re: how does upgrading forks affect the ride?

[Jim Huber <jhuber@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>  From: Paul Fox <pgf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, on 01/24/2001 10:50:
>  could someone who has made the change, especially the racetech forks,
>  try and describe the difference in ride, for someone who might not be so
>  "suspension savvy"?  what characteristics of ride and handling does it
>  affect?
>  
>  paul
>  =---------------------

	Well, with fork springs too soft the front end feels mushy, especially
under hard braking. I could get my forks to bottom out pretty easily just with
braking - partially 'cause they're damn good brakes. You can increase the
preload, but that just makes it feel choppier and didn't really help the fork
dive. All preload really does is increase the ride height, leaving you less
suspension travel if you go over a hole rather than a bump. With the proper
rate springs (mine are 1.00 Kg/mm - I'm a pretty big fella; stock on the ST is
0.70 Kg/mm) it feels much more planted and doesn't dive as much under braking.
	I rode friends' ST's before I had mine done - one with 0.95 Kg/mm
springs, 5w oil, and a stock rear shock; the other with 1.00 Kg/mm springs, a
mix of 7w and 10w oil, and an Ohlins rear shock. The latter bike felt much
better to me, but I still used just straight 7w oil. Mine still has the stock
rear shock, which now feels a touch soft compared to the front, but just a
touch. It's far better than it was.
	Then there's the "cartiridge emulators". Damping rod forks have the
unfortunate characteristic of damping going up exponentially with a linear rise
in travel speed. What that means in the real world is that it's underdamped on
small bumps and way overdamped on hard bumps. Cartridge forks work completely
differently to give different damping rates for "small" versus "large" bumps.
The emulators do the same thing. The preload on the emulators is used to
control when the system "breaks over" from "small bump" to "large bump"
operation. Oil weight and hole size have a large effect on this, too. The
RaceTech website has pretty pictures and such, and I'm sure a much better
explanation. While the proper weight springs help a lot, the cartridge
emulators are worth at least as much by sorting out the damping more
appropriately.

Happy Ridin'

	"Jedi Dawg"  Jim Huber
	'00 blue ST  "Rhiannon"
	'01 SV650S  "Cherii"
	Spring, Texas, USA

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