Hi everyone

does anyone know what springs are in the forks of a 2011 280 raga?

changed to a heavier spring on the reiger shock a while back and I think I should swap the front too soas to keep the front from pushing.

87kg so probably around 92kg geared up.

any advise greatly apreciated.

Be careful, I did the same and got a jitsie spring which came with no instructions. When I worked out how to remove the OEM spring I notice the jitsie replacement was shorter with no additional spacer but stuck it in the compression leg and put the bike back together. Long story short kept getting a clicking noise from the forks so put the old spring back in. I sent jitsie an email asking for advice but never received a reply. Find out the correct way to do it if you are going to replace it with an uprated item.

ordered one today!

apparently the stiffer jitsie spring is 300mm!

does anybody know the standard spring length?

did you have to dissasemble the fork to change the spring or is it a matter of just removing the top cap?

Slacken the two 10mm bolts on the top yoke because they create circumferential pressure on the threads of the cork caps. Pull the bars off a 22mm socket will slacken the caps.

Open the caps on both legs, they will not pull off at this stage but if you have the bike on a stand you will be able to press down slowly on the fuel tank and the caps still joined to the fork internals will pop up out of the leg.

Get help to depress the forks fully and get someone to keep the pressure on the tank keeping the legs depressed. The caps and internals will be fully out of the legs at this stage: there is a three to four inch plastic sleeve/spacer under the cap and continuous with the spring and internal rod.

Pull the plastic down against the resistance of the spring and you will see a 17mm red anodised nut that attaches the internals to the cap; slide an open ended 17mm spanner onto the nut (it has a flange on the top to hold the spanner in place) and use the spanner to hold while you go back to the cap to slacken from the rod internals. The cap will slacken in two stages in that it will open and turn easy then come to a stop again, I believe this is the compression rebound adjuster thread; crack the cap again and this time you will see it will screw itself of the internal rod and the cap will come free.

When you pull the spanner of lift the spring of the rod and catch the rod again quickly as it will try to sink back into the leg. New spring back over the rod spanner back on anodised nut and rebuild in reverse remember the cap will go tight and then slacken again before it threads back down the internal rod (two stages)

Release the pressure on the tank and let the legs return then thread the caps back into the fork legs and tighten not forgetting to retighten to two 10mm bolts on the top yoke. I used the compression leg to put the spring in (clutch side) its possible the other leg has a shorter spring but as I said Jitsie give no guidance with the spring.

Hope this helps.

Sorry just noticed your bike is a 2011 model, mine is a 2014 so not sure if forks are same.

thanks for the detailed writeup dabster!

seems a similar design to your forks so should be the same procedure!

I think the 2 stage tightening untightening is because of the preload adjuster !

thanks again!

Yeah, def no need to pull the bolt at the bottom of the leg and have to replace oil it is possible as said to open both caps and keep the legs depressed while you do it but you will need help. Please let me know if you get any specific info on spring length, spacer or leg preference because I'm in the dark about it.

Nick at trialsuk said he was gonna look into it!

will let you know my findings!

thanks again!

Dab, I have a 2014 125 Pro. How does the external fork preload work? One side (red collar) or both? I can't find information on the fork external preload anywhere. Thanks.

Dab, I have a 2014 125 Pro. How does the external fork preload work? One side (red collar) or both? I can't find information on the fork external preload anywhere. Thanks.

I think the left leg is compression with the adjuster marked plus and minus, right leg (front brake) is definitely rebound. your option to increase preload I think is one spring change and moving to two if you want real stiff. Not sure about spacer options but Nico said on here Trials uk are going to get some info so keep an eye out.

Nick from trialsuk got back to me today saying that the jitsie stiffer spring is indeed shorter than the original marzocchi spring by 30mm.

I asked what jitsie had to say about it but he didnt get in touch with them as of yet.

I imagine a teflon spacer would do the trick but not too keen on trying it at the moment.

will look for another supplier and take it from there!

Nick from trialsuk got back to me today saying that the jitsie stiffer spring is indeed shorter than the original marzocchi spring by 30mm.

I asked what jitsie had to say about it but he didnt get in touch with them as of yet.

I imagine a teflon spacer would do the trick but not too keen on trying it at the moment.

will look for another supplier and take it from there!

Thanks for this nicos, I am going to try again to get back to jitsie because my forks were clicking internally when I fitted mine and when I opened the leg up to see what was wrong the adjuster had pulled back through the rod.

The spring pre-load is adjusted using the hex nut (22mm) on the RIGHT HAND fork leg.

counter clockwise - less pre-load.

clockwise - more pre-load.

Central brass screw right leg (brass) - Rebound adjuster

Central brass screw left leg (brass) - Compression adjuster

Image Here: LINK

My bike is a 2014 model and both caps just unscrew to reveal the internals, it doesn't appear to have adjustment on the right hand cap on my bike.