Corey's 2R800 Fork Swap... Now 999 Forks...

[corey]

Picked up a set of 2002 748 Showa Fully Adjustable Forks off of sleazeBay about a half hour ago...
here we go      

[junior varsity]

Make sure you get 'em resprung asap. (revalving while they are already off is a great next step).

Check the sliders for pitting before you get nuts.

[corey]

Make sure you get 'em resprung asap. (revalving while they are already off is a great next step).

Check the sliders for pitting before you get nuts.

i've been having this discussion all over the place, so it's probably good to get it centralized.
on the matter of getting the forks resprung, at 190lbs, roughly 205-210lbs fully geared, is a 1.02 (stock 748 rate) spring really that far off?
racetech's calculator is putting be at a .95.. i'd be really upset if i resprung the forks, and found them too soft...
thoughts?

as far as pitting, the forks looked to be in really good shape aside from some overspray on the tubes from someone spraypainting their bottom triple black... hopefully they are solid. i'm extremely optimistic, and excited. the bike was a 2002, so they aren't "too" old...

forks here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140364738209#ht_6799wt_1167

[junior varsity]

i'm 230ish, and have a .95 up front. Plenty stiff for street use

[supertjeduc]

I bought some 748S forks last week ,they are nice ones with the gold TIN
Maybe i go to hyperpro  (there plant is about 10 miles from here) to get some new oil and maybe springs

[corey]

i'm 230ish, and have a .95 up front. Plenty stiff for street use

Fair enough.
I'll have to do research on where to  have them sent or where to take them.
Any recommendations? I know racetech is on the table... something close would be nice though. I'm in Pittsburgh, PA...
Any reco's for valving, etc?

[junior varsity]

Well, if you are sending them away, there's Dept. of Suspension, Traxxion Dynamics, and Race Tech... However, your local shop will be able to do all of these for you as well.

BCM isn't all that far away, and I've heard good things about their shop, however I have FHE as I'm in Dallas and was in the Southeast previously.

[angler]

I'm 270 and I just put older (2001) 996 forks on my S2R.  Best mod yet.  I had .95 springs in the stock forks and there were .95 springs in the 996 forks and they are PLENTY stiff.  Also, Donnie at DucPond went through the forks and all they needed was an oil change - no seals, no valves.  YMMV.

[sbrguy]

my forks werent as drastic, i put s4 forkes on my 620 and they were resprung/revalved and adjusted for my weight by valley ducati and they really made the bike so much more comfrotable to ride. and they have the cool gold tinitride color on them, which is just there for bling factor of course.

[Charlief]

I also just scored a set of 3ways and will be having them rebuilt with racetech golds. Eric from Clubhouse Motorsports in moultonboro, Nh will be doing them.  Eric use to be one of the top wrenches at BCM .... Now he's on his own.

[Duck-Stew]

Funny....


I just picked up some 748 forks to go onto MY S2R800....  odd, eh?

[corey]

Funny....


I just picked up some 748 forks to go onto MY S2R800....  odd, eh?

Great!
I can get some tips from a real pro

[fasterblkduc]

What weight and bike did you plug into the calculator? I looked it up and you should be at .85 for street. FYI, the calculator adds weight for gear automatically so just use your body weight. You can use the 750M since it does not have your bike on there.
Do you plan to do trackdays? If so, you should lean more towards a slightly stiffer spring. If you are putting in a valve kit, you are gaining more adjustability. It's actually extreme overkill for the street. You will never get your money worth of the cost of a valve kit if you are riding street only. If you really want to learn about what your suspension is doing and save money, pick up a good suspension book, read it, then put the springs in yourself. Springs are $100, then you can purchase a spring compressor (optional) to make it easier.   This book will teach you everything you need to know and knowledge is power    http://www.amazon.com/Sportbike-Suspension-Tuning-Andrew-Trevitt/dp/1893618455/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260214993&sr=1-2

Just trying to help you out.

[corey]

Thanks to your recommendations, i already have that book

I'm about half way through it.
Haven't really gotten to the section about valving yet.
It is a street bike, yes, but i do plan on tracking it in the future, as well as turning it into a serious project bike when i have the funds to buy another one to ride while it's incapacitated.

I'm assuming that the valving in the stock 748 forks is much better than that of my Marzocchis.
If you guys say that a valve kit is overkill for street, i will take your word for it.

Without thinking, i was using the 748 for the bike when checking spring rates.
I was also using a secondary calculator, the name of which escapes me currently, and averaging the two out.
I wanted to lean a little toward the stiff side, as i do ride a bit a spirited, and do plan to track it on occasion.
I'm also not exactly getting any lighter... and do load up with a backup pretty much every other ride.

So dropping in springs (and I'm assuming replacing oil) is something i can pull off myself?
I feel like i should replace the seals and rebuild anything I can before getting the forks back on the bike..
Thoughts?

Thanks for the help FBD, it's greatly appreciated.

[junior varsity]

RaceTech has a pretty good DVD showing ya how to do it all. Since you'll have your marzocchi's sitting around as well, you might think about experimentally taking one of those apart as a practice run, so you have a general idea about how forks work and don't end up crushing or scratching up one of the new fork's tubes real bad or anything.