spud786 Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 If you delink, you'll lose stopping power Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 If you delink, you'll lose stopping power How can that be? :biggrin: Maybe I'm confused but I thought pulling the lever on the linked system activates 3 of the 4 front pistons and 1 of the 2 rear. With F4i calipers, the front lever gives you 4 of 4 front pistons and 0 rear. That would be better stopping power in a hard stop scenario. Unless I'm missing something on the F4i calipers which is always possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 at 155 you should be able to make the stock forks work, without money. I can run 1 ft deep wash board at 100 mph, its stable with modded set up stock forks , sure the rear bottoms alittle , I'm 200 lb Nakid and 65,000 mile so the system has wear I should note , brand new off the floor vfr , front end diving and rear kicking like crazy under this condition cause forks were way too soft. the issue with stock set up its too soft, but if you havent even done a oil change and set up, you should atleast try that especially since light weight, unless your gaming for world cup of road race, and want to spend the mula. May I ask what you have in mind when you say "modded set up"? I'm considering all options right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 Glad I found this thread.. I just picked up a set of mint 05 F4i forks and I also have a Brembo master on the shelf. Still need the F4i calipers, stainless lines and the forks will need re-worked for my weight but the parts are comming together.. I plan to run dirt bike bars but I haven't decided on the rear shock. Anyone re-spring the stock shock? Who here runs an F4i shock?? When I have the money I'll go with and Elka, Ohlins or Penske but for now I just want to be able to get the sag set properly and stiffin things up a bit. Advice would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spud786 Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Your on a 5th gen I take it, those supposidly are slightly softer than 6th and 6th gen is horribly soft. My first oil change was 6,000 mile on the vfr Coal black and starting to sludge (way too soft), next change at 15,000 mile was holding better and 35,000 mile change was looking good too. I need to change again sometime . But I'm just running just a modded oil height, and its test and error sometimes, in a cartridge fork, with only 5inch of travel theres a large effect with oil height, so its a critical measurement. 5 mm can mean the difference between a fork that works and one the doesnt. But I would say, stick with showa SS8 and try stock or 5mm more oil, wiill lessen the air gap in the fork as far as measurement. as an example, if stock is 100 mm oil height , run 95mm height, which is actually more oil. I wouldnt go more than 5mm as a test run But did you buy this bike new , do you know what it rides like new as how many miles is on the fork oil. Granted I'm not saying race level suspension, but its not bad as far a functional and big improvent over stock that will bottom over any pothole. Anyway, I never intend to upgrade the suspension atleast till 100,000 mile, i noticed my shock is having to run full hard almost on preload, but rebound seems stable so the oil must be still not bad. too bad it has no compression adjustment. But really, I have to be running 100 mph through choopy whoops before I have to rise off the seat a little Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Your on a 5th gen I take it, those supposidly are slightly softer than 6th and 6th gen is horribly soft. My first oil change was 6,000 mile on the vfr Coal black and starting to sludge (way too soft), next change at 15,000 mile was holding better and 35,000 mile change was looking good too. I need to change again sometime . But I'm just running just a modded oil height, and its test and error sometimes, in a cartridge fork, with only 5inch of travel theres a large effect with oil height, so its a critical measurement. 5 mm can mean the difference between a fork that works and one the doesnt. But I would say, stick with showa SS8 and try stock or 5mm more oil, wiill lessen the air gap in the fork as far as measurement. as an example, if stock is 100 mm oil height , run 95mm height, which is actually more oil. I wouldnt go more than 5mm as a test run But did you buy this bike new , do you know what it rides like new as how many miles is on the fork oil. Granted I'm not saying race level suspension, but its not bad as far a functional and big improvent over stock that will bottom over any pothole. Anyway, I never intend to upgrade the suspension atleast till 100,000 mile, i noticed my shock is having to run full hard almost on preload, but rebound seems stable so the oil must be still not bad. too bad it has no compression adjustment. But really, I have to be running 100 mph through choopy whoops before I have to rise off the seat a little My bike's a 6th gen and it got new oil when I had the seals replaced about 3k miles 3-4k miles ago, which is when I got the bike. I did ride a brand new one when I was bike shopping about 8 months ago. I didn't really get a chance to feel out the suspension as I just did a "round the block" type test so I can't really speak to what a new setup feels like on this bike. I have been fortunate enough to own a bike with a good factory setup and also unfortunate enough to own a bike with a not so good setup. So, I do have an idea for how I want the bike to feel. I appreciate the info on oil levels :fing02: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 After MUCH consultation with Baileyrock and Jamie, I have made the first couple decisions. I ordered a set of Sonic .85kg fork springs through Jamie. As such, I needed a 17kg rear spring rate to keep the balance Honda started with as stock on the VTEC's. Respringing the stock VTEC shock would be $160 by means of Race Tech ($120 for the spring and $40 to have them do it). I didn't even ask about the revalve and it's not listed on their site. That's a lot of dough for a shock without any adjustability. I considered the 929 option very heavily and almost decided on a stock 929 shock with the mounting adjusted for the VTEC courtesy of Baileyrock. The price was very good but the spring rate may have needed to be raised down the road and that means a revalve as well if I wanted to "do it right". So, it would've been pricey in the end but the result would be much better than the stock VTEC shock. If I wanted to spend more, Jamie offered to do the whole 929 setup (spring/valves/mount) correctly. But I still would've been left with hacking up the proportioning valve bracket myself. Not a big deal for some of you but I'm sure I would've had a grand ol' time with that. So Baileyrock solved my quandry by suggesting a CBR1100XX shock. They come stock with a 16.8kg spring (pretty close to the 17kg goal I set) and of course are valved for that rate. The best part is that it bolts right in. I ordered a CBR1100XX shock with 11k miles on it for $64 delivered from Ebay. I know it's not any more adjustable than the stock VTEC shock but it's valved correctly for the spring rate as stock and it will balance the new fork springs for a very reasonable price. I will be doing a trackday in January (hopefully the AMA course at Autoclub Speedway in Fontana). I will post my opinion regarding the new setup vs stock after I'm done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baileyrock Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 :goofy: Be sure to keep us informed of the results! :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer jasonsmith Posted December 20, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted December 20, 2009 so I guess just changing the springs alone up front is not a good idea... Is there a standard valve spring setup that can be purchased and installed or does it take a pile of endless tweaking? Actually a spring change alone can be a decent mod depending on how big a change it is. How much do you weight? Well I have my Elka 3 way on order for the rear with a 19.5kg for my 220 lbs. I'm very close to making the deal for the Racetech fork bits (.95kg springs and valves). Was going to get both rebound and compression gold valves and make sure they're pre-drilled. Is there anything else I need to know before I make the purchase? I'm a little concerned about building the right shim stack for each... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 Well I have my Elka 3 way on order for the rear with a 19.5kg for my 220 lbs. I'm very close to making the deal for the Racetech fork bits (.95kg springs and valves). Was going to get both rebound and compression gold valves and make sure they're pre-drilled. Is there anything else I need to know before I make the purchase? I'm a little concerned about building the right shim stack for each... The RaceTech instructions will be fairly complete and straight forward. They include a matrix/chart that tells you what shim stack to build depending on the spring rate, etc. They send you plenty of shims so you'll have parts left over. When you do the job make sure you have a good digital micrometer to use. The shims vary by a minute amount and you'll want to mic them and sort them before you start. Have a digital camera with you as you do this task. Take a picture of everything you take apart every step of the way. Take lots of pictures of the front end and rear end of the bike before you even start. Take pics from every imaginable angle. Digital photographs are the greatest thing in the world on remembering how something goes back together. Take pics after you take each part of the bike off. That way you can remember how cables route, wires route, etc. There should be a post on here somewhere where Slammer did the valve upgrade and thoroughly documented it with lots of pics. It was a invaluable aid to go by. And don't be afraid to call RaceTech if you run into a problem. They're good guys and will answer your questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer jasonsmith Posted December 21, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted December 21, 2009 Pete thanks so much for the info, very appreciated. I have a few mics and a good camera, will be sure to use them. Good to know that RT's setup info will work, looking forward to have a stable front end. I'll post back with some pics and may some last minute "OMG I need help" questions. :fing02: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Pete thanks so much for the info, very appreciated. I have a few mics and a good camera, will be sure to use them. Good to know that RT's setup info will work, looking forward to have a stable front end. I'll post back with some pics and may some last minute "OMG I need help" questions. :fing02: I just about forgot. When you order the valves from RaceTech, make sure to have them pre-drill them. Trying to drill a #55 hole is a real PITA. Make sure you use the newer G-2 compression valves. They are 10 times better than the old compression valves and they will need to have the #55 hole drilled in them. It's a very narrow area where the hole has to be drilled. They are experienced machinist's at RaceTech. They have all the equipment to do it correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer jasonsmith Posted December 21, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted December 21, 2009 So both valves then need to be drilled if I use the G2's. Just curious but what's better about the G2's, was trying to keep the cost down if possible. Forgot the price difference though, will look it up now. Thanks again Pete. EDIT: lol, $10.00 difference... G2's it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer JBAXX Posted December 21, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted December 21, 2009 I hope the CBR1100XX shock works out for you, but that thing on my '99 was so brutally stiff, I felt like I needed a kidney belt (not kidding) for street riding. I put a fully adjustable, properly sprung Ohlins on that bike. Let us know how it works out. Worst case you could just ebay it for what you paid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Terminex Posted January 9, 2010 Member Contributer Share Posted January 9, 2010 correct me if I am wrong, but the blackbird shock will not be a straight swap on an ABS 6th gen due to the pre-load adjuster, correct? what is the best shock to use for a swap on an ABS version? (I am looking at going with Raceteck springs and valves in the front fork) I am 215 and like a bit of "spirited" riding:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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