Race Teching the 5th Gen

I was on the Sonic Spring website. Their calculator asks your weight with gear and the weight of the bike with a full tank of gas. When I entered my info (about 176# for my weight with gear and I guessed about 520# for my bike with a full tank - probably a bit low) it calculated my spring rate to be 1.0. Traxxion calculated my spring rate to be .95. No consistency!!

 

Lots of good info on this thread!!

I have a stock 929 shock installed already on my 5th gen, and I'm on the fence about doing an F4i front end swap over the winter vs just keeping the stock ones with Gold Valves and weight-appropriate springs. Now I'm kind of leaning back towards the latter approach for $$ and time commitment reasons.

 

sorry to hijack
Jamie I have a 6th gen and I weigh 148 in street clothes
what would be the best set up for me??
shock rear shock revaled along w/ new fork springs and gold valves?
I am planning some track days next year. would stock rear spring be ok or should I replace that as well??

Thanks

 

Well, I got my forks back from Race Tech yesterday and installed them this morning. Before I installed them, I noticed that the left fork preload adjuster does not screw out as far as the right fork. The left one screwed out to show 4 lines, while the right fork showed around 6 lines or more. I installed them anyway to see how they felt and to figure out how much sag I could achieve. I was able to get 31mm sag, which is about as low as I want to go; I prefer 32mm. The problem is I can't get the sag any higher because the left fork maxes out before the right fork does. I'm guessing that the Race Tech technician didn't screw out the preload all the way before inserting all the new stuff. I'm calling Race Tech on Monday to see what has to be done to repair this. It'll be a pain in the ass to remove the forks again and send them to Race Tech, so I'm hoping they can instruct me on what to do and I'll do it myself.

 

It's adjustable range as per the manual is only from 0mm to 15mm, I think that's only to the 4th line or so no? Sorry that it's not perfect right off the bat, I hate that. Always happens to me with everything especially the stuff that comes from the most furthest away

 

Yeah, that's a bummer. I always set the forks so the target spring preload is in the middle of the adjustment range. I'm assuming that the RT tech would have done the same. Based on your sag settings I'd say that either your spring spacers are too long or the spring rate was selected too high. Normally the RT are top notch, so I'm surprised that either of these are a possibility. I suppose it shows that we are all human!

 

I really believe the effective mods for a VFR are the Power Commander and custom map, an aftermarket shock and a fork rebuild (wish there were a bolt-on Ohlins fork, but there isn't). Oh, my, and the seat!

 

Well, the fork situation isn't resolved yet, but I've been using them anyway. The ride is very improved up front. I feel much more confident in the curves; I was even able to drag knee on either side both yesterday and today, without scraping pegs. There is no brake dive. The ride is not harsh at all, but I would like to mess around with the preload once I get the previously-mentioned problem resolved. Now, as others have stated, the rear shock's crappiness is even more evident. Once I get something better back there, the ride will be amazing. I'm still testing out the front susp., but so far, so good.

 

I've always remembered my adjusters going to at least 6 lines, and my right for goes about that far. I hope I don't have to remove the forks and send them back because it's a little bit of a PIA. It's not hard, just time consuming.

 

I figured out what the problem is after removing the fork cap from my left fork: the preload adjuster screw thread was damaged towards the bottom and when I try to lessen the preload (i.e., show more lines on the adjuster) the damaged thread won't allow it. I believe it was damaged when the tech removed the fork cap from the damper rod (or maybe when he reassembled it). The damper rod is attached to the bottom of the preload adjuster screw, and to remove the fork cap, one must use a wrench on the flat sides of the preload adjuster screw. If one isn't careful, or uses an inapproprately sized wrench, one risks damaging the threads that are located to the sides of the flat areas. I hope this isn't too confusing, and I'm sure those who've removed their fork caps know what I'm talking about. I'm guessing I need a new preload adjuster screw and possibly a new fork cap (if the damaged preload adjuster screw thread affected the fork cap thread). I'll be talking to Race Tech tomorrow to see what can be done about this. I talked to them today and they told me I could bring the bike in to get it checked out; I may do that next week.

 

Man, that must be quite a bit of damage! You need to really be ham-fisted to make a mistake like that. I'm sure RT knows who the Tech was that did your forks. One thing I've known about them is that anyone who messes up or gives out bad info is reprimanded pretty strictly. Their standards are pretty high and they do what it takes to keep them up there.

Let us know what you find out.

 

Got in touch with Race Tech today. They're sending me a return label, then I'll be sending my left fork to them on Monday. They said they'll check it out, and they may cover the cost of new parts (if necessary) if they're at fault. We'll see what happens. All I know is that my forks have never been opened up and my preload adjuster was fine before I sent it. I hope they own up to it.

 

Well, on Sunday morning I was about to begin the process of removing the front tire so I could remove the left fork to send to Race Tech, when I decided to give the preload adjuster one last opportunity to work, and, to my surprise, it did! I don't know what happened, but between removing the fork cap to diagnose the problem and riding over the Thanksgiving break, the preload adjuster is working as intended. I screwed the adjuster in and out all the way a few times to make sure it was really working and then I set my sag again. I'm glad the problem resolved itself because I didn't feel like removing the fork again and sending it off.