Thought I was done with the CB - trying again (forks)

[TCinNC_imp]

Has anyone tried lighter weight fork oil to free up the compression damping?

I’ll let you know here soon. I’ll be replacing the front tire and will also pull the forks and replace with 5W fork oil. I hope that helps with some of the harshness.

[Guth_imp]

DBM, the factory suspension on these bikes is much like the factory seats. For some the setup is too soft, for some too stiff, and for others it's just right. (I realize that there's a bit more to it than that, but hopefully you get the idea.) The lucky owners are those that are perfectly happy with the setup the way it comes from the factory.

ohiorider, I wish you luck in getting the final bit of tuning performed to your liking. The beauty of your approach with the emulators is the adjustability that they provide. Even if you end up deciding to sell the bike, you'll have a front end suspension that can be dialed in for other riders of varying weights, riding styles and road conditions. None of the factory options for these bikes can make that claim.

I installed emulators in my Hawk GT forks and had I kept the bike I imagine that I would have done a bit more tweaking with the variables available to me. But the guy who I sold the bike to thought it was set up perfectly and wasn't planning on changing a thing. To each their own.

[Aussieflyer]

Hey there DBM, just a few thoughts regarding 5wt fork oil ...
It will allow more dive under brakes and for a generally ‘soft’ feel over the little bumps and undulations.
Your rebound will be a bit faster, maybe too fast, giving the front a slightly bouncy feel.
I went the other way with heavier(15wt) fluid to get a better feeling front end but due to fork design it will never have a good response to all types of bumps. As Guth rightly points out it’s a compromise for your weight, roads and riding style. Good luck with the mods, I look forward to hearing how you get on with it.

[ohiorider_imp]

Today, installed the oem damper rod I had drilled out per Race Tech's specs (six 5/16" holes in each damper rod.)

We then exchanged the middle weight Race Tech Valve (RTV) springs for the lightest. These control when the valve will open under a hard bump.
Removed the .90 weight fork springs, replaced them with Race Tech's .80 weight springs.
Running Honda 10w fork oil, 150mm below top of fork tubes when they're compressed with springs out.

May have gone a bit light on the compression damping, but the front end definitely does not beat me up with this configuration.

I want to put several hundred miles on this configuration before making any additional changes or adjustments.

I took the CB over a nearby road with lots of frost heaves and irregular patches, and the change was remarkable. May want to go one weight lighter on the Ikon rear shock springs.

Bob

[Guth_imp]

Sounds like you're getting there ohiorider, that's awesome.

[PowerDubs_imp]

Glad to hear you are getting improvements for your efforts!

[ohiorider_imp]

Josh, really sorry to read about your current non-riding condition! Best wishes for a quick and uneventful recovery.

RE the front forks .......... took her out for over 150 miles since doing the recent work, and she is worlds better! Good news is .... I may have FINALLY gone a bit to the too-soft side. Granted, our bikes don't have a lot of fork travel, so there's only so much we can do.

Dang cage drivers, anyway!

Best wishes,

Bob

[DBM_imp]

Does anyone have a picture or illistration showing the 2014 damper rods? Im thinking about drilling the compression holes slightly bigger, and running 15 wt. fork oil with the spring preload full stiff. This should free up the compression to help with the harshness on bumps and slow down the rebound to control the stiff spring setting. Which holes are the compression control and which holes are the rebound control?

[ohiorider_imp]

Comfort- jarring hits on pot holes, expansion cracks, etc.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Does anyone have a picture or illistration showing the 2014 damper rods? Im thinking about drilling the compression holes slightly bigger, and running 15 wt. fork oil with the spring preload full stiff. This should free up the compression to help with the harshness on bumps and slow down the rebound to control the stiff spring setting. Which holes are the compression control and which holes are the rebound control?

Didn't take any pics of the oem damper rods when they were out of the bike. Maybe this info will help.
The stock rods each have four holes of 1/4" diameter drilled in them. The very bottom pair are slightly over the top of the small caps that fit on the rods. The second set of two holes are roughly an inch above the bottom ones, and at 90 degrees to them.

Before installing the Race Tech valves, they recommended enlarging the 4 existing holes in each rod to 5/16" diameter, and adding two additional 5/16" holes above those. However, they said nothing about which of these holes were for compression or for rebound.

They simply said that by enlarging the existing holes and adding two more per rod, the damping rod would no longer have any control over compression damping. This would now be handled by the Race Tech valves.

They go further and state that fork oil weight (once the RT valves are installed and dampers drilled) will have little if any effect on compression damping, but that heavier fork oil will increase rebound damping.

You might want to talk with Race Tech technical dept. They spent phone time with me that helped me get the bike to where I now actually enjoy riding it.

NOTE: My post is in no way suggesting you simply enlarge or drill more holes in your damper rods. I'm simply relating what I learned installing the Race Tech valves.

Bob

[dave]

I just replaced the forks on my 2014 Dlx for 2017 CB1100 Dual Bending Valve (DBV) forks. Got about 20 miles on it and there is a definite improvement. I felt every bump in the road with the stock forks, and the DBV forks makes the small bumps almost disappear. The DBV forks have significantly less dive under braking, and corning (moderate speed sweeper on a freeway entrance) seems improved also. A no-hassle installation.