internal fork lowering

[vmax1125]

i am going to jump into the racetech spings and emulators tomorrow i want to lower the forks 1" internally i know this can be done with a spacer but i would like to have some guidance. can anyone give me some step by step on that setup?
Chris :worthy:

 

[shawn kloker]

i am going to jump into the racetech spings and emulators tomorrow i want to lower the forks 1" internally i know this can be done with a spacer but i would like to have some guidance. can anyone give me some step by step on that setup?
Chris :worthy:

I would go 2"! It's not hard to do if you have an impact gun and a long allen socket.

 

[vmax1125]

i would go 2" but i am going to run a 110/80 front tire and its about an 1" shorter than stock so that would put the front end down a total of 3" . i think that might be to much and if 1" was not enough i could raise it in the trees. have you done this mod before if so please give me the details.
Chris :confused2:

 

[vmax1125]

well i just got done the disassemble went pretty smooth took all of 30 min. i see how it all works now its a little easier when you see and feel it pics make it look complicated. i see that little spring thats under the damper rod i figure a 1" spacer goes under that for the lowering ? and does it matter where the spacer goes above or below the spring. i was planing on using the spring spacer tubing but it seem to big for the bottom what is good to use for a spacer and does it need washers? i promise i'll only have a dozen or so questions before the forks are toghter lol! alright maybe a bakers dozen! :a014:

 

[Hulign]

I have an answer for you although not the one you are probably looking for.

Why lower internal? I doubt the extra bit of tube over lap makes a huge difference. The best thing about sliding the forks up the clamps is if you don't like it you can reverse it very easy! It also give you adjustability. People have been doing this forever. Same benefit with way less work.

But either way at least this gives your thread a bump.

Good luck with the project...you will like the results.:biglaugh:


Frank

 

[vmax1125]

if i didnt have them stripped down i would not worry about the internal spacer but i'm there and i like the look compared to raising in the trees. i talked a little to sean and he said front ends are not his strongest area and the directions racetech gives sounds right but there are a lot of oil type and oil level prefferances. all are more than likely right it what ever works for the spec. rider i guess. not a lot of people jumping in with input so i may have to wing some with the spacers but i believe shawn kloker said he used sch 80 pvc for spacers and had not issues so thats what i am going to use.
Chris

 

[4gasem]

Yep! PVC is great and a good 15wt like Silkolene is good too.

 

[Hulign]

I can tell you what I learned by doing mine and Mark Milne's

Don't use 20w...(15w seems to be better)

I should have gone one step lighter than what racetech advised(Mark's springs are the 1 step lighter and his is AWESOME and plush)...I put down 2 up riding and don't really do that much so she's a bit stiff.

I should have done the fork seals while I was in there.

REPLACE THE COPPER WASHERS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TUBES

AS for the lowering.... You can barely see the tubes... I have had mine at 1.75 inches and I'm running 1 inch now.

Once again to each their own and good luck!!

Frank

 

[vmax1125]

yea i hear a lot of the guys go with 15w oil and racetech sent me 20w so i may go to the local shop and do a trade. the max only has 400 miles on it pretty much keeps the garage company LOL! so i am not worried about the seals they should be fine.
thanks for the heads up.
Chris :You_Rock:

 

[maleko89]

I can tell you what I learned by doing mine and Mark Milne's

Don't use 20w...(15w seems to be better)

I should have gone one step lighter than what racetech advised(Mark's springs are the 1 step lighter and his is AWESOME and plush)...I put down 2 up riding and don't really do that much so she's a bit stiff.

I should have done the fork seals while I was in there.

REPLACE THE COPPER WASHERS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TUBES

AS for the lowering.... You can barely see the tubes... I have had mine at 1.75 inches and I'm running 1 inch now.

Once again to each their own and good luck!!

Frank

I would trade my plush forks for Frank's brakes. Shit, his rear brake stops better than my three calipers combined. Bastard.

lol

 

[kdinkelman]

I would trade my plush forks for Frank's brakes. Shit, his rear brake stops better than my three calipers combined. Bastard.

lol

Well, now that you're done with the steering head (I though that you were going to stop by last night), when are you getting around to upgrading those brakes???

 

[maleko89]

Well, now that you're done with the steering head (I though that you were going to stop by last night), when are you getting around to upgrading those brakes???

Sorry about that Kent, got busy with work last night.

I still need to buy that rebuild kit for my calipers. Freaking expensive.

 

[Hulign]

Bring me some sushi from Kona Mark and I will let you borrow it...lol

 

[maleko89]

I would trade my plush forks for Frank's brakes. Shit, his rear brake stops better than my three calipers combined. Bastard.

lol

I found the procedures to doing lowering blocks on the Euro site. Hope this helps. I will make it a sticky in the suspension section as well.

1" Schedule 80 PVC (Comment from 88VMX12 {Scooter} - I found that sch 80 PVC is just a bit too big in diameter to fit in my forks. I have an 1988 and used an electrical conduit PVC pipe)
You have to subtract the length of the lowering blocks from your preload
spacers.
PCW lowering blocks are hard plastic pipe.
Dimensions are:
30mm......long
32mm......diameter
3mm......wall thickness
26mm......internal diameter
1) Remove the tubes from the yokes.

2) Undo the damper rod, but DONT full remove - 10mm Hex key in the bottom of the fork leg, you may need an impact wrench and/or a damper rod tool.

3) Remove top of fork leg (watch the spring), drain oil, invert leg remove spacer tube, washers and spring. Note the order they come out in.

4) Remove damper rod bolt and damper rod, you may need to shake a bit (the fork leg not you) or push a thin rod through the hole at the bottom of the leg where the hex bolt went. The damper rod and a small (about 1") spring should come out.

5) Cut a piece off the spacer tube (that you removed in step 3). The length should be equal to the amount you would like to lower the front end. A plumbing tube cutter is the cheapest and neatest tool for this. Make sure you cut exactly the same amount from the spacer tube in each fork leg. You now have two short spacers (about 1" or
less) and the two original spacers are about an inch or so shorter (obviously the exact amount depends on the amount you want to lower)

6) Thread new short spacer onto damper rod then add rebound spring. Reinstall in fork leg.

7) Reassemble, in reverse order to step 3. Using the now shorter spacers.
It is also recommended to use heavier oil (20w) and no air with this set up.

The lowering blocks prevent the fork slider or outer tube from dropping that extra distance (length of the lowering block) at the bottom of it's stroke.

 

[vmax1125]

thanks, mark
it sounds like he use the sch 40 electric conduit on his 40mm forks be cause of the dia. based on what i have 43mm forks sch 80 conduit works same outside dia. as the topout springs and slides over the damper rod with a tad bit of wiggle room. both sch 40 and sch 80 have the same outside dia. it the i.d. that gets eaten up on the sch 80. i am picking up a lengh of sch 80 1" pipe today so if anyone needs some spacers let me know i will have plenty its 20' long pipe. i happen to call racetech and talked to lou and he also said they use lowering blocks on 43mm forks not springs. i asked what material they use for the blocks he stated delrin,pvc, and aluminum stock milled out.
thanks again, Chris :worthy:

 

[vmax1125]

i just happen to look in the racetech box and they sent me 20w oil. i am reading that alot of riders stay with 15w any opinions what i should use with the racetech springs and emulators. i have them ready for oil just want to make sure they dont get to harsh from heavy oil.
Chris :ummm:

 

[vmax1125]

well i finally got my forks together my radial mounted up and put it all back on to night. went for a short ride of course it started raining but i did get to feel it. it feels fairly firm and a little funny at first i guess its a combo of things 2" lower racetech springs and emulators radial tire fork brace. i did notice that you seem to feel all the road defects but i run it to about 90 and no wobble. i set the spring preload at 1" and put 123mm of 20wt belray oil in the forks. need to ride it longer to get a better feel for the new ride height and handling. i will give an update when i know more. thanks for all the input that helped me get these things together.
Chris :worthy: