Spring weight for bike weight.

[Bibio]

total travel will also have a lot to do with your riding style. if your a smooth rider who does not use a lot of braking then you will get less travel and this is fine as long as the bike is not sitting noise up. if you find your running wide or hard to keep a line on corner exit then reduce preload. if you feel like the front is tucking under then increase preload. also remember that sometimes what feels like a front end problem is actually the rear and visa versa. this is where experience comes into play. if it feels wrong it usually is but its knowing whats wrong and some people cant tell a well set up bike to a badly set up bike, they just ride it.

dont bother trying to set things up till you get the rebound holes welded shut and dressed.

[Adam Ef]

Originally Posted by Bibio

total travel will also have a lot to do with your riding style. if your a smooth rider who does not use a lot of braking then you will get less travel...

I tend to use engine braking a lot, but have been testing it out with some emergency stops etc to check front travel and see how it handles.

Originally Posted by Bibio

and this is fine as long as the bike is not sitting noise up.

Definitely sitting slightly tail up with the ZX10r shock that is about 1cm longer than stock.

Originally Posted by Bibio

if you find your running wide or hard to keep a line on corner exit then reduce preload. if you feel like the front is tucking under then increase preload.

Top tip. I've never heard that before. Thanks. Feels ok at the moment. The way it handles under normal use and cornering etc is great compared to how it was and worlds apart from the road surface issues.

Originally Posted by Bibio

...some people cant tell a well set up bike to a badly set up bike, they just ride it.

That's me for the last few years. I knew something wasn't great but had no idea about any of this. Another big learning curve. It's all starting to make sense now though. Thanks.

Originally Posted by Bibio

dont bother trying to set things up till you get the rebound holes welded shut and dressed.

I was tempted, but have decided to sort the front first. I'm taking it apart this morning. Daughter is home ill from school... so I'll be in the garage inbetween changing DVDs and taking orders for drinks

[Adam Ef]

Just compared the K Tech to stock springs. The K Tech are approx 10mm shorter. Not sure why I didnt notice this before. Nothing that can't be taken up with preload though and sag was looking good how it was so all ok?


(edit: I thought they were a bit easy to reassemble)

[Adam Ef]

Damper rods are out. The "seal" around the top looks very different to photos of others I've seen? It doesn't look like it will do much either?
Is this normal?

[glang]

Interesting as I want to do mine but wont be welding the rebound hole as I think I can tap and plug it with a suitable screw.....
Dont know what the seal is supposed to look like but that would do the job as its to prevent excessive flow past as the fork moves rapidly not be absolute perfect seal like an o-ring.

[Adam Ef]

Managed to get the forks off, apart and visited friend who welded up rebound holes, all before lunch today! Thought I was on course to have it all back together by this evening, but have decided to pause. Figured I may as well fit new seals while everything is apart and also noticed a slight bit of wear and play in the bushings. So have ordered a set of everything and will reassemble properly when they arrive.

[Adam Ef]

Originally Posted by glang

Interesting as I want to do mine but wont be welding the rebound hole as I think I can tap and plug it with a suitable screw.....

I'd recommend getting it welded. Mine was done in about 1 min and looks really neat. You'd never know there was a hole there. Peace of mind knowing it won't come loose too. I'd take a photo but it just looks like the other side of the rod with no hole, so there's no point

[Adam Ef]

Forks all back together today with rebound holes welded up. I kept original bushings in as on second inspection they seems fine. Also got sold some bushings that are definitely not the right size.... don't buy the "Pyramid Parts" ones on eBay.. they're way too thick and will never go in the fork. The seals are fine though.


Feels a little more solid on the bounce test on the front with less bouncing up and down. It's still slightly fast though. I still have to let the rebound out almost all the way on the rear to get the return of the rear to match the front so it all rises (bounces back up) at the same rate, but at least it's possible to balance it. Might try some slightly heavier oil in the front so I can slow the rear back to where I want it again. I also have an air gap of 100mm instead of the recommended 94mm in the front at the moment as that's how much oil I had to hand at home when filling. From what I can undertstand the air gap comes into play in the the last 30% of the travel, so as I wasn't getting all the travel before, I'm guessing this will work in my favour and give me slightly more use of the travel at the end. I may not notice it though. Will watch the cable tie on the fork and see how it compares.


Also, very apparent that the K Tech fork springs are 10mm shorter than stock as I do need preload nearly all the way in to get near correct bike sag. Ideally I'd have a longer spacer in the fork (10mm to make up the spring length difference) to give me more adjustability in case I wanted to load the bike up, but I never ride with a pillion or load up the bike anyway so it will be fine for now. If I decide it needs emulators in the future they'd probably take up that space inside the fork anyway. (I assume the reason they're shorter is that K Tech spec the length assuming they're going in with emulators to replace stock springs).


Currently getting 27mm static sag on the front (2mm over top amount recommended I know, but works fine with the rear and running out of travel isn't a problem yet). Checked against me on the bike with full kit and as much stuff as I ever carry loaded in a bag I get 37mm rider sag. I usually carry less and wear less in the summer ( I also tend to weigh 2kg less further from Xmas ) so I can load to my limit and be fine and should be within recommendations with less weght on me too. For reference in case it's useful to anyone I usually weigh about 73/74kg and kit carried inc gear is about 5/6kg, sometimes a bit less and the 8.5n/mm K Tech springs are ok. Any more weight or loading up the bike and I'd be looking at the 9n/mm.


One other thing to mention is the mistake I made measuring sag so others can avoid it. I kept putting the bike on the side stand when taking the measurements from fork seal to lower clamp. With the bike on the side stand the stand takes weight off the front wheel and the front rises up, so it was giving me much less sag reading than it should have. Using a cable tie to measure from or keeping the bike upright was showing sag at at least 10mm more than the sidestand readings. So I was setting everything way too low originally.


Need to ride it and test when the weather cheers up. Hopefully tomorrow and will report back if it's improved.

[glang]

yes please as Im sure theres a few of us interested in your findings. Did you have any problems holding the damper rods while doing up their bottom fixing bolts?

[Adam Ef]

Originally Posted by glang

Did you have any problems holding the damper rods while doing up their bottom fixing bolts?

Nope. Put spring inside fork and put it all upside down on a carpeted bit of floor in my workshop so I could push down compressing the internals, putting pressure on the rod. Held in place fine and torqued up perfectly.


Loosened them with forks still on the bike too when I started it all.