Suspension Upgrade

[Aussieflyer]

My bike received new suspension as a gift for Christmas - Santa was right 'on the money' this year!



He must have been watching when I took this photo of how much travel is being used on the front end from a reasonably spirited ride through the local hills.



With the front end using all of its travel the only thing left to absorb those nasty bumps is the front tyre. It became somewhat 'stepped' and a bit worn on the right side 'cos of the camber of the road. This tyre was finished well before 9,000 km.



With a few buddies around to watch, drink beer and heckle whilst I spun some spanners the suspension upgrade got started.
First step is remove the handlebars, wheel, guard etc. and crack open the damper rod bolt in the bottom of each fork. Best to drain the oil into a container and not all over the floor - 1st bout of serious laughter from my observers!



Then drop the front end and separate the fork assemblies.



Now the tricky bit of removing the valving from the bottom of each stanchion. These little suckers were hard to get out as I only had access to a dremel tool and hand file. Got to grind away the rolled edge of the stanchion until you see the inner sleeve of the valve assembly then punch it out from the other end. As it began emerging from the stanchion it separated into several pieces and the smaller components flew out at a great rate of knots hitting the garage ceiling causing me to duck for cover - 2nd bout of serious laughter.





Now clean up all the components (bushes, stanchion and fork bottom) to get out all those pesky little filings. Reassemble the forks with new fork seals minus the valving component. I used the same bushes as they are less than 10,000km and not worn.

The Andreani cartridges have 0.94kg/mm springs which may be a little 'heavy' for my weight and application (no track work). As you can see below the cartridge assembly is slightly shorter in overall length to the original spring/spacer/damper rod assembly.



There's a good youtube video showing this modification (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV80or1DN1Q) so I won't go into all the details just a few of the highlights.

Inserting the new cartridge and locking it in with the damper rod bolt and copper washer was easy 'cos it didn't spin when being tightened. Next you remove the fork cap, spacer and spring from the inserted cartridge. Then dry fit just the fork cap to the cartridge to set its depth by winding in the damper adjuster 4 turns such that it fully closes the internal damper valve in the cartridge - same for both the compression and rebound sides. Wind up the lock nut to the base of the fork cap and slide up the 'O' ring to hold it in position. Now remove the fork cap and fill the fork tube with fluid. Using my trusty 2mm 'T' handle hex key and some plastic tubing with a syringe I made a depth gauge. Remove excess fluid to leave a 125mm air gap with the stanchion bottomed out in the fork lower. Slip on the spring and spacer and now the fun bit of trying to compress it all such that you can wind on the fork cap to where it meets the lock nut which was pre-set earlier. Much fumbling, spilling of fork oil and cursing to get the fork cap on - 3rd bout of serious laughter from the peanut gallery who were fast approaching ex-buddy status!



Now just put it all back together. I put on a set of Metzeler Z8 Interacts which are available in Australia in the correct sizes ... ah, don't you just love the smell of new rubber!



Those Andreani fork caps have a serious amount of 'bling' going on. I'd prefer something a little more subtle if there was a choice.



Everyone's seen how to install the rear shocks so here is a pic of the Gazi units hooked up and ready for preload and damping adjustment. Those decals may just have to come off!



Initial suspension settings per manufacturer's recommendations are ...
Forks:
preload - 4 turns in from fully out
compression damping - 2 turns out from closed,
rebound damping - 2 turns out from closed.
Rear shocks:
preload - 1cm compressed from fully extended to give 45mm sag,
compression - 5 clicks out from closed,
rebound - 10 clicks out from closed.

New suspension needs to do 1000km before the seals are 'worn in' and they work smoothly with minimum stiction. On my initial ride everything felt way too harsh which is a factor of me being used to the original suspension and the new suspension manufacturer's 'racing' application recommended settings. I also used Motul 10wt fork oil as the recommended OHLINS fluid was not available ... perhaps 5wt might be the better choice. Anyways, a little twiddling of the damping settings made for a very nice ride over the local bumpy roads. Revised settings as follows ...

Forks:
preload - 2 turns in from fully out
compression damping - 3.5 turns out from closed,
rebound damping - 3 turns out from closed.
Rear shocks:
preload - 1cm compressed from fully extended,
compression - 8 clicks out from closed,
rebound - 10 clicks out from closed.

Riding the same roads but at a slightly reduced pace (respecting the fresh rubber) resulted in a 20% reduction in front end travel and much better absorption of the sharp edged bumps (high speed dampening).



Santa must have invested heavily in these gifts but I can say they are great value. The improvement is already quite dramatic and it's only going to get better when they wear in and I've 'tweaked' the settings.

[Cormanus]

Great report, AussieFlier. I’d have thought by guffaw no.3 the buddies were not only soon to be ex, but also p*ssed.

[Guth_imp]

Very nice contribution. Well done.

[Frulk_imp]

AF. Tell me about those boots in the pictures please.

[Aussieflyer]

AF. Tell me about those boots in the pictures please.

Santa at work again ...

They are Gaerne GP1 which are a race oriented boot ... not the right style for the CB11 but perfect for my old ('04) R6 track bike. What was that Springsteen song ... Glory Days!!

[noroomtomove]

Good work from Santa 'on the money' , and nice work on your suspension modifications.

I find your modification response to a real world on the road perception enlightened.

Hope to catch up before the days get to cool & short.

Regards
NRTM

[jedd_imp]

My bike received new suspension as a gift for Christmas - Santa was right 'on the money' this year!



He must have been watching when I took this photo of how much travel is being used on the front end from a reasonably spirited ride through the local hills.



With the front end using all of its travel the only thing left to absorb those nasty bumps is the front tyre. It became somewhat 'stepped' and a bit worn on the right side 'cos of the camber of the road. This tyre was finished well before 9,000 km.



With a few buddies around to watch, drink beer and heckle whilst I spun some spanners the suspension upgrade got started.
First step is remove the handlebars, wheel, guard etc. and crack open the damper rod bolt in the bottom of each fork. Best to drain the oil into a container and not all over the floor - 1st bout of serious laughter from my observers!



Then drop the front end and separate the fork assemblies.



Now the tricky bit of removing the valving from the bottom of each stanchion. These little suckers were hard to get out as I only had access to a dremel tool and hand file. Got to grind away the rolled edge of the stanchion until you see the inner sleeve of the valve assembly then punch it out from the other end. As it began emerging from the stanchion it separated into several pieces and the smaller components flew out at a great rate of knots hitting the garage ceiling causing me to duck for cover - 2nd bout of serious laughter.





Now clean up all the components (bushes, stanchion and fork bottom) to get out all those pesky little filings. Reassemble the forks with new fork seals minus the valving component. I used the same bushes as they are less than 10,000km and not worn.

The Andreani cartridges have 0.94kg/mm springs which may be a little 'heavy' for my weight and application (no track work). As you can see below the cartridge assembly is slightly shorter in overall length to the original spring/spacer/damper rod assembly.



There's a good youtube video showing this modification (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV80or1DN1Q) so I won't go into all the details just a few of the highlights.

Inserting the new cartridge and locking it in with the damper rod bolt and copper washer was easy 'cos it didn't spin when being tightened. Next you remove the fork cap, spacer and spring from the inserted cartridge. Then dry fit just the fork cap to the cartridge to set its depth by winding in the damper adjuster 4 turns such that it fully closes the internal damper valve in the cartridge - same for both the compression and rebound sides. Wind up the lock nut to the base of the fork cap and slide up the 'O' ring to hold it in position. Now remove the fork cap and fill the fork tube with fluid. Using my trusty 2mm 'T' handle hex key and some plastic tubing with a syringe I made a depth gauge. Remove excess fluid to leave a 125mm air gap with the stanchion bottomed out in the fork lower. Slip on the spring and spacer and now the fun bit of trying to compress it all such that you can wind on the fork cap to where it meets the lock nut which was pre-set earlier. Much fumbling, spilling of fork oil and cursing to get the fork cap on - 3rd bout of serious laughter from the peanut gallery who were fast approaching ex-buddy status!



Now just put it all back together. I put on a set of Metzeler Z8 Interacts which are available in Australia in the correct sizes ... ah, don't you just love the smell of new rubber!



Those Andreani fork caps have a serious amount of 'bling' going on. I'd prefer something a little more subtle if there was a choice.



Everyone's seen how to install the rear shocks so here is a pic of the Gazi units hooked up and ready for preload and damping adjustment. Those decals may just have to come off!



Initial suspension settings per manufacturer's recommendations are ...
Forks:
preload - 4 turns in from fully out
compression damping - 2 turns out from closed,
rebound damping - 2 turns out from closed.
Rear shocks:
preload - 1cm compressed from fully extended to give 45mm sag,
compression - 5 clicks out from closed,
rebound - 10 clicks out from closed.

New suspension needs to do 1000km before the seals are 'worn in' and they work smoothly with minimum stiction. On my initial ride everything felt way too harsh which is a factor of me being used to the original suspension and the new suspension manufacturer's 'racing' application recommended settings. I also used Motul 10wt fork oil as the recommended OHLINS fluid was not available ... perhaps 5wt might be the better choice. Anyways, a little twiddling of the damping settings made for a very nice ride over the local bumpy roads. Revised settings as follows ...

Forks:
preload - 2 turns in from fully out
compression damping - 3.5 turns out from closed,
rebound damping - 3 turns out from closed.
Rear shocks:
preload - 1cm compressed from fully extended,
compression - 8 clicks out from closed,
rebound - 10 clicks out from closed.

Riding the same roads but at a slightly reduced pace (respecting the fresh rubber) resulted in a 20% reduction in front end travel and much better absorption of the sharp edged bumps (high speed dampening).



Santa must have invested heavily in these gifts but I can say they are great value. The improvement is already quite dramatic and it's only going to get better when they wear in and I've 'tweaked' the settings.

Is this the area (in red) that you filed off?




also, did you buy the ariana inserts on ebay?
That's the only place I've seen them sold at...

also, your write up and pics are fantastic! ThX for posting this.

[Ulvetanna_imp]

Huge upgrade.

Hopefully the EX will already be in the ballpark in this regard.

[tory_imp]

Look good, Thanks for sharing.

[Aussieflyer]

My bike received new suspension as a gift for Christmas - Santa was right 'on the money' this year!



He must have been watching when I took this photo of how much travel is being used on the front end from a reasonably spirited ride through the local hills.



With the front end using all of its travel the only thing left to absorb those nasty bumps is the front tyre. It became somewhat 'stepped' and a bit worn on the right side 'cos of the camber of the road. This tyre was finished well before 9,000 km.



With a few buddies around to watch, drink beer and heckle whilst I spun some spanners the suspension upgrade got started.
First step is remove the handlebars, wheel, guard etc. and crack open the damper rod bolt in the bottom of each fork. Best to drain the oil into a container and not all over the floor - 1st bout of serious laughter from my observers!



Then drop the front end and separate the fork assemblies.



Now the tricky bit of removing the valving from the bottom of each stanchion. These little suckers were hard to get out as I only had access to a dremel tool and hand file. Got to grind away the rolled edge of the stanchion until you see the inner sleeve of the valve assembly then punch it out from the other end. As it began emerging from the stanchion it separated into several pieces and the smaller components flew out at a great rate of knots hitting the garage ceiling causing me to duck for cover - 2nd bout of serious laughter.





Now clean up all the components (bushes, stanchion and fork bottom) to get out all those pesky little filings. Reassemble the forks with new fork seals minus the valving component. I used the same bushes as they are less than 10,000km and not worn.

The Andreani cartridges have 0.94kg/mm springs which may be a little 'heavy' for my weight and application (no track work). As you can see below the cartridge assembly is slightly shorter in overall length to the original spring/spacer/damper rod assembly.



There's a good youtube video showing this modification (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV80or1DN1Q) so I won't go into all the details just a few of the highlights.

Inserting the new cartridge and locking it in with the damper rod bolt and copper washer was easy 'cos it didn't spin when being tightened. Next you remove the fork cap, spacer and spring from the inserted cartridge. Then dry fit just the fork cap to the cartridge to set its depth by winding in the damper adjuster 4 turns such that it fully closes the internal damper valve in the cartridge - same for both the compression and rebound sides. Wind up the lock nut to the base of the fork cap and slide up the 'O' ring to hold it in position. Now remove the fork cap and fill the fork tube with fluid. Using my trusty 2mm 'T' handle hex key and some plastic tubing with a syringe I made a depth gauge. Remove excess fluid to leave a 125mm air gap with the stanchion bottomed out in the fork lower. Slip on the spring and spacer and now the fun bit of trying to compress it all such that you can wind on the fork cap to where it meets the lock nut which was pre-set earlier. Much fumbling, spilling of fork oil and cursing to get the fork cap on - 3rd bout of serious laughter from the peanut gallery who were fast approaching ex-buddy status!



Now just put it all back together. I put on a set of Metzeler Z8 Interacts which are available in Australia in the correct sizes ... ah, don't you just love the smell of new rubber!



Those Andreani fork caps have a serious amount of 'bling' going on. I'd prefer something a little more subtle if there was a choice.



Everyone's seen how to install the rear shocks so here is a pic of the Gazi units hooked up and ready for preload and damping adjustment. Those decals may just have to come off!



Initial suspension settings per manufacturer's recommendations are ...
Forks:
preload - 4 turns in from fully out
compression damping - 2 turns out from closed,
rebound damping - 2 turns out from closed.
Rear shocks:
preload - 1cm compressed from fully extended to give 45mm sag,
compression - 5 clicks out from closed,
rebound - 10 clicks out from closed.

New suspension needs to do 1000km before the seals are 'worn in' and they work smoothly with minimum stiction. On my initial ride everything felt way too harsh which is a factor of me being used to the original suspension and the new suspension manufacturer's 'racing' application recommended settings. I also used Motul 10wt fork oil as the recommended OHLINS fluid was not available ... perhaps 5wt might be the better choice. Anyways, a little twiddling of the damping settings made for a very nice ride over the local bumpy roads. Revised settings as follows ...

Forks:
preload - 2 turns in from fully out
compression damping - 3.5 turns out from closed,
rebound damping - 3 turns out from closed.
Rear shocks:
preload - 1cm compressed from fully extended,
compression - 8 clicks out from closed,
rebound - 10 clicks out from closed.

Riding the same roads but at a slightly reduced pace (respecting the fresh rubber) resulted in a 20% reduction in front end travel and much better absorption of the sharp edged bumps (high speed dampening).



Santa must have invested heavily in these gifts but I can say they are great value. The improvement is already quite dramatic and it's only going to get better when they wear in and I've 'tweaked' the settings.

Is this the area (in red) that you filed off?




also, did you buy the ariana inserts on ebay?
That's the only place I've seen them sold at...

also, your write up and pics are fantastic! ThX for posting this.

Is this the area (in red) that you filed off?




also, did you buy the ariana inserts on ebay?
That's the only place I've seen them sold at...

also, your write up and pics are fantastic! ThX for posting this.
Hey there Jedd,

yes mate it's the red area. The entire end of the fork stanchion needs to be ground off so that the valve components can slide out from inside the stanchion tube.

I did buy the Andreani kit through eBay from Omnia Racing in Italy. They were easy to deal with, also quick to respond to my emails and delivery was sooner than expected. If you are thinking of buying from them they will ask for your weight and riding application so that they can determine the spring rate for your kit. If you already know what spring rate you want then it may be a good idea to request it as I think they err on the side of stiffer springs ... perhaps something to do with Andreani's racing heritage?

I've now done a few more Kms on the bike and found that a little less compression and rebound dampening (front and rear) has further improved the ride. With 20:20 hindsight it's crystal clear to me that 5 wt fork oil is a better choice than the 10wt I used. The Andreani's have been the single best investment (time and money) in this bike.

Huge upgrade.

Hopefully the EX will already be in the ballpark in this regard.

Perhaps ... if the EX's owner shared similar body weight, riding application and road surfaces with Honda's test rider in Japan. No chance of that happening for a typical Aussie middle-aged overweight bloke on typical Aussie bumpy country roads.