Those USA inter webby never offered anything like that sort of info. Cheers RT. PM SentOriginally Posted by Robert Taylor
FORK SPRINGS...........................
I have identified the fork spring series required and I have these in an Ohlins series and I can sell you these inclusive of spacer tube ( and instructions plus telephone support ) at an attractive price. Part of the reason for that is you have been a very decent human being, theres a message in that remark which I make no apology for.
50% or so of the problem is spring rate and 50% of the remaining problem is poor hydraulic control that can be fixed by installing genuine RACE TECH Emulators. When changing springs only a certain rate is required, when combining with emulators it is arguable that you can run a slightly softer spring rate as there is now control over the ''rate of change of position'' So, if later on you decide you have the budget for emulators we will exchange the springs for a slightly softer rate.
A word about these Ohlins springs, arguably they are the very best springs available ( yes better again than Race Tech ) as the length tolerancing and rate tolerancing are very very precise. The polish process is much better and that allied with ends that are square means there is less sidethrust and friction rubbing against the internal fork tube walls
These particular ones have their rates indelibly laser etched on their ends which makes it quick and a no brainer to identify their rate. Ink as used by other manufacturers rubs off in short order.
Ohlins also do a number of fork spring kits for popular road bikes ( and dirt bikes ) that are a preset length and can be combined with the standard spacer tubes etc, so there is no laborious working out of preload, cutting of preload spacers and recutting, all the work is done. Unfortunately they dont do them for every make and model as it would be commercial suicide. But it sure makes life easy for everyone where they do have a listing for you. Other spring manufacturers such as Race Tech, Eibach etc generally only do them in generic lengths which dont match oem
A word about Race Tech Emulators. Race Tech make the only emulator that works properly and is long term reliable and has proper backup in this country. We always change the poppett springs according to the application and damping feel required, in special circumstances such as Pro Twin racing we adjust the bleed hole size, very easy when you have a workable and easy material, brass.
Libel laws preclude me naming but theres some cheap and cheerful mainland Asian emulators on the market. We surreptitiously purchased and tested a set some months back;
Dissapointment number 1, the bleed hole sizing was too large giving sloppy damping. As the material is aluminium alloy you simply cannot solder it up, youd have to drill and tap to accept interchangeable jets. So not so user friendly
Dissapointment number 2, the base material is alloy with a thin anodised coating which over not too much time will wear through to the soft underbelly. Emulators sit inside the top well of the damper rod and in more than 50% of cases it doesnt sit square to the inner wall of the fork tube. The emultor is locked in place by the preload of the fork spring sitting right on top of it and many cheaper fork springs are not square and can also be a little sharp on their edges. That means the anodising can wear through in short order and once soft alloy is exposed chards of alloy find their way into the fork oil and very often end up deposited in the teflon outer coating of fork bushings. Not good
Dissapointment number 3, The poppet springs sack out and there is then no damping. f you remove a poppet spring and compress it as fully as you can with your fingers it doesnt return to its original length! We know because we tried and the length returned to was only 2/3rds of original.
If you pay cheap theres usually some insidious reason such as really bad quality and material choices.
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