Anyone got some old fork springs?

[Bonez]

LTNZ confirs upon WoF testers certain powers not available to mortal men,one is the ability to look right through metal,to see it's very structure.Heated and cut fork springs are easy to pick - that's why I suspect Erik was able to somehow bribe the doddery old fool who inspected his bike...but he mislaid the bribe I think.

Thank you for clearing that up Motu. I'll line mine with lead next time I go in for a WOF.

[Motu]

And don't use Kryptonite either...it makes me go all weak in the knees.....

[Bonez]

And don't use Kryptonite either...it makes me go all weak in the knees.....

How is Lex these days?

[Brian d marge]

It's not entirely a piss take
"replacement springs have not been heated or cut"

Which mine have. Therefore they are illegal unless I can get LVV certification.

Didnt think it was Eric,,, and that has to be the wackiest bit of law I have ever heard of.

unless they are cold formed which would induce tensile and compressive stresses in the region of the bend, which would caused a localised high stress point on the inside?

I know its to try and stop the boy racers ,,,but this bit of rubbish says if you replace your springs * if they have been cut* , you have to get an engineers report !( unless it OE
or they are a direct replacement ?? whats a direct replacement ???

Anyway I will have a look what I have lying around tomorrow and let you know !

Stephen

[Kickaha]

or they are a direct replacement ?? whats a direct replacement ???

Stephen

Something made by an aftermarket manufacturer specifically for that vehicle, but it may be a different spring rate or length

[erik]

unless they are cold formed which would induce tensile and compressive stresses in the region of the bend, which would caused a localised high stress point on the inside?
...

Remember there's also the problems of changing the temper of the steel by heating and cooling them, the increased stress in the spring if coils are removed for the same amount of travel and the difficulty of getting the ends of the springs square while keeping their temper if they are cut.
I think in forks it's not such a big issue since the springs are long, are fully supported in a tube and for stiffening them, only an end is altered.
I'd say you're right that the law is targetted towards boy racers.

[FlyingDutchMan]

I have a pair of MC19 (CBR250R) springs that might do the job. I'll check when I get home, but I think OD is 30mm, length is ~304mm, dunno the spring rate from the top of my head though. Good as new - looked identical to the brand new OEM ones I replaced them with.

[Pixie]

So how did you get a WoF with ilegal fork springs? Did you intimidate him,or maybe offer a bribe? I'd like to know please,cause I think I slipped up on the bribe part....

Chief Wiggum to Homer - "I'm Looking for my friend 'Bill',Have you seen him?"

[FlyingDutchMan]

Well they're actually 303mm long and 29mm OD. You'll need to use a spacer if you put them in (the MC19 has a spacer about 200mm long -- I think).

[Brian d marge]

ok
I rumaged through my fork /spring sets

I have a set of VFR 400 front forks 30 x 390 x 4 ( 3.98) mm

all the othere are cr 250 and are 38 mm ( 86 cr250 ) od

hope this helps in some way

Stephen

[erik]

Thanks for the offers, FlyingDutchMan and Stephen.
I thought about it heaps and decided to get some springs made up.

The guy at National Spring and Wire Products didn't seem too keen to make some springs for me, he said that motorcycle springs are often made out of a higher strength (I think he said higher chromium content?) that was in short supply and he thought that he'd run into problems with the springs binding if he tried making them out of the standard materials he uses.

So I phoned CMI Springs who put me onto their design guy. I gave him the required dimensions and spring rate and he said he could make them for about $60 each which beats aftermarket springs from a bike shop, so I'm happy.
Just there is a bit of a wait before they can be made, they should call back in a week or so.
If all goes well, they should fit right in there with the original steel tube spacers.

While I was checking the spring dimensions again on monday with the front wheel off the ground I checked the front wheel bearings. I was surprised to find a whole lot of slop in them, the wheel wobbled around a fair bit
I'd been riding it the day before having fun in the twisties around SH22. I thought it felt a bit funny going in a straight line, but wasn't sure if it was the road or the bike.
Anyway, I was able to get a new pair of bearings and new seals from Automotive Engineering Bearing Supplies in Henderson and have put them in today.
Here's a photo of the left hand old bearing, it was the worse of the two.
I think water got in there somehow, possibly through the speedo cable, but I'm not sure how it got into the speedo cable in the first place.
Things were a bit rusted in there but cleaned up ok
It's all back together now. Just have to wait for the springs and decide if the clutch is bad enough to require replacing (and how much it'll cost and if it's worth it considering I'm probably not going to get much for the bike when I sell it in a few weeks time ).

[Bonez]

Do you use a water blaster on the bike Eric?

[Brian d marge]

So for less than 100 dollars you can get the correct spring rate for your wieght.

The poor guy is going to get swamped with enquiries !!!!

Stephen

[erik]

Do you use a water blaster on the bike Eric?

Nope, hardly ever even clean it.

When I've disconnected the speedo cable in the past for changing the front tyre etc, I've noticed what I think was water dripping out of it a bit. Only a small amount. That's what led me to think that the water got in there through the speedo. But I had a look at the speedo, took it off the bike and put some water on the glass (it can pool on top of it because there is a lip around the edge of the glass) but none of it leaked through, and besides the speedo seems to have a drain hole at the lowest point.
So I think maybe it got through the speedo cable itself? The cable has an outer sheath that covers most of the cable except for a small section near one end. The uncovered bit was at the top of the speedo, so I wonder if water may have collected in between the outer sheath and inner sheath and somehow got through? I don't know if this is possible as the inner sheath is also plastic/rubber coated.
Anyway, I've put the break in the outer sheath at the bottom end so that any water that gets inbetween the sheaths will just drain out.

So for less than 100 dollars you can get the correct spring rate for your wieght.

The poor guy is going to get swamped with enquiries !!!!

Stephen

Not quite less than $100. He said approximately $60 per spring, so about $120. Still good though

[erik]

The new bearings are nice. The bike feels more precise. And the front brakes work better! I don't have to pull the lever in so far to get them to grab. I guess the movement in the old bearings made the disc push the pads further into the caliper, requiring more movement at the lever.