Emulators - what are they?

Hi all,
I have been reading a lot of the emulator posts but i am not sure i understand what exactly its use is?

Is it a part which is there to make up for the lack of preload adjuster on the curvy forks and allows you to adjust the preload from outside the fork like a modern superbike or is it there as a compression/rebound adjuster making up for the lack of said adjustment on the standard forks?

I have noticed people have said they have to remove it to make adjustments?
Am i getting that wrong?

Sorry,i just found a site that talks about them in a bit more detail.They are basically a compression damping adjuster and then you change the thickness of oil to adjust rebound adjustment (is that right)?

Are there any numbers in terms of fork travel recommendations for preload?

On sportsbikes i usually adjust preload for a static sag of about 25mm on the road and aim for a 10-12mm difference between static sag and rider sag.(then spring changes to attain this if necessary)

I qualified as a mechanic and do suspension setups for people on cartridge type forks but have no experience with riding setup of sv type forks apart from oil changes/fork seals.I have always advised people to change to cartridge type forks if they have asked.Emulators are new on me

A few sites also say they are inconsistant as there is no oil tight seal between the emulator and the damping rod so oil leaks round the sides.
Another site also said instead of a gixer front end swap there are 41mm forks out there that have preload and damping adjustment already.Didnt actually mention which ones!!!

No idea! To me, emulators are run on computers.

This link has some suspension numbers for an SV650 and mentions emulators.

Lol,for moody torrent apps?

[Sid Squid]

Emulator is an abbreviation of cartridge emulator. There are essentially two types of fork damping systems; damper rod fork and cartridge fork. The purpose of an emulator is to separate the compression and rebound damping functions of a damper rod fork and in doing so emulate the manner in which a cartridge fork functions. Ordinarily the only way to adjust the damping of a damper rod fork is to change the oil weight, which has an effect on both compression and rebound oil flow. Emulators are intended only to control the oil flow on the compression stroke. Set the rebound damping rate with oil weight, then set the compression damping by the emulator spring pressure.

They are not suspension preload adjusters, and have nothing to do with fork springing, however there will be a rise in the spring preload due to where the emulator physically fits inside the fork, and the upper spring seat/spacer will usually be shortened by the same amount as the thickness of the emulator, typically 12~14mm~ish.

Yeah i think i get the function now,So essentially fitting one straight up without cutting the spacer would effectively give you 12-14mm less static sag?
Based on the amount of static sag on my bike,that has to be a good thing so why cut the spacer at all?

Again,does the 20-25mm static sag rule from sportsbikes (on the road) apply to the sv?

[Sid Squid]

Originally Posted by konceppt

Based on the amount of static sag on my bike,that has to be a good thing so why cut the spacer at all?

Your bike - it should be set it how you like, however you asked what emulators are and what they do, and you also asked:

Originally Posted by konceppt

Is it a part which is there to make up for the lack of preload adjuster on the curvy forks and allows you to adjust the preload from outside the fork like a modern superbike or is it there as a compression/rebound adjuster making up for the lack of said adjustment on the standard forks?

So my answer would have been incomplete without explaining that they aren't preload adjusters, but that they do have an impact upon it.

Of course whether you want to cut the spacer depends on your exact circumstances - if you had the preload set right and fitted emulators it would be higher than you had set it previously, so yes, you would want to.

In computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates (or emulates) the functions of a first computer system (the guest) in a different second computer system (the host), so that the emulated behavior closely resembles the behavior of the real system. This focus on exact reproduction of behavior is in contrast to some other forms of computer simulation, in which an abstract model of a system is being simulated. For example, a computer simulation of a hurricane or a chemical reaction is not emulation.

I am not that clever, I copied it from Wikipedia.

lol