How to fit Emulators to a pointy

Here's how i did mine, a 2011 Sv650s, i'm not saying its right or wrong, its just here as a reference for anyone interested in doing theirs. *Note, Debrix emulators were installed.

1. Unscrew fork top preload adjuster to take off any excess preload on the springs.
2. Loosen top cap 1/2 turn, use 24mm socket.
3. Loosen wheel spindle clamping bolt, righthand leg, 12mm socket.
4. Loosen wheel spindle, 12mm allen key.
5. Loosen 4x caliper bolts, 14mm socket.
6. Support bike so front wheel is 50mm+ in the air. I used a length of wood under the left and right crash bung, and a sissor jack with a block of wood under the engine as a safety/backup, and a brick to chock the rear wheel.
7. Unscrew and remove fork top caps. There's only a little preload on them, it won't fire off like a rocket incase your worried!
8. Lift out the spacer tube(45mm long, 34mm OD, 33mm ID for anyone wanting dimensions to make shorter/longer ones).
9. Lift out the washer.
10. Lift out the fork spring slowly, as oil will be on it, do it quick and oil drips everywhere, do it slowly and most of it will drain back into the fork tube. Have a rag handy to catch any drips.
11. Undo/remove the bolt holding the 3-way brake hose block/splitter to the right fork leg.
12. Remove 4x brake caliper bolts and hang them out of the way with a bungee etc.
13. Undo/remove bolts and clamps holding speedo sensor wire to the left leg.
14. Unscrew and remove fork spindle and front wheel will drop out.
15. Unbolt mudguard, 2x allen headed bolts on outside, 2x hex bolts on the inside.
16. Get a container 1L or larger under the fork leg, use a 6mm allen key in the bottom of the fork legs, locate and unscrew the bolt that holds the damper rod in(put allen key upwards in bottom of the fork and you'll feel it fit in the bolt head), when unscrewing, don't put pressure on the bolt otherwise it lifts up the damper rod and it just spins and won't unscrew, let the bolt wind itself down as you unscrew. You'll see what i mean when you do it! Or you can put a rod/broom handle??? down inside the fork and push the damper rod down to keep it in place as you undo the bolt.
17. Oil will now drain out the bottom of the fork, i had just under 500ml in each leg(492ml). Now push the lower fork leg up(compress fork).
18. Using anything thats 6mm or less diameter(a stick, piece of rod, i used windscreen washer tubing/fishtank air pump tubing!) insert in the bottom of the fork and push the damper rod up to the top and lift it out. You might be able to use a coat hanger wire, all your doing is lifting up the damper rod up to the top of the fork so you can get it out. You can remove the fork tubes and turn them upside down so it drops out but i didn't see the point in doing that. Don't extend the forks too much as i think the lowers can slide off the stanchions now.
19. Back off the nut on the emulator until there is no load on its spring, then slowly tighten until it is starting to press on the spring, and tighten another 2 1/2 turns(Racetech says 2 turns for street, 4 turns for track btw).
20. There are 4x 8mm holes in the damper rods at the bottom. Drill these out to 11mm to stop them having any effect on damping as the emulator will do it from now on. Make sure you deburr them so no metal swarf is left in the tube!
21. Block off the small(1.8mm diameter) rebound hold at the top of the damper rod as the emulator has a hole in it already. I welded mine up, you can do it another way if you like, braze etc, or maybe use a small hammer ball end and pein over the hole till its closed up???
22. The top of the damper rod measured 27.0mm x 7.5mm deep recess, and the emulator measures 23.9mm diameter. So make up an adaptor(*EDITED, i did call it a spacer but confusing people), ie a short tube that is 27.0mm OD, 23.95mm ID and 7.5mm long. Basically to reduce the diameter that the emulator sits in the damping tube. Here's more detail about mine which you don't have to do to yours....... I made mine out of ali, and shrink-fitted it, ie, cooled it in the freezer to shrink it, then quickly dropped it in the top of the damper rod creating a nice tight fit as it expanded. You can choose to do it any way you like, but mine was the same as a press fit without the result of any damage done to the ali adaptor OD from the interference fit i wanted to achieve. I'm a precision engineer and a bit of a perfectionist, so made it 0.02mm larger, shrunk fitted it so its tight in the damper rod and that meant that the emulator was a snug fit also and won't fall out, aiding ease of re-fitment in the forks, ie it stays put on top of the damper rod!
23. Drop the damper rod back in the fork, and re-fit the bolt that holds it in.
24. Pour in your new fork oil, i chose 15wt. Add about 390-400ml(emulator is 14.5mm high so you need less oil than what came out originally). I pumped leg up and down until i heard no more air gurgling noises when extending/compressing the fork so i knew no more air was trapped. Keep adding oil until(with the fork compressed fully) the oil level is 130-140mm from the top of the leg. I overfilled mine and then used a syringe with tube on the end (135mm long), and kept syphoning oil out until no more oil was being sucked out. So i knew each leg had exactly 135mm air gap left.
25. Extend the leg, refit the spring, washer and spacer, then screw on the cap and tighten(have someone steady the front end of the bike as you push down on the cap!). You can shorten the spacer if you like, but as i previously had my preload adjusters fully in, and they gave 14mm total adjustment travel max to min, i've just got them fully out now so it kinda cancels out the emulator height.
26. Refit everything else, its all obvious!-mudguard, wheel, speedo sensor, speedo sensor wiring/clamps, 3-way brake block/splitter, brake caliper, spindle locking bolt and tighten up to torque making sure wheel spins freely. Check for any leaks. Remove from supports and job done!

You can check you static sag is ok, forks work ok, then go for a ride.
I wrote everything down as i done it-step by step, and took 3 1/2hrs in total, that includes driving 3 miles to work, drilling out damper rods, deburring holes, welding up rebound hole, measuring/making ali adaptors to fit emulators, fitting them, driving home. Everything! If you have bought the rods already modded then i'd guess maybe 1hr or slightly more to do this. None of this is difficult, just take it apart and put together again type-of-job.

If you want to comment on any point, please do, but don't rip into me saying 'this is wrong/that is wrong' etc , this is just how i did it, thats all!

Thanks this is the type of thing I have been waiting for so that I can see if I will be able to do it looks like I need just wait for my funds to be able afford them. Probably best to get springs and oil sorted at the same time so a bit of saving in order for that.

[Grant66]

Good guide, sounds fairly straight forward.
Two questions:

1. Is the only difference for the curvey that there is no spacer tube to remove (step

2. Is the purpose of the fabricated tube around the emulator just to ease reassembly?

[flymo]

I misread the post at first confusing the custom spacer that you made with the pre-load spacers. I've never had a problem just dropping the emulators into the fork really, just drop 'em in and take a quick peek with a torch to make sure they are sitting upright, job done.

Great instructions. If I removed the rods and was looking for someone to do the spacer (press/shrink fit, either), who/what type of trade would I be looking for? Reluctant to use my local garage and unsure if they could do what I want anyway.

Also, how did/do you deburr drill holes (yes, I'm a noob. Will be looking this up as we speak). Thanks again.

[flymo]

Originally Posted by Runako

Great instructions. If I removed the rods and was looking for someone to do the spacer (press/shrink fit, either), who/what type of trade would I be looking for? Reluctant to use my local garage and unsure if they could do what I want anyway.

Also, how did/do you deburr drill holes (yes, I'm a noob. Will be looking this up as we speak). Thanks again.

Don't bother with the spacer, its not required. To be honest if you are not confident with drilling and deburring a hole then do yourself a favor and let somebody modify your forks for you. I don't mean to sound condescending when I say that, its important that its done properly and safely, this is slightly more involved than a brake pad swap.

Originally Posted by flymo

Don't bother with the spacer, its not required.

Would save me a few £'s but can you explain in a bit more detail why? YC charges a fair amount for this mod so why would so many others pay for an unnecessary service? Don't get me wrong, I'll take all advice and make my own decision so I appreciate your opinion (and YC's skills).

Originally Posted by flymo

... its important that its done properly and safely, this is slightly more involved than a brake pad swap.

Agreed. I took note that Urban said he's an engineer and I am most certainly not. Just considering all the options but in the back of my mind I know I'll get someone else to do it. Cheers.

[flymo]

Originally Posted by Runako

Would save me a few £'s but can you explain in a bit more detail why?

I'm not familiar with YCs mods, I'll leave him to explain why he does this particular modification, if at all.

The emulator sits atop of the damper rod and is held in place by the main fork spring. I can see how it may aid slightly in fitting but like I said, I've never had any trouble with just popping the emulator in and quickly checking its position as described in the RaceTech fitting instructions. Once its in you'll likely never touch it again.

The main benefit comes from simply using the emulators and a suitable fork fluid, why make it more complicated than you need to unless you have the time, skills and inclination to do so?

I also have an engineering background and spent 15 years manufacturing machine components, the latter part of which programming and setting CNC machining centers. So I can see where the OP is coming from, its a nice idea but like I said totally unnecessary.

Originally Posted by flymo

I'm not familiar with YCs mods

Lol, i thought everyone knew YC. Anyway, he's a mechanic (I think) and does the damper rod mod for members of this forum. My understanding was 2nd generation SV's need the spacer to keep it flush with the damper rod (as is suggested above). IIRC the 1st Gen SV does not need this mod (different fork internals?).

In my simple mind I thought this would prevent the damper moving around inside whilst the suspension is working.

Originally Posted by Urbanfireblade

... top of the damper rod measured 26.9mm x 6.5mm deep recess, and the emulator measures 23.9mm diameter.

Anyone wish to clarify this?

Edit: You refer to Racetech emulators fitting instructions. Are you saying the instructions are similar for debrix emulators?

[flymo]

Originally Posted by Runako

Lol, i thought everyone knew YC. Anyway, he's a mechanic (I think) and does the damper rod mod for members of this forum. My understanding was 2nd generation SV's need the spacer to keep it flush with the damper rod (as is suggested above). IIRC the 1st Gen SV does not need this mod (different fork internals?).

In my simple mind I thought this would prevent the damper moving around inside whilst the suspension is working. Anyone wish to clarify this?

Edit: You refer to Racetech emulators fitting instructions. Are you saying the instructions are similar for debrix emulators?

Yeah, I know who YC is and that he does the damper rod mods for people, that isnt the issue here. We are talking about a spacer between the damper rod and emulator, something that isn't technically required even on pointy SVs.

In a fully assembled fork, the emulators are kept in position just fine by the pressure of the main fork spring. This is how the product is designed to work. Now that's not to say that a design cannot be improved upon, but in this case I just don't think it's necessary.

Debrix emulators are basically an exact copy of the original RaceTech emulators, but cheaper. You would find it difficult to tell them apart.