I could get the parts ordered.

I’ve only had the bike out twice now & once for a real ride. The result; the front end seems to just comply with road. You know what’s under the tyre but it’s not unsettling the bike. As this is the best set up suspension I’ve had, I can at the moment only say what it’s not doing. Which is odd. Over the summer I’ll get to know & understand it better.

All in all I’m pleased. So pleased that I bought the same front end set up that I’m going to instal on my V11 Sport, when I can get back to earning some money.