Suspension again!

[Demansia]

Slarty,

I've pulled the first fork apart & here's what i've got:
Stock Spring: 280mm
Spacer Tube: 123mm
Preload thread showing was 18mm

My new progressive springs are Wirth ones from germany off fleabay, they are only 260mm long but come with a 30mm steel spacer to increase the length up to 290mm (pic here)
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/wr ... directlink

i'm thinking that seeing as though i didn't have the initial sag problems you had, i'm going make new aluminium spacer tubes with just the 30mm added from my new progressive spring spacers so i have just 1 tube (less issues i hope) & hold off for the moment with adding your extra 20mm.

This seemed to work for Weirdo with his forks & if they still are not right then i'll make some new tubes with your extra 20mm added.

But, i am interested to know what you springs & spacer measurements were on yours

Chad

[weirdo]

Hi mate,
My progressive springs are IKON (from Australia ). They are 280mm in length, same as the standard.
The plastic spacer tubes are 120mm. I can only get 11mm thread maximum on the preload adjuster.
They still feel good to me, and haven't bottomed out yet.

HTH

[shedmonkey]

Re fork oil

Hi folks is sae 5w 20 ok to use? i have an old bottle kicking around. I am doing mods hopefully soon if i can get some nylon rod and stainless

[Demansia]

Re fork oil

Hi folks is sae 5w 20 ok to use? i have an old bottle kicking around. I am doing mods hopefully soon if i can get some nylon rod and stainless

Hi Mate,
The oil you have there is engine oil not fork oil
Go down to your local bike shop & pick up some 5w Fork Oil . I wouldn't suggest you put engine oil in your forks $$$$

Cheers Chad

[shedmonkey]

Its deffo fork oil very old but unused and its marked 5w 20

[Demansia]

i stand corrected
Wouldn't hurt to get some fresh stuff though.

Chad

[V4mp]

I've decided to do "triangle mod" and do triangles by myself. Rising up the tail makes bike steer faster, right ? Does anyone have good dimension for triangles ?

[Demansia]

I've decided to do "triangle mod" and do triangles by myself. Rising up the tail makes bike steer faster, right ? Does anyone have good dimension for triangles ?

I have a spare set of triangles, I had a few sets cut with a water jet when I made mine.
Does make the steering faster.

[Spyke]

Well, seeing as we have an active thread happening, mind if I chime in with a question?

I've been having front end issues this weekend - slipped out about 9 inches on Saturday, for no apparent reason. Suspension feels good on good roads, but she's more like a bucking bronco on bad roads. My front tyre has plenty of tread, but is now 9 years old, pressures were OK, I'm fairly sure. I'm not working at the moment so would much prefer not to buy new rubber unless I have to. Is it possible that the very old rubber is just not flexing under load like new rubber would? I'm thinking a cheaper option might be to adjust something on the forks? On the Xtra there are adjusters on the top and bottom of the forks, which I've never touched. At lunchtime yesterday I put some cable ties on the forks to see how much dive I was getting - 60mm on the offside, but 61mm on the nearside. Is it usual to have more on one than the other? I wouldn't have thought so, but I know zilch. Is that too much? What would I adjust, and how should I adjust it, if it's not right?

Tried to add a pic, but getting "board attachment quota reached" again.

[Dante]

The tires are 9 years old?
Change them asap.
a very old tire is extremely slippery compared to a new one...

[Spyke]

Front is old, but loadsa tread, rear is only 2 months old. I'm not working, so would prefer to delay any purchases until I am.

[V4mp]

I've decided to do "triangle mod" and do triangles by myself. Rising up the tail makes bike steer faster, right ? Does anyone have good dimension for triangles ?

I have a spare set of triangles, I had a few sets cut with a water jet when I made mine.
Does make the steering faster.

How much those lift rear ? I might be interested but I live in Europe...

[Miz]

Well, seeing as we have an active thread happening, mind if I chime in with a question?

I've been having front end issues this weekend - slipped out about 9 inches on Saturday, for no apparent reason. Suspension feels good on good roads, but she's more like a bucking bronco on bad roads. My front tyre has plenty of tread, but is now 9 years old, pressures were OK, I'm fairly sure. I'm not working at the moment so would much prefer not to buy new rubber unless I have to. Is it possible that the very old rubber is just not flexing under load like new rubber would? I'm thinking a cheaper option might be to adjust something on the forks? On the Xtra there are adjusters on the top and bottom of the forks, which I've never touched. At lunchtime yesterday I put some cable ties on the forks to see how much dive I was getting - 60mm on the offside, but 61mm on the nearside. Is it usual to have more on one than the other? I wouldn't have thought so, but I know zilch. Is that too much? What would I adjust, and how should I adjust it, if it's not right?

Tried to add a pic, but getting "board attachment quota reached" again.

If you are having "front end issues" double check the rotation arrows on the tyre, as it is possible to fit the front wheel either way round, trust me it's easy to do, and the bike feels weird even at low speeds..

[Spyke]

Thanks Miz, my wheels and tyres are definitely going the right way round, but now that you mention that I did notice my axle isn't...everybody else seems to have the curvy "almost a nut" thing on their nearside, whereas it's on the offside on mine, manuals all point to it being the wrong way round, but I'd assumed it wouldn't matter being a straightforward round tube. Buggered if I can get the bloody thing undone though, my front under-fork stand gets in the way, been thinking of getting the head stand adapter but again trying not to spend any money, and I'm not 100% sure that I wouldn't have problems with the steering damper getting in the way even if I did shell out on that.

Think I might look for a "how to set up suspension for dummies" kinda thing!

EDIT: Hmm, my tire does look knackered:


Looking at the hand stamped marking, it says "VKC 1400" - does that mean week 14 of Y2K?

[Dante]

Yeap.
That means that the tire is almost 13,5 years old.
Since its your front tire I recommend changing is asap.
A lowside with that tire is very easy to happen.
I wouldnt ride the bike with a tire like that...
Think about it.
What does it cost more?
Replacing it or having a crach because of it?