Forks & Rear shock info from Maxton Engineering

would a gsxr 600 or 750 front end swap be the best option? then you would also get the better brakes of the gsxr. or does different lenght of fork , geometry etc upset the bike.

Originally Posted by edcase

would a gsxr 600 or 750 front end swap be the best option? then you would also get the better brakes of the gsxr. or does different lenght of fork , geometry etc upset the bike.

K3 Gixxer 1000 works (apparently )

[johnnyrod]

If you get the emulators you'll still need stiffer springs and I strongly recommend preload adjuster caps if you don't already have them. I think Traxxion also sell the emulators at a vastly inflated price, and grind on something about replacement damper rods with all the brazing done. God knows what they're on about, the emulators they supply are the Racetech ones (get them from PDQ) and apart from drilling a couple of holes, fitting is easy.

what's actually involved in a spring and fork oil change?

are we talking front wheel off, forks off, then disassemble each fork, replace the spring and oil and then reassemble?? are there any major problems a novice could encounter? for example how hard is it to compress the new spring into place (my dad has told me the story of a work mate who was changing a car spring back in the 80's and as he was compressing the new spring it sprang back and punctured his abdomen!!! nice!)

it's something I'd like to do this year as at 13st the front is still too soft even fully screwed down. and for £55 plus oil it's a tempting....

Cloggsy, are you attempting this yourself?

Originally Posted by Dirty Baz

what's actually involved in a spring and fork oil change?

are we talking front wheel off, forks off, then disassemble each fork, replace the spring and oil and then reassemble??

Thats pretty much it. Although when you disassemble the fork, its only the cap that needs taking off to get the springs out. Even the new stiffer springs arent likely to cause any problems due to... well their springyness.

The only thing I'd say is that you can make things alot easier by doing things in a certain order. For example, loosening (but not taking off) the fork caps while they are still on the bike.

edit: Other things to think about are, even with stiffer springs you'll probably want to cut spacers to increase the preload.

You'll need to know how to set preload as well.

In fact, if you can get someone whos done it before to help you, I would.

I thought it could be done in-situ, no?

Originally Posted by BaggaZee

I thought it could be done in-situ, no?

Yes. Mr Toad had his done this way when we did the fork spring change day. I seem to remember it being more trouble than it was worth.

Originally Posted by BaggaZee

I thought it could be done in-situ, no?

It's no great shakes to get the forks out. You could change the springs in-situ, but even going that route you are going to take oil out (on the springs) and bugger up the levels. You can only the get the air space above the oil measured accurately (at all) with the forks out of the bike. The air gap determines when compression damping starts to come into play. Smaller air gap=compression damping sooner and 'harder' front end. Bigger air gap=later compression damping (as the air gets compressed first) and initially softer when hitting bumps. The air acts as a progressive spring as it's compressed - the more you compress it the harder it gets (why bother with progressive springs?). A larger column of air is easier to compress than a smaller one.

it's probably a better idea for me to lose some weight instead of destroying the front end of my bike!!!!

Originally Posted by Dirty Baz

it's probably a better idea for me to lose some weight instead of destroying the front end of my bike!!!!

Do both