I've got to replace a fork seal on my Bonneville SE sometime before mot, and am wondering about fitting a pair or emulators while I'm about it. Got progressive springs but they aren't much of a solution to the damping issues. YSS ones available from TEC or Squaredeals are the ones I've earmarked. Anyone used them? Opinions? Thanks.......
Not on my Thruxton, but I fitted some to my previous bike, an SV650, which had pretty basic level forks. They did make a world of difference. As I recall, the manufacturer did recommend that progressive are not used at the same time (don't know why...). As an aside, fork springs are there to regulate how much movement there is in the fork, damping is there to regulate how quickly movement happens (compresson and rebound), so they have completely different jobs. Set your static sag first, then adjust your damping for comfort and controllability.
I haven't yet but it has been recommended for the Nightstorm so I am considering it when I get the lottery win (I'll get the rear done too)
Exactly so. Biggest headache is big bumps when the fork can't respond. Don't want to shag about with different oil viscosities or trying to be a cheapskate and start knocking holes into the damper rod. Adjusting those emulators isn't easy, but for an 865 Bonnie near enough is likely to be good enough. Thanks
That was the problem on my Thruxton which has big fat Showas with lots of adjustments, but I had to replace the fork oil for a much lighter grade. The grade ratings they use on fork oil is completely random... one manufacturers 5W can be thicker than anothers 10W. Have a read of this (quite technical) webpage:https://www.peterverdone.com/archive/lowspeed.htm
Not emulators but Ricor intiminators were what I fitted to my 865 forks along with much thinner viscosity oil and additional preload to set Sag. Well worth the invested time required to instal them correctly.
I put some Race Tech Gold Valve emulators in my '97 Buell ( with standard forks), made a world of difference , went from very harsh to smoother more compliant ride. I also had my rear shock rebuilt by Race Tech, also a great improvement.
