Author Topic: cartridge fork emulators and progressive springs? (Read 8778 times)

jason41987 · « **on:** December 22, 2012, 09:05:01 AM »

my new (new to me) forks arrived for my '76 550F, and im taking them apart for maintainence... i bought some 76 550F forks as the forks on my bike were not the originals, and i decided i wanted the original ones back... anyway, im changing out the springs, oil, seals, and thinking of adding those cartridge fork emulators i read about

so my question is, has anyone tried these cartridge fork emulators? ive heard great things about them on other bikes... and im looking to use them with new progressive springs as well

shinyribs · « **Reply #1 on:** December 22, 2012, 09:17:29 AM »

I dont have any experience with the emulators,but I do have progressives in one bike. Just the forks springs. Love'em.Big difference in ride and handling.Not subtle at all. Well worth the $70 I spent on them!

jason41987 · « **Reply #2 on:** December 22, 2012, 09:39:27 AM »

model 11-1106 springs for the 550, right?... i hear people say the cartridge emulators make a big improvement too, im kind of curious as to how the two upgrades together will make the front end feel combined with new oil and seals too

shinyribs · « **Reply #3 on:** December 22, 2012, 10:07:25 AM »

Sorry bud. Not a clue on that. My progressives are in a 750.

jason41987 · « **Reply #4 on:** December 22, 2012, 10:14:44 AM »

well im sure the advantages would be equally beneficial... hmm, besides the springs, cartridge emulators, oil, seals, can anyone think of anything else id need to completely rebuild these forks that i may be forgetting?

another question i could be interested in, is what would you do to get the inside completely cleaned out of the old oil?.. with the insides removed would i be able to push a rag through the tubes?

seanbarney41 · « **Reply #5 on:** December 22, 2012, 11:46:08 AM »

progressive rate springs are not recommended for use with cartridge emulators. The progressive spring rate prevents the emulators from working properly.

bjbuchanan · « **Reply #6 on:** December 22, 2012, 03:05:46 PM »

You cant use the two together. You go with one or the other. They both work great independenttly tho. If you go springs get them set up for your weight not generic. They cost enough anyway to atleast get max benefits from the progressives

shinyribs · « **Reply #7 on:** December 22, 2012, 09:58:07 PM »

You can tune the action of the forks to the weight of the rider with the weight of fork oil also. At 220lbs and leaning on clubmans ,I found that 15w oil works well. No more bottoming. YMMV

jason41987 · « **Reply #8 on:** December 24, 2012, 12:43:08 AM »

good information to know that they cant be used together.... i was waiting for someone to comment on that as it never came up in any searches ive been doing online

that being said.. i like the tunability to cartridge forks offer.. being able to adjust damping, and oil weight to adjust rebound gives me essentially a tunable damping and rebound on the bike, this will be good

as for the springs... this is tougher because i need to go stiffer than what it originally had.... i do plan on doing a lot of traveling which means im probably going to get a set of saddlebags at some point to pack with gear... the roads i drive on around town are pretty bad... almost like driving off-road, so i do intend to stiffen the suspension up like a dual-sport suspension.... any recommendation for a spring on a CB550F for roughly 350lbs of weight on top? (rider+gear or rider+passenger)

bwaller · « **Reply #9 on:** December 24, 2012, 03:21:20 AM »

Go to Racetech.com and you can choose the straight weight spring you need. These springs will be shorter than OEM and allow room for a preload spacer. Find good fork tuning instructions and correctly set sag etc.

Don't over spring but tune for full travel and you'll be happy.

jason41987 · « **Reply #10 on:** December 25, 2012, 08:36:38 AM »

well, i went to race tech and an 85kg/mm spring should do what i want... could i get a stronger progessive spring to fit the 550F if i decided to go that route instead of the fork emulators, or is there a large benefit to being able to tune the damping with the emulators?... the progressive springs alone would definitely be the much cheaper route to go.... but ive never ridden a bike that used these so im just not sure what kind of changes theyll make to the handling, and braking

MRieck · « **Reply #11 on:** December 25, 2012, 10:01:05 AM »

The emulators and progressive springs are 2 totally different animals. The emulators actually changes the damping ability...the springs just change the rate. I'd go with the straight springs and emulators. there will be some tuning but once it is right it is a big improvement. I have installed a few emulator kits and they work well.

jason41987 · « **Reply #12 on:** December 25, 2012, 05:53:46 PM »

ok then... nice to hear someone that went with the emulators... ill pick up a set of emulators and 85kg/mm springs.. then i could adjust these emulators to better handle the road conditions here..

a few questions about the emulators though....i have to drill out the oil orifice in the forks, right?.. so this is a one-way modification?... and where do these sit? near the top or bottom of the forks?... im wondering if i could just take the bolt off the top of the forks an adjust them, or if ill have to remove the springs and emulators to do that?

Bluegreen · « **Reply #13 on:** December 26, 2012, 05:06:29 AM »

Quote from: jason41987 on December 25, 2012, 05:53:46 PM

ok then... nice to hear someone that went with the emulators... ill pick up a set of emulators and 85kg/mm springs.. then i could adjust these emulators to better handle the road conditions here..

a few questions about the emulators though....i have to drill out the oil orifice in the forks, right?.. so this is a one-way modification?... and where do these sit? near the top or bottom of the forks?... im wondering if i could just take the bolt off the top of the forks an adjust them, or if ill have to remove the springs and emulators to do that?

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=84102.0

Read this from beginning to end, there is a lot of great info in this thread.

jason41987 · « **Reply #14 on:** December 26, 2012, 07:50:07 AM »

one more question... whats the maximum and minimum diameter fork springs the CB550 can use?

Killer Canary · « **Reply #15 on:** December 26, 2012, 08:15:26 AM »

Use Schicklgruber's tachyonic inverse super-duper mononucleic sub-atomic formula to calculate spring sizes.

jason41987 · « **Reply #16 on:** December 26, 2012, 11:57:21 AM »

wth are you talking about?... anyway, i think im going to go with those mikes emulators, much cheaper than the race tech emulators and there seems to be more people that use these ones

shinyribs · « **Reply #17 on:** December 31, 2012, 03:47:32 PM »

I'm sure emulators are great,but progressives by themselves are a great upgrade. For both ride comfort and handling.

I'm not trying to talk you out of emulators,or down them at all,as I have no personal experience with them.

If you are shooting for maximum effort handling they would probably be best. But I can drag pegs with ease/regularity on progressives alone. Just putting it out there.

Like I said,not downing emulators,just mentioning that progressives do pretty durn good by themselves.

jason41987 · « **Reply #18 on:** January 09, 2013, 11:06:11 PM »

shinyribs.. im actually looking for on-road performance, and better performance over uneven terrain as the roads where i live tend to have tons of pot holes and im not sure these old forks alone, even if completely rebuilt and tuned would be all that safe around here... and i am looking to do a lot of traveling with this bike

just to be sure.. these mikes emulators work as well as the race techs, right?.. qualities good, installs relatively the same?... and does anyone know a source where i can get .90kg/mm springs at a lower price than the $130 racetech charges? i want a heavier duty suspension if im looking at carrying touring gear often enough

Steve_K · « **Reply #19 on:** January 10, 2013, 03:29:55 PM »

I have had RT emulators on a SV650 and 86 GSXR and they were the best thing I have done to a bike. Transformed the forks to act like a new cartridge fork. I also have Progressive springs in my 73 750 and I like that to.

BUT, the RT stuff made the Suzuki forks are much better. I also had aftermarket shocks that made bikes work great.

Suspension is fun to work with, and it pays to remember that spring preload is very important.
Steve

jason41987 · « **Reply #20 on:** January 10, 2013, 04:19:42 PM »

so race tech springs are the best solution for springs?.. are their emulators going to be any better than the mikes emulators or are they roughly the same product

Bluegreen · « **Reply #21 on:** January 11, 2013, 02:17:45 PM »

Quote from: jason41987 on January 10, 2013, 04:19:42 PM

so race tech springs are the best solution for springs?.. are their emulators going to be any better than the mikes emulators or are they roughly the same product

By the looks of things they are the exact same product. The difference being with the RT emulators you have more chemises with the spring on the emulator itself. That being said, I'm happy with MikesSX emulators.

jason41987 · « **Reply #22 on:** January 11, 2013, 04:56:18 PM »

i just found a listing for sonic brand straight springs... now.. correct me if im wrong but the honda CB750s of the same years had 35mm fork tubes too, like the CB550s... sonic springs has 74-78 CB750 springs of a heigher kg/mm than CB550 springs... could i use these in my CB550 forks?... theyll give me the heavier duty front suspension im looking for with the .90kg/mm springs... could i just cut a link or two off these to make them fit with the mikes emulators?

RichDesmond · « **Reply #23 on:** January 11, 2013, 05:30:58 PM »

Quote from: jason41987 on January 11, 2013, 04:56:18 PM

i just found a listing for sonic brand straight springs... now.. correct me if im wrong but the honda CB750s of the same years had 35mm fork tubes too, like the CB550s... sonic springs has 74-78 CB750 springs of a heigher kg/mm than CB550 springs... could i use these in my CB550 forks?... theyll give me the heavier duty front suspension im looking for with the .90kg/mm springs... could i just cut a link or two off these to make them fit with the mikes emulators?

Yes, the 750 and 550 use the same springs. They'll work fine with the emulators, no need to cut the springs. You'll just adjust the spacer length to accommodate them.

jason41987 · « **Reply #24 on:** January 11, 2013, 07:06:38 PM »

ok then... does anyone know if these $80 fork springs sold by sonic springs are per set, or per spring?

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Author Topic: cartridge fork emulators and progressive springs? (Read 8778 times)