Revalveing and springing your font forks

Im feeling really confident about swapping my front suspension out with Ohlins internals. But I have never done it. I have read the service manual many many times so I could memorize it. Can anyone point me in the way of finding the tools I need. I need the seal holding tool and couple other. I want to do my own upgrades to my 750 and 1000 and the suspension is 1st on my list. Thanks

Im feeling really confident about swapping my front suspension out with Ohlins internals. But I have never done it. I have read the service manual many many times so I could memorize it. Can anyone point me in the way of finding the tools I need. I need the seal holding tool and couple other. I want to do my own upgrades to my 750 and 1000 and the suspension is 1st on my list. Thanks Send an email to roach@speedwerks.com. He can tell you what you need in terms of tools. He does fork work for people all of the time at the shop, so he'll know. Tell him you're from TWF. He doesn't have his laptop home today, he's actually taking a day off, but I'm sure he'll get back to you tomorrow. Laura

Sweet thanks.

You're more daring that I am. I paid someone to do it, more than I want to deal with. Let us know how it turns out.

Im tried of paying people.

Im feeling really confident about swapping my front suspension out with Ohlins internals. But I have never done it. I have read the service manual many many times so I could memorize it. Can anyone point me in the way of finding the tools I need. I need the seal holding tool and couple other. I want to do my own upgrades to my 750 and 1000 and the suspension is 1st on my list. Thanks do you just buy the ohlins internals and remove the stock internals and install it...that sounds like a nice deal, we use to just send them out to a place in california for revalving and it was like night and day..course anything u did to the front forks to make them better was like night and day back then... what kind of price do u have to pay for the ohlins internals and is it better than just having the stock revalved with new springs and different fork oil weight??

I'm about to order new springs for my forks from Race-tech! I know it's not much, but all I can afford right now, with the purchase of a new set of leathers looming in the distance.. Then will come some new race tech gold valves for on top... Not too many other options for the superhawk, w/o gettin in to some super cash..

When you do it I could give you hand. Race-tech makes some really good stuff. Where did you get your parts from?

Sweet! The springs should be a breeze, but when it comes time to do the valves I will definitely need a hand!

Have you done the springs before?

do you just buy the ohlins internals and remove the stock internals and install it...that sounds like a nice deal, we use to just send them out to a place in california for revalving and it was like night and day..course anything u did to the front forks to make them better was like night and day back then... what kind of price do u have to pay for the ohlins internals and is it better than just having the stock revalved with new springs and different fork oil weight?? Yeah they are like night and day. I had my front forks done by Traxxion on my TL and that was the best handling bike I ever had. It was 800 to have someone else do them and I can get the ohlins for like 280-350 in that area. I just dont know how hard it will be. I was hoping you would say you have done it and it was ez.

Have you done the springs before? Negative, but I was looking at the step by steps from others that have on the superhawk forums.. didn't see anything in changing the springs that would be hard... Is there something about that I will likely need help with?

Are you changing the oil too?

Yeah they are like night and day. I had my front forks done by Traxxion on my TL and that was the best handling bike I ever had. It was 800 to have someone else do them and I can get the ohlins for like 280-350 in that area. I just dont know how hard it will be. I was hoping you would say you have done it and it was ez. ive changed springs, fork seals and changed bent tubes so i think ive had them pretty much apart. an air wrench is needed to get the lowere bolt off..but again these were older forks.. ... but with a manual i dont think there that hard...but with the new ones i cant say for sure...can always see how much a shop will charge if u bring them the forks.

Yeah Im gonna give it a go and see what happens.

Yeah Im gonna give it a go and see what happens. no sence in having them do it .... if you cant do it THEN give it to them when u mucked it up :lol:

Are you changing the oil too? The oil in there is only a year old, I was planning on giving that a go at first, then seeing if I need to go with a different thickness or level depending on what it felt like... Think thats ok or should I plan on changing out the oil in there too?

no sence in having them do it .... if you cant do it THEN give it to them when u mucked it up :lol: hehe, wouldnt be the first time i brought in a pile of parts and had a shop fix it... :lol:

hehe, wouldnt be the first time i brought in a pile of parts and had a shop fix it... :lol: me either yamaha hate my dirt bike :lol: you know how hard it is to replace a friken air filter............ :lol: ...had you goin dident i :lol: no but one time i was replacing my piston wwrings and i dideverything right so i was ready to start it up and i kicked it .......no compression ....so i was like what the hell and just about had a frekin heart attack and then checked the boltz ..........i forgot to torque the dam head blots :lol:

Twisty, when I posted before, I didn't realize you said revalving your forks. I already know what Roach is going to tell you. There is no reason to revalve your forks. Springs and fork oil, yes, definitely. But to be completely honest, none of us club level racers ever need to revalve their forks. Revalving is truly only beneficial to those who know exactly what their forks are doing and what they need them to do instead (e.g., factory racers). Many suspension places will tell you that you need to revalve them just to get $$$$ out of your pocket, and a lot of people fall for it. Just changing the springs and fork oil will do you a super world of good. You can still email him, but I just thought I'd give you that head's up. :)

The oil in there is only a year old, I was planning on giving that a go at first, then seeing if I need to go with a different thickness or level depending on what it felt like... Think thats ok or should I plan on changing out the oil in there too? I would think so. Im not to big on using old stuff when putting in new parts. But that is just me.

Twisty, when I posted before, I didn't realize you said revalving your forks. I already know what Roach is going to tell you. There is no reason to revalve your forks. Springs and fork oil, yes, definitely. But to be completely honest, none of us club level racers ever need to revalve their forks. Revalving is truly only beneficial to those who know exactly what their forks are doing and what they need them to do instead (e.g., factory racers). Many suspension places will tell you that you need to revalve them just to get $$$$ out of your pocket, and a lot of people fall for it. Just changing the springs and fork oil will do you a super world of good. You can still email him, but I just thought I'd give you that head's up. :) If I hadnt taken the "Suspension Dynamics" suspension setting class 2 years ago I might have agreed with you. But since that class and learning what each part in the fork tube does and how the pistons, valves, oil and springs work togather highly disagree. Before that class I just had the springs and fork oil changed. After that class I had the Valves and pistons done to get rid of the highspeed chatter would appear in the mid corners. Not only did it fix the chatter and lower my laptime's it but it reduced wear on my tires due to having greater adjustablity in the dampening. My GSXR doesnt have the same problem. It has a wollow on exit that mostly can be fixed with springs and/or fork oil. Valves is more of a selling feature when I retire her @ the end of the year. Very one wants revalved forks even if they dont know what it means. :screwy:

If I hadnt taken the "Suspension Dynamics" suspension setting class 2 years ago I might have agreed with you. But since that class and learning what each part in the fork tube does and how the pistons, valves, oil and springs work togather highly disagree. Before that class I just had the springs and fork oil changed. After that class I had the Valves and pistons done to get rid of the highspeed chatter would appear in the mid corners. Not only did it fix the chatter and lower my laptime's it but it reduced wear on my tires due to having greater adjustablity in the dampening. My GSXR doesnt have the same problem. It has a wollow on exit that mostly can be fixed with springs and/or fork oil. Valves is more of a selling feature when I retire her @ the end of the year. Very one wants revalved forks even if they dont know what it means. :screwy: Cool, then it definitely sounds like something you should do. I just know that a lot of people get told to do it and they don't really need it. We just try to look out for people so they don't spend more money on something they don't really need. :)

Thanks. An educated comsumer is the scamers worst ememy.

Twisty, when I posted before, I didn't realize you said revalving your forks. I already know what Roach is going to tell you. There is no reason to revalve your forks. Springs and fork oil, yes, definitely. But to be completely honest, none of us club level racers ever need to revalve their forks. Revalving is truly only beneficial to those who know exactly what their forks are doing and what they need them to do instead (e.g., factory racers). Many suspension places will tell you that you need to revalve them just to get $$$$ out of your pocket, and a lot of people fall for it. Just changing the springs and fork oil will do you a super world of good. You can still email him, but I just thought I'd give you that head's up. :) interesting, but i know for sure that on the late 80's bikes, sending the forks out to be revalved made a major difference on the old hurricanes and gsxr 750/1100's...especially at bridgehampton where u never went straight, (even though the front straight was almost a mile long) you were always weaving in and out trying to avoid frost heaves in the track..and turns 1 &2 were flat out and bumpy :crazy: ...also at the new loudon track in new hampshire when it was first built..comming off the oval and going into turn 1 was like hitting a curb on the sidewalk...springs, preload spacers and fluid changes just didnt make enough of a difference... Im sure the forks of todays bikes are 200% better than what i was used to (even after they were revalved) the flexing problem is handled with the upside down fork setup, so i cant comment on the benefits of revalving them. but if i was having trouble and couldnt adjust the problem out with the adjustors and springs/ spacers/fluid etc.it cant hurt to replace the valving..especially for a few hundred dollars......it might not help,but shouldnt hurt either

interesting, but i know for sure that on the late 80's bikes, sending the forks out to be revalved made a major difference on the old hurricanes and gsxr 750/1100's... Don't get me wrong, revalving can definitely make a difference...our point being that usually a simple change of oil and springs can make a world of difference for the track day rider/club racer. Most of us are never going to be the next Valentino Rossi, so there's no need to revalve our forks right off the bat. Our philosophy is to start small. No need to spend $1000 to work on your forks when you can spend $250 and get a world of difference. After that, if your forks still aren't where you need them, there are other options, but there's no need to throw all of that money away up front. Step by step is usually the best approach, especially with suspension. Do one thing at a time so you can see what works and what doesn't work. For most of our customers, they are basic riders who will do just fine with springs and fork oil. But so many dealers/suspension places will try to sell you everything up front to get that extra dollar out of you. That's definitely not our approach. It is the few and far between that actually need revalving, so the step by step approach works well and keeps customers wallets happy.

Don't get me wrong, revalving can definitely make a difference...our point being that usually a simple change of oil and springs can make a world of difference for the track day rider/club racer. Most of us are never going to be the next Valentino Rossi, so there's no need to revalve our forks right off the bat. Our philosophy is to start small. No need to spend $1000 to work on your forks when you can spend $250 and get a world of difference. After that, if your forks still aren't where you need them, there are other options, but there's no need to throw all of that money away up front. Step by step is usually the best approach, especially with suspension. Do one thing at a time so you can see what works and what doesn't work. For most of our customers, they are basic riders who will do just fine with springs and fork oil. But so many dealers/suspension places will try to sell you everything up front to get that extra dollar out of you. That's definitely not our approach. It is the few and far between that actually need revalving, so the step by step approach works well and keeps customers wallets happy. its a good philosophy, i just wasnt sure if you were saying that the newer forks werent going to benefit from being worked on, since ive never driven newer bikes on the track at speed.... also, my suspension problems didnt arise due to me getting super fast, they arose from me being smarter about the importance of suspension settings on rough tracks that i was on, and how a better set up bike could be much more important than an extra 15 hp..,, being around sadowski's friend and tuner Al Ludington also helped out alot and i learned a great deal from him (i think he was sick of me bitching about my bike all the time) the biggest was what u said...one thing at a time, and also to write everything down and make big changes to settings at first, not just one or two clicks to see what is working and what is making it handle worse. by the time i was though with my settings on my front and rear shocks, it was like they had just repaved the track and lap times showed it........

I would think so. Im not to big on using old stuff when putting in new parts. But that is just me. That's the difference in doing some half arsed and doing it the right way!!! Do you change your oil w/o putting on a new oil filter? OF COARSE NOT!!! :bash:

also, my suspension problems didnt arise due to me getting super fast, they arose from me being smarter about the importance of suspension settings on rough tracks that i was on, and how a better set up bike could be much more important than an extra 15 hp..,, That's exactly true! And basically the point. Most riders have a very difficult time with understanding what their suspension is doing properly or improperly and being able to describe what it's doing or not doing. Suspension is the most critical aspect part of riding, and it's also one of the most difficult aspects of riding to understand. With the right suspension settings, you can do wonders on the track. :)