Tax Time = Mod time!!

This is the only time a year I can really piss away money on the Duc. And with that said this year is going to be the year I concentrate on suspension work.

I've got a '95 900ss/cr. With 20K+ on the clock. I need to know what to do with my front forks. They bottom out at the first sight of bump and I can't even think about going hard into a corner!! It's pretty sad.

Now, I'm no 'Ricky Racer', so I don't need to do a complete fork conversion, I just need something that I'll feel confident in riding. Something that works well for hard street riding and an occasional track day. I was planning on sending my forks off to Lindemann Engineering. But thats 550 bucks! And I'm... well.. cheap!! Would a simple gold valve job be good enough? Or should I just suck it up and go for the LE job, Or do you guys have any other ideas, for under 500 bucks!!

Thanks for any ideas you guys have!!

do gold valves and springs rated for your weight. if you do the work yourself, it's still plenty cheap compared to $550 from what i understand.

You can prolly get the springs and fiddle with the fork oil but dunno about doing the gold valves on the SS/CR forks. Depending on the type of non-adjustible forks you have (Showa or Marzocchi), it may or may not be able to be re-valved. If you can do it, Strati's got the best bang for the buck.

For a bit more $$$, you could get a set of used fully adustible Showas that come OEM on the SS/SP bikes & do the gold valves/springs.

The difference will be night and day!

marzocchi are non valve-able. heavier springs - 0.8 or 0.85 probably - and 10wt oil. if not step up to the showas.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by brad black &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">marzocchi are non valve-able. heavier springs - 0.8 or 0.85 probably - and 10wt oil. if not step up to the showas.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The 95's have Showas, so you can change the valving. You might check with the various Race Tech-authorized shops for a price on Gold Valves, springs, and oil change. In my experience, you should be able to get that work done for around $400. If you don't have anyone locally, I recommend a shop here in Ohio -- Meccanica Corse -- that does my racebike work.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Wounded Duc &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The 95's have Showas, so you can change the valving. You might check with the various Race Tech-authorized shops for a price on Gold Valves, springs, and oil change. In my experience, you should be able to get that work done for around $400. If you don't have anyone locally, I recommend a shop here in Ohio -- Meccanica Corse -- that does my racebike work.

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400 Bucks?? That's not bad!! From sourcing out parts, it looks like it would cost me 300 bucks in parts alone! (Like I said before.. I'm cheap!!) For anyone who has tried this one themselves.. Do I need a fork spring compressor tool? or is there a widget I can make out of a beer can, some rubberbands, and a roll of duc tape, that will do the same thing?

One more thing.. While I'm in there.. Would I want to replace the seals and bushings as well?

Yes - they are very cheap and easy to replace once the forks are apart. If you have a shop do the fork work for you they will replace seals/bushing as standard procedure.

I have priced respringing and revalving my forks at GMD computrak and BCM and your $550 is right on par. If your planning on doing track days I wouldn't chince on the suspension since its going to cost you a lot more than your initial investment to restore your bike after a low side because of less than precise settings and materials. I like to wrench as much as the next guy but the crucial stuff I still leave up to the experts. Just my 2 cents.

I'm putting all of my tax return toward a new 05 800 SS.

That makes me exactly 36 dollars closer to having it paid off... lmao, taxes are so screwed up.

Dont moan about tax!

Here in Germany from the 3400euro i earn i get to take 1900 home every month!

Now that sucks! Hvaing said that, it includes healthcare and unemployment suport. But ist still more than double what i pais in the UK for the same thing!

Chris

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hoythuntin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I was planning on sending my forks off to Lindemann Engineering. But thats 550 bucks!!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Check that.. This week, It's now 600 bucks!! I guess I shouldn't wait any longer huh?

My Superbike fork conversion cost

Forks $280.00
Front fender 25.00
machined sleave for axle 30.00
Cycle Cat tripple clamp + clip ons 500.00 ish
Total $835.00 (give or take a few$$)

Sold old forks + 100.00
sold old fender + 25
My cost $710.00

Take the cost of cycle cat goodies out $210.00
Soemthing to think about

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hoythuntin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It's now 600 bucks!! I guess I shouldn't wait any longer huh?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I had Lindemann do my forks back in 2001 and back then it was only $350 (plus $400 for TiN coating but that's another story). And it's well worth it, even at $600. You might want to call Jim Lindemann and discuss your forks. That $600 fork job is his top of the line job. You really only need springs, valving, and proper assembly. Maybe that would cost a lot less??? I know he uses new seals so that he can guarantee his work. That's one advantage of having him do it; a full guarantee.

Let me just say that the difference is night and day. My forks react to the smallest road surface imperfections, yet when I see a huge bump approaching I just smile and smack it full force. The forks are amazing with the proper springs, proper valving which matches the spring, and careful assembly.

I'm sure you could do it yourself but suspension experts have the tools and know-how. They do this type of work every day. Their facility is probably spotless. You'll know the job was done correctly. I think that's worth a couple hundred more, but then that's just my $0.02...

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DanST4 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I had Lindemann do my forks back in 2001 and back then it was only $350 ..</TD></TR></TABLE>

It was still around $350 last year if I remember correctly.

But, That's OK, I've had an interesting change of events here.. A buddy of mine had a truck pull out in front of him last year, and totaled out his awesome SS/CR



He has most of his bike (or whats left of it) in a couple of boxes. And since he took his insurance money and got an SS/SP. He no longer needs his forks that he had just sent off the LE less than two years ago.

Long story short, He's selling me his forks for a song. And even if we find out they are bent, I can swap out the internals and have a shop here in Madison, set me up for less than a 1/3 of what LE would charge.