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Fork Preload Spacer Length?


mainroaduk
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I`ve got forks on a 04 280 pro that are way to hard for me, so I`ve pulled them apart to put sae5 oil in and a new set of seals, as I don`t know what oil the previous owner put in, could be gearbox oil after some of the other bodges I`ve found with this bike since owning it :blush: I was hoping this was all it`d need to soften things up, however after pulling the forks apart I`ve found the preload spacer that measures 95mm in length. Now I`m concerned that the previous owner has put a longer than standard spacer in. Does anyone remember how long there spacers were on their forks? I don`t want to cut it down if it`s a standard length or cut too much off, as I`m kind of hoping not to have to pull these forks apart again afterwards. Anyways, if you know the length of a standard spacer please let me know. cheers

John :icon_salut:

Edited by mainroaduk
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I`ve got forks on a 04 280 pro that are way to hard for me, so I`ve pulled them apart to put sae5 oil in and a new set of seals, as I don`t know what oil the previous owner put in, could be gearbox oil after some of the other bodges I`ve found with this bike since owning it :blush: I was hoping this was all it`d need to soften things up, however after pulling the forks apart I`ve found the preload spacer that measures 95mm in length. Now I`m concerned that the previous owner has put a longer than standard spacer in. Does anyone remember how long there spacers were on their forks? I don`t want to cut it down if it`s a standard length or cut too much off, as I`m kind of hoping not to have to pull these forks apart again afterwards. Anyways, if you know the length of a standard spacer please let me know. cheers

John :icon_salut:

John,

If the forks are too stiff, you'll want to cut down these spacers even if they are a standard length (I think these are an extra length but don't have an 04' pair to check). I think they usually run in the 60mm area for the 04', but not positive.

How much do you weigh?

Jon

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Thanks Jon,

I was quite surprised at the length of them when I pulled them out. The main reason for asking on what standard length was I could get an idea of how much to cut off. Might just have to cut 10 or 20mm and try them I guess, and if I need to cut more off I can pop the tops off and take the spacer out without draining them again. I`m about 90 kilos plus a bit for boots and lid etc.

Edited by mainroaduk
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Thanks Jon,

I was quite surprised at the length of them when I pulled them out. The main reason for asking on what standard length was I could get an idea of how much to cut off. Might just have to cut 10 or 20mm and try them I guess, and if I need to cut more off I can pop the tops off and take the spacer out without draining them again. I`m about 90 kilos plus a bit for boots and lid etc.

John,

I'd go down to about 75mm. If you have a little problem with the forks bottoming on big dropoffs, we'll look at raising the oil level a bit to compensate.

Jon

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Okay Jon, thanks for that, sounds like a plan. I`m just about to take up my position on the sofa so I`ll get out there tomorrow afternoon and get them cut down and back in, I`ll let you know what the race sag is like once I`ve done it!

Cheers

John

Edited by mainroaduk
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Well, got the forks back together this afternoon, and did the garden challenge. Mixed reults really. After cutting the preload spacers down by 20mm and using 5wt oil, the forks feel softer, Although, still not getting the race-sag I was hoping for, infact it`s not much different to how it was before. I also put tie=wraps around the forks to see the travel used, this showed on a stoppie that the travel was to within 10mm of the yoke but did`nt bottom out. That said, I rode it around the garden, and it felt softer, not sure if that`s just psycological though, as I was expecting them to be softer. The forks definately feel smoother though. The old oil was black gloopy in the compression fork, and milkyand runny in the rebound fork which seems odd. Both seals were weaping before the rebuild.

Overall I`m happy, the `feel` is better and there not leaking so at least I`m ready for another trial, that`s when I`ll find out if they are any good as I`m limited in the garden to what I can do.

Thanks for your input Jon.

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Well, got the forks back together this afternoon, and did the garden challenge. Mixed reults really. After cutting the preload spacers down by 20mm and using 5wt oil, the forks feel softer, Although, still not getting the race-sag I was hoping for, infact it`s not much different to how it was before. I also put tie=wraps around the forks to see the travel used, this showed on a stoppie that the travel was to within 10mm of the yoke but did`nt bottom out. That said, I rode it around the garden, and it felt softer, not sure if that`s just psycological though, as I was expecting them to be softer. The forks definately feel smoother though. The old oil was black gloopy in the compression fork, and milkyand runny in the rebound fork which seems odd. Both seals were weaping before the rebuild.

Overall I`m happy, the `feel` is better and there not leaking so at least I`m ready for another trial, that`s when I`ll find out if they are any good as I`m limited in the garden to what I can do.

Thanks for your input Jon.

10mm left on a stoppie is about right, you don't want them to bottom out completely or they have no reserve to absorb a further hit. What is the rear race sag? You also need to ride for a bit to test them as it's not unusual for a rider to compensate for bad suspension and your riding style may change slightly with the new preload setting.

Depending on how things turn out, you may want to go another 10mm off the preload spacer and add about 20cc's of oil to the forks. This will reduce preload stiffness and provide some bottoming insurance.

Jon

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Hello Jon,

The race sag on the front is 60mm and on the rear is 55mm I was aiming for 60-80mm at both ends, so I guess I`m not that far away really, I can`t find my origional measurements but off the top of my head I think that the rear race sag has increased slighltly since doing the front end.

John

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