06-25-2018, 10:42 AM
Let me post this first. I weigh 162#, possibly 170-175# with boots, helmet, and jacket, and ride the bike solo 100% of the time.
I've had issues with the stiffness of the front forks on my 2014 'black' CB since day one. On semi-decent roads, it's fine. On many of our winter-damaged secondary roads, it is extremely brutal.
I initially purchased Ikon rear shocks which helped the suspension problem at that end. Also purchased a kit from another company that included a modified spring, damper rod, and Race Tech emulator valves. Did no good for me. Changed out the fork springs from 1.00 rated to .90 rated (softer) springs. Only slight improvement.
I decided to contact Race Tech. Their phone tech was a wealth of information, as was their documentation about mods that could be made to the Race Tech Gold valves.
There are various springs available that control when the RTG valve will open when a square edge bump is encountered. There are various preload adjustments that can be made to the RTG valve springs (don't confuse with fork spring preload.) There are accommodations for additional bleed holes to be drilled in the RTG valve body.
With all these options available to me, along with excellent phone support from Race Tech, I'm taking another pass at making the front suspension of my CB 1100 be 'all it can be.' We drilled the valve bodies this evening, adding two bleed holes to each valve, and will change the valve spring preload before installing them tomorrow.
There had to be a reason the the 2017 CB came from the factory with Showa Dual Bending Valve forks. One of our forum members swapped his original forks for these, with good results, as I recall. I'm hoping that with a bit more work, I'll be able to make the forks function as I'd like them to, so I can enjoy riding my 2014 CB on many of our scenic but less than smooth roads. Wish me luck!
Bob
I've had issues with the stiffness of the front forks on my 2014 'black' CB since day one. On semi-decent roads, it's fine. On many of our winter-damaged secondary roads, it is extremely brutal.
I initially purchased Ikon rear shocks which helped the suspension problem at that end. Also purchased a kit from another company that included a modified spring, damper rod, and Race Tech emulator valves. Did no good for me. Changed out the fork springs from 1.00 rated to .90 rated (softer) springs. Only slight improvement.
I decided to contact Race Tech. Their phone tech was a wealth of information, as was their documentation about mods that could be made to the Race Tech Gold valves.
There are various springs available that control when the RTG valve will open when a square edge bump is encountered. There are various preload adjustments that can be made to the RTG valve springs (don't confuse with fork spring preload.) There are accommodations for additional bleed holes to be drilled in the RTG valve body.
With all these options available to me, along with excellent phone support from Race Tech, I'm taking another pass at making the front suspension of my CB 1100 be 'all it can be.' We drilled the valve bodies this evening, adding two bleed holes to each valve, and will change the valve spring preload before installing them tomorrow.
There had to be a reason the the 2017 CB came from the factory with Showa Dual Bending Valve forks. One of our forum members swapped his original forks for these, with good results, as I recall. I'm hoping that with a bit more work, I'll be able to make the forks function as I'd like them to, so I can enjoy riding my 2014 CB on many of our scenic but less than smooth roads. Wish me luck!
Bob