Guest frozentundra Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 I'm going to replace my fork springs as part of my general suspension upgrade on the bike- probably Sonic 1.10's in the front, a 929 shock with a 17kg/mm Ohlins spring on the back. :thumbsup: Feelin' good about the idea. I'm going to try to do the work myself, based on some of the "how-to's" I've seen here. So - now I need to get all the little parts that go along with the big ones - fork seals, etc. I'm going to replce the fork oil - as far as I know, it's never been done in 25k miles on my bike- and don't know which viscosity to go with. 5,7.5,10,15 20,30 weight? I'm a heavy guy, occaisionally going 2 up, and I want to firm up that front end - I mainly do warm weather riding, but the occaisional cold weather jaunt is not unlikely - any suggestions? Thoughts? Help? Words of encouragement? :goofy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Bling Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 ....probably Sonic 1.10's in the front, a 929 shock with a 17kg/mm Ohlins spring on the back.... That doesn't sound right. The stock springs are 0.74 up front and 15.3 for the rear. With the set up you're planning, you'd be increasing the front spring rate by 48%, but only 11% in the rear. To keep things balanced, you'd need a 22.6kg rear spring to match the 1.10 Sonics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 Whoops - typo - I meant 19kg, not 17. Still a bit under, but that was about the beefiest spring I could find to retro the 929 shock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEBSPEED Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 Whoops - typo - I meant 19kg, not 17. Still a bit under, but that was about the beefiest spring I could find to retro the 929 shock. You'll probably want something thicker than stock to damp those big boingers... but I couldn't say exactly what weight. Try calling a suspension shop like Aftershocks, Traxxion, etc, and see what they recommend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer radar Posted August 16, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted August 16, 2007 I'm 185 lbs and went with .95 as recommended by Racetech for my weight. As far as oil, I went with 7w, it seemed to be the general consensus that this was the way to go with how Honda sets up the valves on our VFR's. The result after this last week of touring Alberta, I very much like the result, now I feel that my 929 shock isn't good enough and I'm looking to purchase a Wilbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AB-Oz Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 well I'm 80kg when wet and used to have 0.95 racetechs and 10wt oil. Seemed great for a while until I did a front end upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baileyrock Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 Whoops - typo - I meant 19kg, not 17. Still a bit under, but that was about the beefiest spring I could find to retro the 929 shock. I'm running a 19kg rear and a .90 fronts, I would NOT run even 1.0 in front let alone 1.1 ! :blink: .90 or .95 should be plenty for under 300 lb'ers street riding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 Whoops - typo - I meant 19kg, not 17. Still a bit under, but that was about the beefiest spring I could find to retro the 929 shock. I'm running a 19kg rear and a .90 fronts, I would NOT run even 1.0 in front let alone 1.1 ! :blink: .90 or .95 should be plenty for under 300 lb'ers street riding. Well - I'm shy of three bills, but just shy. :-) I figured for two up, adding my wife's weight, I should cover that end of the spectrum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Bling Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 I'm running a 19kg rear and a .90 fronts, I would NOT run even 1.0 in front let alone 1.1 ! :blink: .90 or .95 should be plenty for under 300 lb'ers street riding. Well - I'm shy of three bills, but just shy. :-) I figured for two up, adding my wife's weight, I should cover that end of the spectrum? No matter what you do, you should really make sure the front end and rear end are balanced. If the 19kg is the stiffest rear spring you can find, then don't go high than .95 in the front (.92 is optimal). If you're committed to putting 1.1 on the front, then you should look for a way to put a 22.7kg on the rear. I know Ohlin makes some rear springs that go up as high as 21.4 which would be a good match for 1.0 spring up front. JM2¢ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukebin Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 I just rebuilt my front forks with 10W oil. I didn't change a thing with springs, all I did was replace the seals and the dust covers. This I believe is the stock setup. I wanted to see what that felt like. So far it is an improvement over what the bike felt like before. Seeing as this is my first VFR I wanted to set a baseline. I would definitely like to bring the springs from .74 to .95 (200lbs Boy here). I did notice the front suspension felt more stable and the rebounding felt better with just the new oil. What does re-valving the dampers buy you ? The whole job for the front forks took me about 4 hours. The only part I got help on was the fork seal install. My local shop did two shocks in 30secs for free Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeG Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 If you revalve the forks, you can adjust the compression and rebound damping separately. I just put a Racetech fork gold valve in and it decreases the compression damping giving a better ride over sharp edged pavement, while still giving a good controlled feel to the front end. I also put on a Penske sport shock on the rear and it made even a bigger difference. Much more comfortable ride but still feels taut and controlled. MikeG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 I weigh 190 and ride two up constantly, including power wheelies and canyon carving. I installed the 1.0 sonic springs with 7 weight oil and I'm wishing I'd gone with a .90 or .95. 1.0 just feels too stiff for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R_Cote Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 I put Race Tech 1.0 springs in my Y2K and find it a very firm and bouncy ride. I tried 10 wt oil to get more rebound control but that did not make much of a difference. I weigh 170lbs without gear. I went with the recommended rate but I think I should have gone lighter. Although I am able to achieve perfect sag numbers up front with 12mm of preload. I've been riding with this set up for 2 years now. It still does not use that last inch of travel. I've had a zip tie on the fork tube and it has never gone past that last inch of travel. I have reduced the oil level in it twice also. I think 1.0's are just a tad too stiff. I will either get lighter springs or revalve the rebound stack much heavier or both and lighter oil. Does this help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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