• Welcome to the Two Wheeled Texans community! Feel free to hang out and lurk as long as you like. However, we would like to encourage you to register so that you can join the community and use the numerous features on the site. After registering, don't forget to post up an introduction!

1250 Suspension Mods for Touring?

Forums New posts
René Alexander said:
Advice from THE hyperpro store here for me was first try their spring kit front and rear. progressive springs they said. I Will get a refund for THE rear spring if i decide later buying their complete rear shock.

I think i Will try.

greetings from Holland :sun:
Click to expand...


I'm a fan of straight wound fork springs, and I truly think you'll be happier with a correctly sized set of straight wound spring over a new progressive spring even if that's all you change.


Again, the problems with the stock suspension front and rear for most people is that it is over dampened and under sprung. So just keep in mind that if you end up going to heavier spring rate front and rear with out softening up the dampening, it’s going to give you an even harsher ride than you already have. ;-)
 
Hyperpro..... back in the day when I bought their springs for my BMW R1150RA, they were bright purple. Hyperpro's motto was "Purple Perfection". I don't recall if they were single rate or progressive, but I didn't know anywhere near as much as I know now. Unless a rider is a VERY mellow rider who places NO DEMANDS on his suspension, progressive wound springs are not the way to go. I ride too hard to have my springs compromised for "comfort".
 
Okay thanks ! I need advice. Spoke to Dale Walker about his spring and valve setup and rear shock. Problem is that i have to pay 23,5 % import tax plus extra handling fees. So i am still looking in "Europe". On my Hayabusa i had WP, now Hyperpro guys, so thats why i spoke to them.

But: Linear it shall be.
 
Rene',

You don't need to spend designer money for suspension components better than OEM. That rear factory shock will be good for (at least) 12,000 to 18,000 miles of abuse; if you need to replace the spring because the 'sag' demands it..... just buy a spring, pay for the shock later. (The factory shock is not rebuildable, but it is fully capable for the first 10,000 miles!)

Soooo..... if it's a shock you're gonna buy, settle on an inexpensive shock that is rebuildable by ANYBODY who services suspension components (some after-market shocks require that you send it back to the vendor to rebuild).

Research carefully what spring rate YOU and your requirements might need. My weight was on the cusp of having to go with very heavy-duty springs, so I went with the heavier rate just to be safe. So unless my bike is loaded up with all my hard bags filled, the comfort of my ride is compromised..... but on a race track or smooth road..... I CAN RAIL!!!
 
So if i understand right : stiffer forksprings (i am 220 pounds, 100 kg, without gear, 240 with, 110 kgr) and thinner forkoil. And rear spring according to my weight. lineair springs that is.

:brainsnap
 
René Alexander said:
So if i understand right : stiffer forksprings (i am 220 pounds, 100 kg, without gear, 240 with, 110 kgr) and thinner forkoil. And rear spring according to my weight. lineair springs that is.

:brainsnap
Click to expand...

Yes, stiffer fork springs (1.1 kg/mm) and re-valve compression and rebound to suit, (reduce compression and increase rebound), back will probably be OK.
 
René Alexander said:
So if i understand right : stiffer forksprings (i am 220 pounds, 100 kg, without gear, 240 with, 110 kgr) and thinner forkoil. And rear spring according to my weight. lineair springs that is.

:brainsnap
Click to expand...

The real problem with the Bandit's forks won't be addressed by thinner fork oil. Damping rod forks, like the Bandit's have one and only one damping level. So they are a compromise. The factory can set the damping to work well over small bumps, but then they're too stiff when they need to compress suddenly, as when hitting a large, square-edged bump. Or you can make them work well on large bumps, but then they're underdamped on small ones. Or you can compromise in between. Using lighter oil will make them work better on large bumps, but then they'll be underdamped on small ones. Lighter oil will also make the rebound damping lighter, which is a problem, because the stock forks are already underdamped on rebound. Adding stiffer springs will only make the rebound damping problem worse.

With the stock forks you can play around the edges, but you'll never really get a good setup. Good enough, maybe, but not "good."

A good cartridge emulator, like the Gold Valves, allow the damping to self-adjust for both small and large bumps, as well as separate control of rebound and compression damping.
 
BlueStreak said:
The real problem with the Bandit's forks won't be addressed by thinner fork oil. Damping rod forks, like the Bandit's have one and only one damping level. So they are a compromise. The factory can set the damping to work well over small bumps, but then they're too stiff when they need to compress suddenly, as when hitting a large, square-edged bump. Or you can make them work well on large bumps, but then they're underdamped on small ones. Or you can compromise in between. Using lighter oil will make them work better on large bumps, but then they'll be underdamped on small ones. Lighter oil will also make the rebound damping lighter, which is a problem, because the stock forks are already underdamped on rebound. Adding stiffer springs will only make the rebound damping problem worse.

With the stock forks you can play around the edges, but you'll never really get a good setup. Good enough, maybe, but not "good."

A good cartridge emulator, like the Gold Valves, allow the damping to self-adjust for both small and large bumps, as well as separate control of rebound and compression damping.
Click to expand...

Bob,

The Bandits forks are not damper rod design, but a cartridge design, and the gold valve kit for the Bandits forks is not their Gold Valve emulator which is for use on damper rod style forks, of which I have used on several of my bikes over the years, and which looks totally different from the Gold Valve kit components for the Bandits cartridge forks.

The Gold Valve kit for the bandit is totally differant from the emulators, and consists of a Gold valve (not an emulator) with larger ports to replace the stock lower valve portion in the cartridge assembly as well as new shims for the compression valve stack.

Also the Gold Valve emulators for damper rod style forks only control the compression dampening and not the rebound dampening, and the key word her is emulator, as when installed in a damper rod style fork, they emulate the operation of a cartridge style fork to some degree, and that is why the Gold Valve emulators kits will only work on damper rod style forks, and also why the Gold Valve kits for the Bandits cartridge forks are just called Gold Valves, and not Gold Valve emulators. :trust:
 
Thanks for the info, Scott. But given how the Bandit front forks feel, they sure ACT like damper rod forks. And the basic thrust of my post is still true: putting in thinner fork oil will reduce harshness over big bumps at the expense of control over smaller ones, and will worsen the already poor rebound control.
 
I just ordered the springs and valves from Holeshot. Dale said use the 5 wt oil. Question I have is do you need any special tools to do this job?
Trying to decide if I want to attempt this myself. I'm not a mechanic but if I don't need any special tools I should be savvy enough to figure it out.
 
Pacodog said:
I just ordered the springs and valves from Holeshot. Dale said use the 5 wt oil. Question I have is do you need any special tools to do this job?
Trying to decide if I want to attempt this myself. I'm not a mechanic but if I don't need any special tools I should be savvy enough to figure it out.
Click to expand...

Patience especially when reassembling by yourself! Look in the service manual and you'll see the fork broken down. I just realized your doing the valves as well that means more break down of the fork as I only did the springs and I just made sure to work slow so I didn't screw up and stared at the manual for awhile to get it all in my head before I started working but also kept the pic of the disassembled fork around, etc.! :)
 
The Dextron ATF I use is 7 wt oil. I have it in the Bandit and KLR at present. Been with that for a while now.
 
Thanks for the replies. I'll do some study before I tear them down. Appreciate the ATF comment also as an alternative.
I have a set of seals in case I need them.
 
Personally I'd not use ATF oil in our bikes. And seals will require more work + specific tools. Mine only had 19.9k on them and no leaks so I didn't touch them!
 
I've flushed and cleaned the front forks on my Bandit 3 times in the last 4 years and 9 months with near 70,000 corrected miles on them from running a speedo healer from near new. . Still have the stock seals on it. They never leaked so never changed them. But, on the KLR with just a bit over 30,000 miles I've changed the fork seals 3 times in 12 years.
Back in the old days, there was no fork oils, just hyd oil. Then ATF made it so much nicer. ;-)
 
Thanks for the feedback. Wasn't sure about the seals so I ordered them anyway. Maybe I can send them back if I don't need them. My forks are low miles so should be okay.
 
achesley said:
:clap::clap::clap: love keeping extra seals and brake pads in stock.
Click to expand...

I mean if you already have em and they were only a few bucks why pay shipping if your gonna use them sooner or later! I ordered EBC brake pads as I didn't know the stock thickness and wanted to play it safe in case I needed to change them, etc. so now I have spare pads! :rider:
 
Yeah, I'll probably be hanging onto the Bandit for awhile so I must just keep them. I did check on some other bikes to buy, Ninja 1000, BMW but for the amount they wanted to give for a trade and the Bandits cheap insurance I think I'll stay with the Bandit. That's wy I decided to do the forks. It's really the last thing that I wasn't too happy with.
BTW, Dale told me to sell the PCIII I have and go with his TFI tuning box. Any thoughts on that? Not like the Bandit doesn't have enough power already! I bought the bike with the PCIII so I'm not sure how much oomph it added.
 
I can't compare as I only had Dale's setup and not a PCIII but he swears by his TFI. I mainly got it to remove all the annoying on/off throttle unsmoothness amongst other things like making sure the bike didn't lean out anymore then it already was after I pulled the secondaries to resolve yet another annoying issue as well... Personally I like his setup and TONS others do too so its your call! ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top