modified gsxr slabby forks

[nlovien]

been enjoying a build project of late that has a set of GSXR1100 slaby front forks - ok pritty old school design and a tendency to replace with more modern cartridge type forks etc..

fitted springs weight matched to me and the bike along with emulators - got a few things to sort out with this bike but the front fork isn't one of them, this set up is working great  - i'm bumping along typical Scottish B roads etc.. the forks are just doing their job - nicely controlled, good feed back - no harshness, just the right amount of brake dive etc.

TBH I have another project with maxton tweaked 45mm gayblade forks - very nice - well the basic GSXR fork with these minor tweaks is not noticably anything less

previous use of these forks with springs of unknown weight ( right enough to get a static setting ) and std damping - recall what you expect, kick off sharp bumps/ pot holes etc.., bit of floaty feel yet also a bit harsh

basically take yir old school forks - add a few minor tweaks to match them to you and the bike = can be surprising just how effective they can be - dam't sight better than chucking on different / modern stuff without looking into the matching set up - keep it old school!

 

[bernardo]

Where did you get the springs and emulators? I'm thinking of doing the same myself

[Swiss Toni]

Good sound advice! Yet hardly any of us (apart from those adhering to race regs) even consider up-rating our std front end set-up. 

[bernardo]

Well I want to make my slabby as original looking as possible, what's under the skin is a different matter. So springs and emulators  seem like a good idea

[Simbec1863]

I’ve got them in my RGV make a big difference not as good as a cartridge conversion but good value for not much money

[Macduff]

I have a vague plan to do the same for my slabby, obtained the spare original forks for tweaking just need to work out what to fit into their guts

[nlovien]

I got mine from the states - the emulators were on amazon.com at a fraction of the price as quoted from racetech - springs also sorry can't remember where I got them but cheaper than race tech - they have a handy weight calculator which atleast for me turned out to be spot on ( yi got to be honest about your all up riding weight  ) I used 100lb springs

the other really handy "trick" I learned from a wise man on here ref: slabby forks - I needed +/- another 15mm fork length - I got more than this by simply using the GSXR1100 rebound springs versus the 750 - as the 1100 is about 50% length = you gain the difference in overall length

I also used the 1100 servo anti dive units  versus the 750 - easy - cut off the servo unit and pull out the gubings - I then machined a plug out of black plastic and glued it in to seal off the top - i.e. you don't need to make the hydraulic bypass plate to replace the anti dive - the std anti dive housings work fine with the gubbings removed

One thing I didn't progress but thought would be a good idea: down side to the emulator is the hassle with adjusting them - basically take out - tweak - re fit - yeuk, how about make a thin rod that connects to the emulator adjuster - run the rod up through the spring  and drill n seal it through the ride height adjuster = external adjuster - forsure i'm making it sound simple - but overall its a doable thing with a bit of imagination  

another one more: I used the best bits from 2 sets of forks - noted with both of them the original cupped washers which meter the damping were fooked - well flattened - folks who race these bikes and keep such things in good tolerance probably find the std fork decent, the rest of us just live with it - forget that the fork might have been ok in its day and suffer the consequence - so part of the improvement is just using a different method to replace old worn ineffective bits 

Edited May 3, 2019 by nlovien
added bit about cup washers