| Author | Message | ||
     Harold |
I am going to do my forks, 98 S1W. Any thoughts on the value of Race Tech emulators, and their springs? Anything else that you have used you think is better? | ||
| Rick_a |
Those aren't emulators. Emulators are a set-up that converts damper rod forks to a piston fork, emulating the feel of a cartridge fork. The Gold Valve is a piston design with larger orifices that puts more of the valving on the shim stack. It essentially isolates the compression and rebound adjusters to low speed damping and relies more on the shim stack for control instead of the piston orifices. I like them a lot. There is more bottoming resistance, the low speed damping is firmer, yet the forks feel really plush against big hits. There is a better feel overall, and the damping curve is easily adjusted through the shim stack. I tried jumping a Ducati Hypermotard like I routinely jump my RT'd Buell over a railroad crossing...and ended up sore for days. Unless you want a firmer ride and/or are using up all the fork travel under hard braking/cornering, the fork springs may be unnecessary. A plus is that they seem to never sag or lose their rate. You may do a little better with a set of Ohlins road and track forks...but it's hardly worth the expense. A lot of people do XB front end conversions as well...but that's a big compromise as the forks are a lot shorter and the steering head offset is all wrong for tubers. I guess the TT forks may work better in tuber triples. | ||
| Harold |
Rick, I am only street riding and what you have described is what I am looking for. The reason I decided I should do something is the forks seem very harsh, and I feel every little bump. Both adjusters are around the middle of tight/loose,but if the oil is old enough to affect things then no need to adjust something that is going to change soon. I just figured getting springs set for my 200 lb would be worth it also. I had someone suggest GPSuspension.com. I have never heard of them, and their website has no prices and seems more for racers. I don't race, and never felt the need to adjust my forks on my last S1W, but this one feels different. To give you an idea, and apparently I should have done different, but I never even touched the forks on my last one. After 8 years it felt good enough for what I do that I couldn't tell any difference from when the bike was new. I was going to change the oil just because it was 8 years old, but I ended up selling it and regretted it enough to buy another one a few years later. I have read that a stock Buell had springs for a 170 lb or so rider. After 12 years I figure the new springs set for my weight would give noticeably better results. Maybe not. The Gold Valves, from what you said seems like they are worth putting in while it is apart. | ||
| Fahren |
For a rider your size, you may want to look at a 10w fork oil. | ||
| Fahren |
Harold, you have a PM. Oh, and I heard recently that the fork seals have been taking a while to get, especially from dealers, but possibly even from American Sport Bike. You might want to check with Al on availability/lead time for those. Hope I'm wrong, but there was a thread not long ago where someone mentioned that. (Message edited by fahren on June 29, 2010) | ||
| Harleyboyddk |
At 200lbs serious brake dive when hard on the binders so I pulled the forks and sent them to Race Tech. Gold Valves and greater spring rate. Smart thing to do. Diminished brake dive, solid in turns. Pleased with the results/money spent.}} |
