Race Tech Springs Spacer Length
 

For anybody who has installed Race Tech springs and followed the instructions for calculating the spacer length, do you remember how long/tall your spacer is?

Mine were cut to 75mm
Here's the thread
https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...ad.php?t=14049
I'm 155 lbs, the adjusters are 3/4 in, maybe 80mm is a good starting point

gboezio;

Thanks for the info and the link. I appreciate it. I got my springs today and haven't pulled the fork caps yet. When you say 80% in, do you remember how many lines you're showing on the preload? Do you remember what preload you were using with the OEM springs? I'm just 5-7 lbs. lighter than you and my new springs are .85 as well. I figure what works for you will be pretty close to what I'm looking for. Thanks again.

I have to fly to work, but I'll check tonight. Before I was all the way in and SAG at 50 % travel:shock:
Here's an old pic of my adjusters and forks, black marker was my SAG height
Attachment 30848
Attachment 30849

Don't trust consistency between spring sets. Consistency between the individual springs in a set is fine, but one batch to another or one stiffness to another they can vary. Start with removing the fork caps and loosening the 14mm nut holding the cap/rebound rod assembly. Unscrew the cap and remove it and the rod. Remove the old spring, spacer, and washers. I personally only use a single flat washer between the spring and the spacer and reuse the self-centering washer between the top of the spring and the locknut.

For cutting the spacer there is a series of measurements that you can do to figure out how long it must be to get 15mm internal preload. That's the complicated way. RT gives you enough material to use a little extra and just make two cuts.

First, set the preload adjuster so the 4th line is just showing. Now cut a spacer 20mm longer than the combined length of the stock spring + spacer minus the length of the new spring. Make sure and debur all cuts on the spacer. Sandpaper to smooth it and liberal use of brake cleaner to clean it works well. Use a telescoping magnet tool to reach down and grab the rebound rod to pull it up. It will have dropped down into the fork. Install the spring, flat washer, spacer, and centering washer. Set the rebound adjuster so the bottom of the slot is just flush with the preload adjuster and the dot lines up with the arrow. Now insert the rebound rod and cap. Thread the locknut all the way down on the rebound rod. Now start threading the cap on. When there is resistance that means the rebound needle is seated on its seat. Now loosely tighten the locknut.

Now is when you take measurements. Extend the fork all the way and measure the distance between the top of the fork tube and the bottom of the lip on the fork cap. You're aiming for 15mm. This is the internal preload. Say you measure 26mm here. Subtract 15mm and that tells you how much you have to cut off the spacer. Now disassemble the fork again down to the spacer and make the second cut. Reinstall everything as above and tighten the locknut firmly. The fork cap does not need to be torqued. It can be snug as well.

For the second fork you can measure the first spacer and use that length.

Don't forget to reset your rebound damping.

Greg;

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to do it as you described this week end.

I think you are dead right about not trusting consistency between spring sets. Example;

I took some measurements from the photo gboezio posted above, took the same measurements on my bike, and adjusted for his photo size. I figure he had a good 60mm of sag in that photo. My stock front has about 48mm and that's with less preload than he was using. We weigh about the same. That tells me either our springs didn't start out the same or his were worn out.

Another thing I'm thinking about- using the method to determine spacer length for 15mm internal preload, gboezio and some others I've found on the web came up with 74-76mm. Since the RT spring is 30mm longer than stock (340 vs. 310), using only a 25mm shorter than stock spacer means free length of spring/spacer is actually greater than stock. With a heavier spring, that seems counter intuitive to me. I guess I'll find out how it works for me when I do it.

Keep in mind that stock VTR forks do not have 15mm preload. It's less than that. So that's why I said to add 20mm of length on the first cut. After trying to calculate the length using RT's method I found that it's too complicated, too time consuming, and too much room for error. You'd probably end up cutting the spacer a second time anyway, which is why I like the method I described above. It's accurate and really doesn't take that long.

Got it Greg. I'm doing it your way. Thanks again.

Yeah, it's better to cut it a tad longer, I fell a bit on the short side to get my 25mm SAG I'm using 2/3 to 3/4 of the adjustment so not much room for beer and chips :D

Another easy trick if your afraid of messing it up the first time is to make spacers from some cheap PVC tubing from a Lowes or Home Depot.... you can cut a whole bunch of various lengths real easy and fast if you have a chop saw, or miter box... test fit them, and once you get the length you need, cut your steel spacers once.

J.

I have just used for like 8 years the PVC pipe I cut for preload spacers rather than the RT steel tubing. PVC is strong enough and its wall thickness provides larger bearing surface area than thin wall steel tubing. I is the flat washers RT provides above and below the spacers for tweaking preload. The metal decal at the top of my fork caps came off years ago so I just center punched a dot to index the rebound rod slot. When I adjust rebound, I thread the rod it until it gently seats and back off each rod the same degree of turns.

Infact the stock 2005 CBR 1000RR forks use a PVC or similar plastic spacer... I was a bit surprised...:)

Thanks for the advice and tips, guys. +1 on the PVC. I used it when I resprung my Interceptor years ago and it's still fine. I just want to be as clear headed about the best way to proceed before I start. I'd been toying with the idea of taking a best guestimate on spacer length and just popping it in there, but after reading Greg's instructions above see it only takes a couple of extra minutes to measure. I'd also been hoping to get the best possible front end response and keep the front/rear attitude I like without having to raise the tubes, but the more I read and think about it, the more it seems I'll have to raise them.

I'm working Seroj's forks tomorrow. If you'd like I'll take some pics and do a step-by-step and put it in the knowledge base.

That's a great idea. Save you having to explain it a hundred more times. And everybody loves pictures.