| Author | Message | ||
     Hangetsu |
Does anyone know it the Showa fork on the Uly has been put to other uses and if these is an upgrade (beefing up, not lowering) kit for it? Gratitude for any insight or into. Cheers! | ||
| Twisteduly |
If I might ask what are you trying to accomplish here? Have you tried the rebound and compression adjusters to no avail? Do you think the spring is to soft? Have you changed the fork oil? There are internals that can be modified by a suspension specialist, and there may possibly be a cross reference for springs from another Showa unit. Making changes to the front, your gonna have to balance out the rear setting also. Good luck, post up what you find out | ||
| Hangetsu |
Yes to all questions. I'm just a fairly heavy guy and I often carry luggage. I'm finding that with settings turned up, the ride gets rough and handling gets wonky. When I soften things just a little, the fork dives excessively under braking and bottoms easily. When I ride alone and unladen there's really no problem. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Your profile says you have an 09 which already has the progressive rate fork springs. Try upping just the preload from your "soft and comfy" settings, and leave the comp/rebound alone. I have 07 progressive fork springs in my 06. I can't tell you the last time I touched a front adjustment. Rear, all I do if I pick up a passenger or a heavy set of luggage is crank the preload up till it stops sagging. | ||
| Tootal |
Rats right, the preload is the key. Trying to use the comp/rebound to control dive will make it rough to ride. Your manual should have a setting for your weight for the preload, I'd start there. If you're out of adjustment then researching alternate springs would be my next course of action. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I followed the 2008 manual to the letter setting up the adjustments on my new to me 2008 XB12XT. I was amazed at how many settings there were to control different things. It rocked. Unlike normal owners manual suspension instructions, which were likely dumped on the newest least experienced team member to go write, I suspect these were created by a factory racer test rider. Who knew Erik would have his head on a platter if they left anything on the table when followed correctly.  | ||
| Twisteduly |
Alex, I'm a big boy also so I feel your pain. I dont have any experience with the upside down forks, back in my younger days conventional forks were a breeze to play with. Fork oil is a maintenance item, and is something that can be tweaked from stock. For example, if the factory fork oil is say 7.5 wt you can try using 10 wt. Preload is very important, and I believe another possible tweak could be the spacer. Or it could be as simple as rethinking how much extra weight your putting on the bike when 2-up. | ||
| Hangetsu |
Joe, et. al., thanks for you're input. I was thinking of going to a heavier fork oil. I use to ride two-up a lot and it appears I may be doing so again. I'm curious about the lifespan of a set of springs. Should they last the life of the bike with little degradation, or is replacing the springs something I should look forward to someday. When the bike was new, I set the suspension to the factory recommended settings for my weight, and the bike handled great. It just seems that now, 40,000 miles in, they are getting weaker. Perhaps it's just my imagination. Cheers folks! A- | ||
| Etennuly |
If you have not changed the fork oil that could be your problem. Might as well put in seals to. They seem to go at about 50,000 or so. | ||
| Hughlysses |
I'm curious about the lifespan of a set of springs. Should they last the life of the bike with little degradation, or is replacing the springs something I should look forward to someday. When the bike was new, I set the suspension to the factory recommended settings for my weight, and the bike handled great. It just seems that now, 40,000 miles in, they are getting weaker. I'd bet the shop manual has a length specification for the springs. If they're shorter than that, it means the springs have partially collapsed and they probably should be replaced. If you're disassembling the forks to change the oil and seals it'd be easy enough to check the springs while you're in there. The other possibility for your issue is that the load on the springs went up. Have you checked your scales lately?  | ||
| Twisteduly |
What Hugh is mentioning is related to SAG and is something I take into consideration when I lay the bike up for the winter. I'm fortunate enough to have the pit bull stand that lifts the front under the triple tree and takes all weight of the forks. SAG can be measured with the bike vertical, on the ground from the axle to another fixed point like the triple clamps. Then repeat with the forks fully extended up on a stand. Preload will(should) have an effect on the numbers you get with weight on the front. Long story short - start with your fork oil. :-) |
