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1250 Suspension Mods for Touring?

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If I don't want to take the forks all apart, I just take them out of the triple tree ( back off the preload and break the cap loose first ). Then take the cap off, spring and spacer out. Turn them upside down, stroke them several times and let them drain for about an hour or so. Then I put some kerosene in there and work the forks right side up a bit, drain them / pumping them several strokes again. Let them drain for a bit. Put a bit of ATF ( way cheaper than high buck Fork oil even if you're not gonna just use ATF.) pump them a bit , drain and pump that stuff out also. Then put in around 17 ozs of what ever fluid you're gonna use. Pump that for several strokes, set it up in my vise and check fluid height. Button all back up and install.
Do you have a drawing showing the fork break down? You're gonna have to unscrew the cap from the damnp rod to get the spring off. I tie a piece of wire on it to be able to control it for finale assembly .
 
Two additions to the above. When pumping the fork and getting fluid out make sure to do the fork tube and most importantly the rod inside as there is tons more oil when you do the rod! And 2nd when you add the final fluid it has to stay above the cartridge (about halfway down) and then you have to pull up the rod and back down at least 10 times to get the air out and fluid in before you measure your oil height. I did as the book said and just filled to top and then pumped the rod many many times! And per the service manual outside fork down at bottom and rod at bottom then measure height. I really suggest you get the manual or at least pics of the fork disassembly so you can see what your doing if its your 1st time it helped me tons! :)

PS: Pay attention to the spacer above the spring when you take it apart as its meant to face a certain direction upon reassembly unless you want full preload but that would be bad! ;)
 
Thanks again for the tips, I'll get after this in the next few weeks I hope. I'll be sure and publish a follow-up.
 
OK, I have the forks apart. I'm not sure which valve is compression and which one is rebound. I assume I need to put the gold valve on the compression valve. Is the compression valve the one on the right? The picture shows how they came out of the damper assy. The one on the right is the one on the bottom of the damper rod.

IMG_1324_zps4316d100.jpg
[/IMG]

Just want to make sure before I continue.
 
I'm guessing the valve assy on the right is the one I need to put the gold valves on so I guess I'll go that route.

I saw where MetrickMetal sells a valve body holding block that you can use to clamp the valve body in your vice. That's a good idea. I was going to buy a hex head bolt and nut and use the threaded hole on the backside of the valve to hold it in the vice. Should work okay as long as I can break the loctited bolt free that holds the valve assy in place?! :-?

I do like some of the items he has on his website.
 
OK, I went with the #33 set-up on the valves and the 5 weight oil. The forks are much smoother then stock now. If I was to do it all over again I would probably just do the springs but it was kind of interesting tearing the forks apart. Is it worth the money? That's up to you.
 
I did the same first time guy, tore them all apart, cleaned everything and put them back together again. The next 2 fluid changes, I just took the forks off, took off the springs, pumped them dry , rinsed with kerosene ( pumping both forks and rod about 20 times, dumping that, a little bit of ATF and dumping than , then filled and reassembled and installed. I'm amazed the seals are still holding up after over 65K miles
 
OK, the bike rides pretty well but not sure about sag. With the bike on the center stand I have 40mm of sag. But the difference between sitting on it and getting off is pretty small say 14mm. Is this correct? I have 125 mm of air gap w/o springs, 5 wt oil, 2.9 " spacers and I weigh about 190#'s? I think the preload is about 10-15 mm.
 
Tip to help you on front sag settings. A tie wrap around the fork tube makes it easy to measure when by yourself. For the rear, I used a quicky sliding tube set up tie wrapped to my luggage bracket. I don't get too critical about a few mm's of travel for the street. I attempt to get loaded sag about 1/3 of the total travel.
Of course all this is much easier with help, but, I generally always work alone so learn ways to do it solo. ;-) Patience is your friend. LOL!
 
Andy, thanks for the tip. I do a lot of mtn bike riding and they already have o-rings on the forks to keep an eye on the sag! Maybe motorcycles should do this also?
The front sag ended up being right at 38 mm which is 30% of the travel. I think that is pretty good. The rear was set up too stiff, so I lowered it 2 clicks and now have 30% sag in the back. I went for a ride and it felt pretty good. As I stated previously the new springs and valves along with 5 wt oil made the front end more responsive. But, the front still felt a bit slippery ( sorry that is the only word I can think of!).
So now I installed the fork brace from Holeshot. It was kind of like the desert at the end of a good dinner. The front end is real solid now and I can take corners with confidence. I'm glad I did this a step at a time so I could feel the impact of each change.
I highly recommend these upgrades!!
 
Pacodog said:
I highly recommend these upgrades!!
Click to expand...

What weight springs did you end up going with!? I have .95s on mine and the sag isn't quiet set yet and the little I rode in 42 degree weather the bike falls into turns like it lost 200 lbs or something its really odd can't wait till it warms up and I can test more! :trust:
 
Tazman2 said:
What weight springs did you end up going with!? I have .95s on mine and the sag isn't quiet set yet and the little I rode in 42 degree weather the bike falls into turns like it lost 200 lbs or something its really odd can't wait till it warms up and I can test more! :trust:
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what weight they are, I bought the std Cogent springs from Holeshot. They only have one weight that I know. I weigh 190 #'s with clothes. Where did you get your springs. Did you put longer spacers in? I put 2.9" pvc spacers in vs the stock 2" spacers. I have the pre-load screws backed all the way out. How much Sag do you have?
 
Pacodog said:
I'm not sure what weight they are, I bought the std Cogent springs from Holeshot. They only have one weight that I know. I weigh 190 #'s with clothes. Where did you get your springs. Did you put longer spacers in? I put 2.9" pvc spacers in vs the stock 2" spacers. I have the pre-load screws backed all the way out. How much Sag do you have?
Click to expand...

Yours are probably 1.1s have you read the box!? I'm roughly the same weight as you and didn't get the valves and Cogent suggested the .95s but then again my roads suck! Yes I put in a 5 inch spacer and sag is still not set at the moment but the screws are pretty far out at the moment during the initial ride! I'm kinda confused still because Cogent suggested stock spacers and that is just not right after reading all of info all over the web and MMs writeup so I stuck with the 5 inches MM used which ironically was the difference between the stocker and the lack of spring length on the racetechs. :giveup:
 
If I remember right my springs were .8 " shorter then the stock springs. I added .1" to make up the difference from stock and get the 2.9" spacers. I didn't get a box, they came in a plastic bag marked Cogent springs, 'for bandit'. Here is the link that helped me the most during my fork rebuild.

http://www.twtex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71728
 
My springs were about 3 inches shorter then the stockers so thus the 5 inch spacer as MM also started with. I know he said he trimmed his twice but I don't know if that was after or before the 5 inches figure. Its funny how the springs are a lot different I think I read the Cogent springs work best with the aftermarket valves thus maybe why Cogent recommended the Racetechs for me as my budget was limited and anything is better then the stock ones at this point! :)
 
Got my buddy today and set the sag at roughly 1.55ish inches (about 33% of travel assuming 4.7inches is correct) up front and rear is at about 1.35ish right now which is the factory shock sooooo... Hopefully can test ride sometime soon! :)
 
I borrowed my neighbor for the job, really need two people. I am running 1.5" front and back. My manual says the front travel is 5.1" and the back is 5.4 ". Puts me at 28-30% sag. I always ride solo.
 
Did you take it around the block yet!? Hows she feel!? I also always run solo short of the hard bags, etc! ;)
 
Just a short ride and then it got cold again. I thought it felt good, more stable in the turns. When it warms up I'll know more. Any thoughts on rear end upgrades? It doesn't feel near as bad as the front did. Must just leave it alone for now.
 
On a budget!? Busa shock. Good write up on maxzuk!! I haven't done it yet but maybe this year! :)

PS: Problem is though since its a taller shock made for more weight, etc. If your not running bags ie extra weight in the rear it will sit too high of course in my case since I run hard bags it shouldn't be a issue! :)
 
I scored a $100 off certificate from Works Performance at a rally in Johnson City TN. a couple weeks ago in the Smokey Mountains. I assume from Scott's post they have a base line setting for their 1250 shocks? I am thinking getting the Dura Sport ($799). Not sure if I want to have a remote reservoir model for $1059 and deal with mounting the res. I know the remotes help with fluid heat and breakdown but it's not track bike either. ;)

I have already replaced the stock fork springs with 1.1 kg. racetech's and lowered the fluid viscosity, a fork brace from Dale Walker would be the next logical step for the front end. The stock shock is starting to feel harsh on rough roads even with only close to 9000 miles on it.
Thoughts?
 
Well I rode the 08 C-14 yesterday and it ruined the Bandit suspension and brakes.:doh:
Granted the price points are different but the stock connie is just soooo much smoother and composed and yet I can stuff it into a corner almost as hard as the B1250. Will have to look at improvements, just the fork springs and fork oil are not cutting it....
 
I installed the Holeshot Cogent shock and Holeshock RaceTech fork springs and Gold Valves and oil and the bike rides and handles like a dream. it is absolutely PERFECT.

Trust me, I own a full Ohlins RC51 and Ducati Monster.

This bike is amazing with these mods.

Call Dale at Holeshot and start living the dream.
 
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