Fork intimidators for DR650?

[Squiggles]

http://store.ricorshocks.com/Product...de=043-20-1001

Thoughts? Whats the downside when using these?

[Robert Taylor]

http://store.ricorshocks.com/Product...de=043-20-1001

Thoughts? Whats the downside when using these?

Once you sift through all the yankee hype and the funky terms ( there is nothing that is radical or reinvented ) its basically an emulator with a shim stack instead of a poppett and spring. I was wondering when someone was going to make these. In theory it should work a little better BUT it would need to work a lot better because its probably over double the price of an emulator.
Moreover it likely wont address what an emulator also doesnt address, poor rebound modulation / huge variation according to ambient temperature variations and poor assembly truth and tolerancing of the oem damper rods themselves. But Im not knocking the product itself, providing they have got the basic mix of bypass and shim stack opening pressure somehere near right then it should at least offer an improvement in compression damping control. I still come back to that theyd have to work a LOT better to justify the big price difference though.
If they have done it right they should also perhaps offer a ''setting bank'' of alternative shim stacks / damping curves.

[rogson]

Operation is no different to a cartridge emulator.
However, the sales pitch dealing with installation doesn't mention drilling the damping holes in the damper rod - can't see how it works without that.

[Robert Taylor]

Operation is no different to a cartridge emulator.
However, the sales pitch dealing with installation doesn't mention drilling the damping holes in the damper rod - can't see how it works without that.

Yes I noticed that too but thought that it would likely be detailed in the fitting instructions. Heck, on many bikes if you didnt remove and oversize those holes youd still have way too much high speed compression damping. So if they are sold as a ''straight drop in'' its misleading.
But a properly arranged valving stack and inter-relation with at what velocity the bleed bypass chokes off at still has considerable merit, especially if you can minimise the other shortcomings with damper rod forks.
Bang for buck the original emulator is still very hard to beat, its also reliable which patently is not the case with the cheap Asian ripoff on the market. Poppet springs that sack out quickly and a material choice that has poor longevity.

[Squiggles]

Interestingly enough they're 50% off at the moment to advrider members, they want feedback on them etc

[Robert Taylor]

Interestingly enough they're 50% off at the moment to advrider members, they want feedback on them etc

Well I guess someones going to have to buy a set and report on them! Oh to have such margins to offer such a huge discount! I do stress that it has got merit. Its in the end event how well it is applied.

[warewolf]

Loss leader to break in to the market...

It's only the first 10 ppl to respond, and that discount was a response to "are you sure they are twice as good as GVEs?"

Lots of tech info in the DR650 thread, responses from the manufacturer. (open thread, search for intiminator)

Some interesting claims, such as 2s a lap quicker on an SV650 that used to have GVEs.

(I only skimmed the thread; don't have a DR650 but interested in the tech info.)

[Squiggles]

There was another 5 or so up for grabs after that first set... Im broke after buying the last set of bits so this stuff'll have to wait

[Robert Taylor]

Loss leader to break in to the market...

It's only the first 10 ppl to respond, and that discount was a response to "are you sure they are twice as good as GVEs?"

Lots of tech info in the DR650 thread, responses from the manufacturer. (open thread, search for intiminator)

Some interesting claims, such as 2s a lap quicker on an SV650 that used to have GVEs.

(I only skimmed the thread; don't have a DR650 but interested in the tech info.)

2 seconds per lap? How clinical and controlled was the test I wonder. Following lots of testing we now pre-modify the emulators we send out for racebound SV650s and it delivers much more brake dive control, thats worth laptimes alone and its dead simple to do. The standard delivered setting and bypass is ( frankly) more a road copmfort setting. With a ''shim stack type emulator ( what this new device is ) there would be more flexibility to revalve the stack for road race use. I say again, I like the idea but the end pricing is an issue for what it is.

[warewolf]

NordieBoy has a set now, see this post and install results in the following 30+ posts (and no doubt more over time as he experiments).

To address a couple of points raised earlier:

• The "big thing" they have over emulators is an inertia valve that allows the wheel to move on bumps but restricts fork dive.
• There is no drilling of the damper rod compression holes. Very cleverly they drop the fork oil weight from 10W standard (with just compression holes) to 5W (compression holes plus the intimator).

And RT I would have to agree with you. Emulators, like all hardware, are only as good as the implementation and tuning to fit the job at hand.

[Robert Taylor]

NordieBoy has a set now, see this post and install results in the following 30+ posts (and no doubt more over time as he experiments).

To address a couple of points raised earlier:

• The "big thing" they have over emulators is an inertia valve that allows the wheel to move on bumps but restricts fork dive.
• There is no drilling of the damper rod compression holes. Very cleverly they drop the fork oil weight from 10W standard (with just compression holes) to 5W (compression holes plus the intimator).

And RT I would have to agree with you. Emulators, like all hardware, are only as good as the implementation and tuning to fit the job at hand.

Keep me posted. It really also comes down to if the standard damping holes in the standard rods will still provide an ultimate flow restriction at very high speed fork deflections. Such as riding over an abrupt badly installed raised manhole cover etc. Those are the sort of events that will ''choke off'' the flow rate of the damping oil from one side of the chamber to the other.
The bigger the holes the less and less effect an oil viscosity change will have, to that end Im a little dubious that 5 weight oil will change the ultimate flow volume through those holes at any given high speed velocity.
Id also like to know how they address the issue of relatively uncontrolled bleed on rebound. With mass produced damper rod forks this is a big issue.
But hey, an open mind. Its always on the cards that someone could build a better mousetrap than the emulator, but still keep the end price ( notwithstanding initial sales specials ) at a reasonable level