Cheap or Free fork preload spacer mod.

[DT675]

Sorry, I don’t mean to have a teaser thread title with nothing here.  I started this post but it’s gotten to late for my brain to think straight and I was butchering it lol. So I’ve deleted it and will come back to this tomorrow night when I have time to post this correctly. 

Edited April 9, 2021 by DT675
It’s too late and I messed up waaay too many times. I’m fired!

[TimmyTheHog]

Did this turned into a 6 beer job?

 

it sure sounded it did lol...

[Aleksandar13]

And here we are , waiting for the thread to start... 

[DT675]

Ok, so here we are a day later. Looks like everyone survived.  Ill get right into it. 

 

-Free, or at least cheap fork preload spacer mod 
 
This is how I added fork preload spacers to my forks, to better match my upgraded shock spring and sag. I’m not going to tell you what size spacer will be used because my needs will be different that yours. 

*Disclaimer, I am not a mechanic nor am I recommending you perform this.  I’m simply showing you what I have done to mine. Anything you do with yours is of your own doing. 

 
First, I raised the bikes front tire off the ground just a little bit. I’m not just raising the bike.  The front wheel MUST be off the ground otherwise the bike would fall to the ground when the fork caps are removed later on. (I am not supporting the weight of the bike from the skid plate, just raising the front wheel) Please note- I have the bike on a center stand in this pic. 

 

Next I loosened the fork caps with a 19mm wrench. I didn't remove them from the forks, just cracked them loose. 

 

Then I removed the handlebars to make some work space, 1st marking their position to put them back into the right place quick and easy when I’m done. 

 

 

I now finish removing the fork caps from the outer fork tubes. At this point, this step is to just unscrew the caps from the outer tubes. They will still be connected to the inner center rod of the forks. They wont pop out or anything, but you should be able to feel when they free themselves from the last thread.  

 

When both are fully unscrewed, I raise the front wheel just enough to access the innards. 

 

 

 

Edited March 1, 2021 by DT675

[DT675]

Now that I have access, I need to loosen the lock nut (17mm) against the caps and lower them to the white plastic piece shown here. I place the 19mm on the cap top as my holder. 

 

 

Before unscrewing the caps from the inner rod, its best to turn the top adjuster to full soft.  It is not necessary but will make installation a little easier.  

 

I will now need to remove the caps from the inner rods. But before I do that I MUST prevent the inner rod (with the white plastic) from dropping down into the fork which it WILL DO on it’s own. If that were to happen I would have to remove the fork from the bike, pull the spring, collapse the fork to retrieve that etc etc.  To achieve this I just use a zip tie tight around the white plastic just below the lock nut that i have just lowered from the cap, and place that through the spring to hold it up. 

 

 

Now its time to remove the cap from the center rod. It is very likely when I try to spin the cap off the rod, the rod itself will just want to spin too, preventing it from doing so.  To counter this I've tried both- holding the white plastic piece in place and then unscrewing the cap, or just pulling the spring down a little away from the cap removing any pressure against the cap. Then it comes off pretty easily. The spring does not have very much pressure against the the cap at all and is pretty easy to pull it away from the cap by hand. (thus the need to be able to increase the preload, because their isn’t barely any!)

 

I now have the cap removed from the fork, along with the top spring holder cup. At this point I can measure the outer diameter, and the inner diameter to determine what size spacer I would like to add, along with deciding on the thickness- which will be the added preload. Ill add the spacer between the spring cup and the spring itself. This is due to a very small shelf just below the caps on the inner fork tubes. The spacer (s) must be less in diameter than the spring cup to avoid getting hung up on this shelf- which could prevent you from being able to screw the caps all the way back on.  

 

(This next pic just shows the OEM pieces when removed, to show where the spacer would go. I have not added the spacer yet) 

 

Once I've placed the spacer in its position, its time to reassemble following this in the reverse order. 

(Tip- to easily remove the zip tie since its difficult to get a side cutter in there, just use a small pick to pull back the zip ties locking tab to undo the zip tie). 

 

NOTE- Ive intended this procedure for a thinner type spacer like a large washer(s). On a previous bike that had a larger diameter fork, I used a sliver of PVC pipe that fit perfectly. It will not on this bike-our forks are a little to small in diameter. If I were to go too thick with the spacer, I could  make it very difficult to re install the fork cap because of the extra preload created on the spring. So keep that in mind, the thicker the spacer, the more difficult to compress the spring to get the top cap screwed back on.  

 

 

Edited March 1, 2021 by DT675

[Stevoh]

You got me with"Free" the suspense (sion) is killing me....

[mpatch]

Good post. As and FYI it's  the identical procedure to swap the springs just a bit trickier to not let rod drop. 

[DT675]

Right. If your fast enough you can do it. The center rod will drop, but it kinda drops slowly. As long as you get the spring out quick, then pull the rod back up, quick drop the new spring in, and get your finger between the coils and pull the rod back up. Then I’d probably do the zip tie trick and have a small break...

[Hibobb]

What was the OD/ID of the spacers you used? I would like to turn up a set before I take thing apart. Thank you...

Edited March 10, 2021 by Hibobb

[DT675]

Sorry, i haven't been on here in awhile and just saw this. . I didn't measure mine but i do have more of the material i used so ill see if i can get a measurement soon here. 

[BADDANDY]

Cut down to 5mm

[DT675]

On 3/10/2021 at 8:31 AM, Hibobb said:

What was the OD/ID of the spacers you used? I would like to turn up a set before I take thing apart. Thank you...

1” ID x 1 9/16” OD is what I used. 

Edited April 9, 2021 by DT675