Sonic Springs and Race Tech Emulators intall

[Fjbj40]

There ya go, they are gold valves emulators and not just "gold valves", back to normal broadcast services then

Odd though, Racetech website does not list the 1150?

 

[dorkburger]

Hey Glen,
They are the Gold Valve Emulators, and I don't remember what I had set the turns at (I set them to whatever the Racetech instructions suggested). I used 15wt oil and drilled and chamfered the damper rods per the instructions. I left the antidive stuff on the forks as I didn't have anything to block the holes.

I think I overfilled the fork level, so double check that, and you might find a couple bucks worth of quarters in the forks that I used to fine tune the ride height (sag). So think of them as an "Instant Rebate".-lol!

I always felt they were a little over dampened, so you might follow Rich's suggestion and use a 10wt fork oil instead.

Great, thanks! Any chance you'll share your as in riding gear weight?

 

[TxGSrider]

Great, thanks! Any chance you'll share your as in riding gear weight?

Now you're just getting too personal... lol!

About 185lbs... a few lbs more than that right now... the holidays didn't help.

 

[dorkburger]

Forks are safely in the garage. TxGSrider, thanks for the painless and enjoyable transaction, and for the info you provided here. Hopefully I'll be able to get to get into this over the weekend.

 

[dorkburger]

I opened up one of the forks last night. Blue spring. Rich, I'm guessing by preload, you're speaking about how many turns on the emulator spring nut?

Also, TxGSrider, when the forks were apart were the bushings, etc replaced? If not I may use my lowers as I rebuilt my forks two seasons ago. Knowledge from that job definitely helped last night.

 

[RichDesmond]

I opened up one of the forks last night. Blue spring. Rich, I'm guessing by preload, you're speaking about how many turns on the emulator spring nut?...

Yes. Back it out until there's no tension on the spring, counting the turns as you go. Write it down. Then put it back the way it was.
Blue spring is good. I'd put 10w in, set the level to 120mm and see how it is.

http://www.racetech.com/page/title/Emulator Tuning Guide

 

[dorkburger]

Excellent! Thank you sir.

Edit... I read thru the adjustment procedure. Regarding oil level they say to measure oil with the forks fully extended, spring removed. Is this the typical method, and how you would do it also?

 

[dorkburger]

Glib, I realized that I have hijacked your thread..... Apologies. My thinking was that it would help us both.

 

[RichDesmond]

Excellent! Thank you sir.

Edit... I read thru the adjustment procedure. Regarding oil level they say to measure oil with the forks fully extended, spring removed. Is this the typical method, and how you would do it also?

Fork compressed, spring and spacer removed but leave the emulator in there. You're measuring the air gap, distance from the top of the tube down to the surface of the oil, so bigger numbers mean less oil.

Edit: Just checked, R-T says fully compressed also, they just phrase it as "chrome tube at the bottom of the stroke".

 

[dorkburger]

Got it, thanks again, and thanks for your quick responsees... I only wish I could get everything together that fast.... it will likely be a few weeks minimum before I get fully involved. My initial thinking was just swap them on and go, but in the long run, but that ocassially bites me in the end....

 

[bobtail84]

If your sag numbers are good now just shorten the spacer by the height of the emulator.

I was wondering if that would be the case, thanks for the info Rich.

 

[RichDesmond]

Got it, thanks again, and thanks for your quick responsees... I only wish I could get everything together that fast.... it will likely be a few weeks minimum before I get fully involved. My initial thinking was just swap them on and go, but in the long run, but that ocassially bites me in the end....

It probably will be fine if you just put them on the bike. Although personally, I'd at least pop the caps, put the new oil in and double check the static preload. 30 minutes, tops.

 

[glib]

Glib, I realized that I have hijacked your thread..... Apologies. My thinking was that it would help us both.

Not necessary Glen. Post away. Good stuff.

 

[glib]

Yes. Back it out until there's no tension on the spring, counting the turns as you go. Write it down. Then put it back the way it was.
Blue spring is good. I'd put 10w in, set the level to 120mm and see how it is.

http://www.racetech.com/page/title/Emulator Tuning Guide

Hey Rich. My emulators came with the yellow springs installed?four turns in. I expect they?ll be a bit stiff. That?s what I wanted really but I?m wondering what if the rear?which are Ohlins?are softer than the front. The sag is good both front and back but the back seems softer. Maybe that?s just because I?m dropping my 200+ lbs there. The sag in front is mostly in before I even get on. Does this sound normal?

 

[RichDesmond]

I would definitely back off on the emulator adjuster, to 2 turns. That will help some. What weight oil is in there?

On the front, you do get most of the sag from the bike's weight. Typically the bike sag is in the low 20's, total sag should be mid-30s

 

[glib]

I would definitely back off on the emulator adjuster, to 2 turns. That will help some. What weight oil is in there?

On the front, you do get most of the sag from the bike's weight. Typically the bike sag is in the low 20's, total sag should be mid-30s

Thank you. I haven?t ridden it yet, BTW, just trying to see what to expect.
Fork oil is PJ1 15 wt.

 

[Guest]

Is the drilling of the internals covered in detail somewhere? Or are instructions included with the emulators?
And the spacer or bushings you guys are mentioning...thats Just for the larger 37mm forks, right? The 35 mm forks are a direct fit, correct?

Lastly, if my 550E forks do NOT have the anti dive, how is the install different than what's been covered here?

 

[glib]

Is the drilling of the internals covered in detail somewhere? Or are instructions included with the emulators?
And the spacer or bushings you guys are mentioning...thats Just for the larger 37mm forks, right? The 35 mm forks are a direct fit, correct?

Lastly, if my 550E forks do NOT have the anti dive, how is the install different than what's been covered here?

In the damper gallery at Race Tech, http://www.racetech.com/page/title/Damping Rod Gallery, find your dampers. Mine are 5-1. Click on "more details" to see the instructions I've followed. Someone else might address your other questions as I'm not familiar.

 

[dorkburger]

Mental exercise.....

Mental exercise.....

I've been reading thru Race Tech's site and looking at my 1150 manual to get a better understanding of how all of this works... How and why pop up in my mind a lot when studying these things and one question often leads to another. The drilling of the extra holes in the damper rod and how it causes a bypass of the anti dive was the first.

Having a disassembled fork and the manual helped answer this. It seems that the bottom of the fork consists of two cavities separated by the PDF (anti dive) unit and the oil lock fitting that slides over the damping rod. Under compression, oil is pushed thru the PDF and into the bottom cavity where the damper rod holes are. It seems that the extra holes allow oil to enter the damping rod before its needing to pass thru the PDF.
http://Suzuki gs1150 pdf by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

Next question was if one were to omit the oil lock fitting (#18) the two cavities would appear to no longer be separated, and would this eliminate the need for the extra holes? Non anti dive forks don't require holes higher up, just opening of existing to provide more volume. I dropped the rod in minus the fitting and there appears to be clearance all around for oil to pass thru.
http://GS 1150 forks by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

Finally, R-T says keep the anti dive in place or use block off plates with a crossover channel or a harsh ride may result. Judging from the guts of a PDF, I'm thinking plates may be better.

Per Suzuki these are not serviceable. I opened up a leaker to see whats inside. Other then the plastic dial cracking, the rest was easily accessed. The top bonnet threads on. I may try to gut two and if they can still be made to seal put them back on. I'm not necessarily trying to keep the original look, but its a no cost mod. If that doesn't work I'll just use stock ones ...
http://Suzuki gs1150 pdf exploded view by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

In the end I'll install them as directed, but tend to wonder aloud a lot when learning about these things.... I enjoy the discovery process...

 

[glib]

I've been reading thru Race Tech's site and looking at my 1150 manual to get a better understanding of how all of this works... How and why pop up in my mind a lot when studying these things and one question often leads to another. The drilling of the extra holes in the damper rod and how it causes a bypass of the anti dive was the first.

Having a disassembled fork and the manual helped answer this. It seems that the bottom of the fork consists of two cavities separated by the PDF (anti dive) unit and the oil lock fitting that slides over the damping rod. Under compression, oil is pushed thru the PDF and into the bottom cavity where the damper rod holes are. It seems that the extra holes allow oil to enter the damping rod before its needing to pass thru the PDF.
http://Suzuki gs1150 pdf by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

Next question was if one were to omit the oil lock fitting (#18) the two cavities would appear to no longer be separated, and would this eliminate the need for the extra holes? Non anti dive forks don't require holes higher up, just opening of existing to provide more volume. I dropped the rod in minus the fitting and there appears to be clearance all around for oil to pass thru.
http://GS 1150 forks by Glen Brenner, on Flickr
In the end I'll install them as directed, but tend to wonder aloud a lot when learning about these things.... I enjoy the discovery process...

Interesting idea—leaving out the oil lock—but it is also the bottoming cone so it might lead to damage if the forks bottom out when it is absent. Just a guess really.