SV-650K7 & Race Tech Cartridge Emulators

btw.it is fact than additional holes will pass seal and enter rebound chamber on full compression.I have cut fork leg to see this.will you ever experience this or feel and recognize is up to you.

I'll just pay Rob#70 to do mine when the time comes. That way I can kick his ar$e if he screws it up

Sounds like removing the brake pads to save weight, then complaining the bike doesnt stop very well to me!

99% of people that fit this stuff will not be removing the lock valve (most wont know what it is) so why create the confusion?

for everyone else, the lock valve (bottom out cup) is the reason the fork tubes lock when they are pushed all the way down when you change springs/seals/oil.
this is a hydraulic lock to prevent the forks from 'hard bottoming' as it slows the fork in the last inch or so of travel before its fully bottomed.
This hydraulic action works both ways and is in the same area of travel as the upper holes that are drilled to fit emulators, the hydraulic strength of the lock valve far out weighs the amount of rebound that is lost when the upper holes are above the seal in the fork tube.

Add to that the forces involved to get the fork this far compressed (unless the wrong springs are fitted) are only possible under heavy braking, heavy enough that the front tyre will break free if leant over before the forks would be compressed enough.

Chatter can come from excess highspeed damping (too much preload on emulator spring) or a natural frequency issue.
correct setup is the key and this will always change with rider preference, but the basics remain the same.

there is no point of arguing,like I said,do it any way you like it.
fyi.ohlins forks(arguably best out there)come stock without hydraulic lock.
ps.you just brought up 3 more points,wrong springs,hard braking correct set up.
there are things that work and things that work better.you can keep installing it following instructions and I will keep trying to make it better.
have fun.

Originally Posted by Robw#70

This hydraulic action works both ways and is in the same area of travel as the upper holes that are drilled to fit emulators, the hydraulic strength of the lock valve far out weighs the amount of rebound that is lost when the upper holes are above the seal in the fork tube.

nope,it works only in one direction,compression.it has no effect on damping on the way back.

once the valve is sat in the tube it has hydraulic action in both directions, just before i agree its only on compression but once cup is in the tube it locks both ways, not ideal in a vaccum but force is there and in the same area as the upper holes being uncovered.

sorry but we will disagree there to.
it has no effect.valve has bleed hole.upper holes make it zero damping until seal is past.once past rebound hole and leakage past seals takes over.
there is no damping to slow down spring until small hole on top of rod kicks in.

Originally Posted by Robw#70

Right just to clear this up, a couple of weeks ago I was at Racetech and I asked Paul Thede about this (Paul Thede is the Inventor of the Emulator, writes all of the instructions, develops kits for new models and is the owner and founder of Racetech, Basically he is Racetech!!)

And his answer was that there was nothing wrong with the current instructions and they should be fitted as instructed.
He backed up my thoughts that the upper holes were not an issue on full compression.

3-4 turns is too much for road use, the preload on the emulator is for high speed damping so unless you like a knocky ride 2-3 is all you need bearing in mind anything over a .80 spring you'll be using 20wt oil to get the rebound.

The racetech airgap 130mm works perfectly using virtually all of the travel without bottoming.

Use a vernier to measure the length of the emulator spring, that way you can get them both the same and have a 'setting' instead of guessing where the starting point is.

I'd do this! When I fitted mine, I looked at the concerns/questions people had and then emailed Racetech. In the end, I just did what Racetech said, to the letter! After all, they designed them and I put my faith in their product so I decided to put faith in how they say you should fit them! I never had any problems on the road or the track and was very happy with the improvement.

Thank you for the replies.

I installed the Emulators and decided to do it as per the supplied instructions with two exceptions:

1) I drilled the holes in the damper rods with the enlarge-the-existing-four-holes-to-10mm method.
2) I used 10wt fork oil (good ol' PJ-1 Fork Tuner) instead of the 20wt shown in the instructions.
I did use the recommended 130mm oil level.

(Actually, I first used 20wt, but I realized that this oil was too thick for the stock fork springs (which are OK for my weight) and current winter temperatures because the forks rebounded much too slowly.
Changing to 10wt was much better and seems to be the ticket until it gets warmer, though I doubt even then I'll be able to use 20wt.
We'll see).

My first (and only, so far) ride with the Emulators was very positive.
Basically, it feels like the same fork with a welcomed reducton in sharp-edged bumps adversely effecting the bike and rider.
I wasn't blown away by the difference with a maniacal grin on my face, but I also didn't get those annoying sharp hits transfered into the chassis as I rode over the bumps that used to do so, either.
Very nice, and I'm anxious to really get down with them once we pass the winter solstice, the sun's angle of inclination starts heading back in the proper direction, and all of this sandy/salty crap gets rinsed off the roads.

So, basically, they work and it was worth the time and money.