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The ultimate (cheap) farkle? Fork spring mod

greg.m784

greg.m784

Street Cruiser
Thanks to (I think) TurboJoe78.

I think it was Joe, not sure.  I was talking about getting new springs.  He mentioned he liked the stock springs with 4" lopped off and a spacer in it's place.

WOW.  She feels like an entirely different bike. 

I picked up some Maxima 15w oil today, and located a stick of 3/4" PVC.

I pulled the forks, and removed the springs, got them draining while i carefully cut off 4" from the tight wound end.  I then cut 2 4" pieces of 3/4" PVC.  I washed the springs and plastic, filled the forks with 5.8125" (5 13/16") of 15w fork oil, and put everything back together.

Right off the bat, the massive droop it had when sitting on it is GONE.  It now settles about 1" (not measured, just watched, will measure soon).  I took it for a .5 mile ride (it's 11pm and i'm tired) and it rides quite a bit higher, doesn't dive on the brakes, and feels much less nose heavy than it did. 

THANK YOU!

For the cost of a quart of oil, it is a different bike.  Oh ya, and the fork oil that came out was disgusting.  Smelt nasty, and was dirty.  I may flush the fluid again in a few thousand miles if i think of it.  I'm sure it hasn't been touched in 15 years.

 
Oh ya, and i'm back at the 5th line on my preload adjusters.  I was hiding all the lines trying to get some spring in this thing!
 
Good idea.  I'll put it on my pre-season punch list.  Thx.  I'll ride on this fluid over the winter.  It'll probably come out looking just like the stuff i just drained!
 
Not sure yet, but maybe tonight, we'll head out on a ride to find out. 

Saturday we're heading to Virginia City via 88/395, so that will definitely tell me how she works. :)
 
Cool, I know before I swapped front ends, I upgraded the springs and installed a fork brace, and the combination took most of the "flexiness" out of the front end.  Installing the ZX9 front end removed the rest  ;D
 
Greg said:
Not sure yet, but maybe tonight, we'll head out on a ride to find out. 

Saturday we're heading to Virginia City via 88/395, so that will definitely tell me how she works. :)
Click to expand...

When you come roaring down the hill on 88 going east (more north than east), there is a 100mph left hand sweeper that will give you the ultimate test:

2946526080053667879S600x600Q85.jpg


Right where the "88" hiway number is.

Hope this helps.

Dan
 
Bergmen said:
Greg said:
Not sure yet, but maybe tonight, we'll head out on a ride to find out. 

Saturday we're heading to Virginia City via 88/395, so that will definitely tell me how she works. :)
Click to expand...

When you come roaring down the hill on 88 going east (more north than east), there is a 100mph left hand sweeper that will give you the ultimate test:

2946526080053667879S600x600Q85.jpg


Right where the "88" hiway number is.

Hope this helps.

Dan
Click to expand...

ETA to this section of road is 8:30am tomorrow. :)  looking forward to it.
 
stig said:
what is this about replacing the front end with one from a zx9. is that possible..does it work..are there any downsides?
Click to expand...

It is definitely possible, and there are no down sides that I can tell, and I've been running it for about 10,000 miles.  From a difficulty standpoint, the ZX9 conversion is slightly more difficult, IMO, than the ZRX swap.  BTW, Willy's link is to the article on the ZRX swap.  There is no article (yet) for the ZX9 swap.  There was a thread on the old Fanatics forum where I went through all the steps required to do the conversion, but it was wiped out with the crash of that forum.  The conversion requires swapping the steering stem from the C10 to the ZX9 triple clamp, as well as some other machine work and minor fab work.  IMO, this conversion results in better handling and slightly better brakes than the ZRX swap, though either swap works really well.  I've ridden a C10 with a ZRX front end, and the ZX9 front end gives quicker steering with rock solid stability, due to the difference in steering geometry between the two.  The conversion results in the front of the motorcycle being lower by about an inch (as does the ZRX front end), but I haven't encountered any issues with this.  As with the ZRX front end swap, the ZX9 swap pretty much eliminates any noticeable torsional flex in the C10's front end, beyond what stiffer springs and a fork brace can do.  Here's some photos of my setup:

2891777950101812480S500x500Q85.jpg


2383754960101812480S500x500Q85.jpg
 
What a different riding bike.  We rode 2 up, almost 400 miles saturday.  Twisties, I-80, city roads, etc.  no more massive dive on the brakes, felt very sure footed with everything i put it thru.  We were loaded pretty heavy and it didn't complain one bit. 

I LOVE IT.
 
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