Front Fork Upgrade.

Thanks to Reddog and Dhula I now have the Racetech springs and Gold valves to do the front end upgrade. Noticed on sunday on our ride how much better the front end could and should be. After reading through the install instructions that come with the valves I realised that this is a job for the experts. Rang a mob here in Brissy area, Suspension Improvements, over in Slacks Creek. I will take the forks over to them. They will do the conversion. Set them up for my weight and usual riding condition. Quoted $330. Pretty good I recon. While I am there I will talk to them about the rear and see what they would recommend. Am anxious to see just how much better the front end will be.

Sounds like a good move Hammy.
What area are you looking at improving?

2wheelsagain wrote:Sounds like a good move Hammy.
What area are you looking at improving?

Eliminating most of the 'dive' under brakeing. Hopefully smooth out the overall feel. Better feel in corners. I will probably keep this bike for a while. But then again I'm a pretty spontanious person, so anything could happen. Just want to see how good I can make her. Brake lines will prbably be next. I keep telling myself " It will end "

Keep an eye out for an 07/08 gsxr1000 rear shock on ebay. I got one for $88aud delivered from a wreckers in Florida. Almost infinite adjustment. Simple as to install. It dropped the rear by 25mm, so I put in new dog bones, $45 del from UK, to lift it 35mm so now sits 10mm over standard. Winner.

rolls wrote:Keep an eye out for an 07/08 gsxr1000 rear shock on ebay. I got one for $88aud delivered from a wreckers in Florida. Almost infinite adjustment. Simple as to install. It dropped the rear by 25mm, so I put in new dog bones, $45 del from UK, to lift it 35mm so now sits 10mm over standard. Winner.

That sounds interesting Rolls. I'm guessing 10mm difference is fairly unnoticable ? Have you done anything to your front end ?

Just looked and found an '08 GSXR1000 shock. He is starting the bidding at $150. ??

don't forget to factor in freight, exchange rate and any charges you might get from your bank and from thiers, or from paypal (they have just increased their charges)
Don't forget to check aussie wreckers or even dealers, you might be surprised nowadays

The one for $150 is here in Oz, plus $20 freight. Am tempted.

Don't bother with the GSXR rear shock if you have ABS. I made the mistake of being the one to test this theory and I have since sold the shock to my mate with a Gen 1 Bandit. The shock reservoir hits the ABS unit if you need to know.

If anyone finds something that fits the ABS equipped model then that'd be good to know.

@Hammy: I looked at the instructions as well and thought m,uch the same regarding getting the experts involved. I'm thinking I'll need to travel to Perth to do it. If thats the case I'll get the bits for my DRZ and get them both done at the same time.

My 12 doesn't have ABS. Am still humming and harring about the GSXR shock. Pretty cheap experiment.

Hammy wrote:Thanks to Reddog and Dhula I now have the Racetech springs and Gold valves to do the front end upgrade. Noticed on sunday on our ride how much better the front end could and should be. After reading through the install instructions that come with the valves I realised that this is a job for the experts. Rang a mob here in Brissy area, Suspension Improvements, over in Slacks Creek. I will take the forks over to them. They will do the conversion. Set them up for my weight and usual riding condition. Quoted $330. Pretty good I recon. While I am there I will talk to them about the rear and see what they would recommend. Am anxious to see just how much better the front end will be.

It is not as difficult as you may think. I have never done something like this until recently. I changed the springs on my VStrom a month or so ago, and also did the GVE install. A piece of cake once you know what to look for. I really enjoyed doing it in the end, was a fun project, and I am no mechanic I can tell you. Give it a whirl!!

Vellies wrote:

Hammy wrote:Thanks to Reddog and Dhula I now have the Racetech springs and Gold valves to do the front end upgrade. Noticed on sunday on our ride how much better the front end could and should be. After reading through the install instructions that come with the valves I realised that this is a job for the experts. Rang a mob here in Brissy area, Suspension Improvements, over in Slacks Creek. I will take the forks over to them. They will do the conversion. Set them up for my weight and usual riding condition. Quoted $330. Pretty good I recon. While I am there I will talk to them about the rear and see what they would recommend. Am anxious to see just how much better the front end will be.

It is not as difficult as you may think. I have never done something like this until recently. I changed the springs on my VStrom a month or so ago, and also did the GVE install. A piece of cake once you know what to look for. I really enjoyed doing it in the end, was a fun project, and I am no mechanic I can tell you. Give it a whirl!!

But dont you need some special tools ?

Nope, unless there is something very different with the Bandit fork. I stand to be corrected but I believe the bandit has cartridge forks, whereas the Vstrom has more simple forks using a damper rod, but for the most part process should be the same. I only needed a few spanners. In summary:

1. Take out forks
2. Turn preload all the way out (minimum)
3. Loosen fork cap with spanner (I had to put them back in the triple clamps to get enough pressure to undo the fork cap, so may be wise to do this before removing the forks)
4. Keep pressure on fork cap while loosening, pressure is required to stop cap from popping off due to spring pressure.
5. Drain out oil.
6. Remove spacer and springs (they fall out)
7. I had to undo a bolt at the bottom of the forks to take out the damper rods, so this may be different for the bandit forks.
8. Drain rest of oil.
9. Cut new spacer (piece of pipe). This was required because the RaceTeck springs were shorter than OEM.
10. Set GVE's to whatever the recommended setting is.
11. Put damper rod back in (again different for Bandit)
12. Drop in GVE
13. Drop in spring and washers
14. Fill oil to correct level
15. Put in spacer
16. Replace fork cap.
17. Put forks back
18. Set preload to get correct sag.
19. Happy days

I am sure there are bandit experts here who can correct all my mistakes and point out the differences in process for the Bandit with a marked up or revised version of the above.

Bottom line is it is as easy as pie if you take it slow, and teaches you a lot. You also do not need any special tools (well, I did not).

Good luck.

You need to pull the cartridge apart on the bandit and rebuild the valve using the RT bit's also need to set the shim stack.
Bout the only other special tool you'll need is something to hold the valve while you tighten it and a torque wrench of the correct size.

Not a difficult job to do jsut a but more time consuming really.

I was qouted about $700 to do a front fork job ( springs and valves ) by a suspension specialist shop. I have gotten the parts at a great price from the guys on here so I think I will get it done professionally and still be a couple of hundred ahead.

Its a shame you're so far away Hammy. Suspension Smith in Canberra replaced the springs and valves on my Bandit with the same ones you've mentioned for $400 including labour and parts. At least that is what I paid him for - I hope he did it!

Hi Hammy, I would be interested to see how you find Suspension Improvements as I'm thinking of getting the same work done to my bandit.
Southside Suzuki gave me a verbal quote, six months ago, of about $600 including parts

Jon

Jon wrote:Hi Hammy, I would be interested to see how you find Suspension Improvements as I'm thinking of getting the same work done to my bandit.
Southside Suzuki gave me a verbal quote, six months ago, of about $600 including parts

Jon

That sounds about right Jon. Depending on the type of springs and valves you are putting in. Suspension Improvements quote for the whole forks job was $700. Hopefully be taking them over to be done at the end of this week. Will keep you posted.

Hammy wrote:

Jon wrote:Hi Hammy, I would be interested to see how you find Suspension Improvements as I'm thinking of getting the same work done to my bandit.
Southside Suzuki gave me a verbal quote, six months ago, of about $600 including parts

Jon

That sounds about right Jon. Depending on the type of springs and valves you are putting in. Suspension Improvements quote for the whole forks job was $700. Hopefully be taking them over to be done at the end of this week. Will keep you posted.

i`ve had my forks and 07-08gsxr 1000 rear done by him-Steve, and was happy with the results,all done within a year ago,if you had of waited, you could have had my rear already set with new 11kg spring, reshimed with gold valves,as i`m going to a full remote wilbers unit.

mtbeerwah wrote:

Hammy wrote:

Jon wrote:Hi Hammy, I would be interested to see how you find Suspension Improvements as I'm thinking of getting the same work done to my bandit.
Southside Suzuki gave me a verbal quote, six months ago, of about $600 including parts

Jon

That sounds about right Jon. Depending on the type of springs and valves you are putting in. Suspension Improvements quote for the whole forks job was $700. Hopefully be taking them over to be done at the end of this week. Will keep you posted.

i`ve had my forks and 07-08gsxr 1000 rear done by him-Steve, and was happy with the results,all done within a year ago,if you had of waited, you could have had my rear already set with new 11kg spring, reshimed with gold valves,as i`m going to a full remote wilbers unit.

Dohl ! Aint that always the way. Sometimes it pays not to be so impulsive as me.

never mind mate,

i know you did an ask thread on the rear shock,but i didn`t discover it until you had already bought yours.

if anybody else is interested,just ask me. its still in my bike,and will be until i take purchase of my new wilbers unit,which should be arriving in 2 weeks

Hammy wrote:

Jon wrote:Hi Hammy, I would be interested to see how you find Suspension Improvements as I'm thinking of getting the same work done to my bandit.
Southside Suzuki gave me a verbal quote, six months ago, of about $600 including parts

Jon

That sounds about right Jon. Depending on the type of springs and valves you are putting in. Suspension Improvements quote for the whole forks job was $700. Hopefully be taking them over to be done at the end of this week. Will keep you posted.

Thanks for that

generally you will also drill an extra couple of holes in each leg.
standard shocks have a hole or 2 drilled (havent checked bandit) to let fluid flow through.
the size and number of holes is what sets the performance of the forks (lighter oil goes through quicker).
With the emulators, they normally advise to drill 2 more holes so that the emulators do all the fluid management rather than the holes in the tubes.

If you give racetech your weight and riding style info, they will also suggest the settings of the emulators (they are adjustable). if you get the emulator settings wrong, you have to pull everything apart, adjust and repack.

time-consuming but not hard.

on my SV it was definitely worth it.
On the new bandit - springs are up to it, so I think getting oil weight settings will get me there.

just ma 2c's.