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

[ohiorider_imp]

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

[the Ferret]

Got love dogged determination lol

Hope everything works out for you

[chync_imp]

Got love dogged determination lol

Hope everything works out for you

Suspension really is the one thing in the bike that can be finely tuned to the nth degree and make a huge difference. I installed fully adjustable fork inserts with independent rebound and preload damping adjustments and I had to have it re-adjusted by the suspension guru I bought them from after I lost some weight. But it made a world of difference.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Banned_imp]

There has been at least 3 of us now that have put the 2017 forks on our CBs, well worth the money. Combined with the Ikon shocks my 2014 has been completely transformed.

[Cormanus]

Good luck Bob. Looking forward to hearing how it works out.

[Guth_imp]

I've determined that suspension is much like seats. What is too soft for one person is too stiff for the next guy and vice versa. On the Hawk GT that I just sold I had installed RaceTech's springs and Gold Valve emulators. I considered this setup to be fairly stiff and had I kept the bike I might have looked into switching over to lighter weight oil or even possibly drilling out the two additional bleed holes (as mentioned above). I informed the new owner about all of this when he came to pick up the bike. After he returned home in Idaho he contacted me to let me know that the bike had performed great and that he didn't want to change anything. He liked the fork setup just the way it was. Everyone is different. What's better for one person is not necessarily better for the next person.

Bob I certainly hope that you are able to get your forks setup to your satisfaction. The only correct setup is the one that makes you happy.

[cookiemech]

Bob - Have you ridden a 2017 to see how good/bad its suspension is? I also weigh 162 (before I suit up) and have yet to find fault with my EX at 2300 miles.

I hope the level of effort and $$ you're putting into the project works out this time! They're such pleasant bikes it's a shame not to enjoy them.

[Aussieflyer]

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

Awesome Bob, very interested to read about your project, please keep us updated.

FWIW I researched and invested in the exact same approach you are taking but ended up going with fully adjustable Andreani cartridge inserts.

The early CB front end is about as basic as you can get so there is a compromise between too plush on the smooth roads and too harsh on rough roads / sharp edged bumps. The OEM suspension design is always going to give that kind of result. For your weight the Racetech spring calculator specifies 0.80 - 0.85kg/mm, are you installing that spring or the 0.90?

There's been a few others on the forum who have installed the emulators and consensus of opinion is that drilling out at least one of the extra oil passages is required. The dampening rods also need to be drilled to ensure that there's no restriction of fluid thus allowing the emulator to do all the compression dampening. Hopefully you can use those pre-drilled dampening rods already purchased.

With this type of suspension the fork oil weight determines the rebound dampening rate (lighter weight = fast, and heavier weight = slow) but the compression dampening is a matter of adjusting the emulator valve spring tension. Either way there is some work to be done whilst you experiment to find the right dampening settings to suit you. Sorry if I'm telling you what you already know, just saying all this to reinforce that emulators are not usually a plug and play solution ... unless those knowledgeable chaps at Racetech have already set up a CB and can set you straight on all the variables

Good luck with the project.

[PowerDubs_imp]

Nothing wrong with trying different things and options.

If it doesn't work when you are done, I am sure you can find someone who wants a sportier ride to buy your modified forks- then you can put the 2017 forks on which are a quick easy swap, plug & play.

[beardyweirdy@me.com_imp]

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

Awesome Bob, very interested to read about your project, please keep us updated.

FWIW I researched and invested in the exact same approach you are taking but ended up going with fully adjustable Andreani cartridge inserts.

The early CB front end is about as basic as you can get so there is a compromise between too plush on the smooth roads and too harsh on rough roads / sharp edged bumps. The OEM suspension design is always going to give that kind of result. For your weight the Racetech spring calculator specifies 0.80 - 0.85kg/mm, are you installing that spring or the 0.90?

There's been a few others on the forum who have installed the emulators and consensus of opinion is that drilling out at least one of the extra oil passages is required. The dampening rods also need to be drilled to ensure that there's no restriction of fluid thus allowing the emulator to do all the compression dampening. Hopefully you can use those pre-drilled dampening rods already purchased.

With this type of suspension the fork oil weight determines the rebound dampening rate (lighter weight = fast, and heavier weight = slow) but the compression dampening is a matter of adjusting the emulator valve spring tension. Either way there is some work to be done whilst you experiment to find the right dampening settings to suit you. Sorry if I'm telling you what you already know, just saying all this to reinforce that emulators are not usually a plug and play solution ... unless those knowledgeable chaps at Racetech have already set up a CB and can set you straight on all the variables

Good luck with the project.

Awesome Bob, very interested to read about your project, please keep us updated.

FWIW I researched and invested in the exact same approach you are taking but ended up going with fully adjustable Andreani cartridge inserts.

The early CB front end is about as basic as you can get so there is a compromise between too plush on the smooth roads and too harsh on rough roads / sharp edged bumps. The OEM suspension design is always going to give that kind of result. For your weight the Racetech spring calculator specifies 0.80 - 0.85kg/mm, are you installing that spring or the 0.90?

There's been a few others on the forum who have installed the emulators and consensus of opinion is that drilling out at least one of the extra oil passages is required. The dampening rods also need to be drilled to ensure that there's no restriction of fluid thus allowing the emulator to do all the compression dampening. Hopefully you can use those pre-drilled dampening rods already purchased.

With this type of suspension the fork oil weight determines the rebound dampening rate (lighter weight = fast, and heavier weight = slow) but the compression dampening is a matter of adjusting the emulator valve spring tension. Either way there is some work to be done whilst you experiment to find the right dampening settings to suit you. Sorry if I'm telling you what you already know, just saying all this to reinforce that emulators are not usually a plug and play solution ... unless those knowledgeable chaps at Racetech have already set up a CB and can set you straight on all the variables

Good luck with the project.
Hey Aussieflyer,

Did you drill out extra oil passages in your Andreani Cartridges?