Fork work time

jrusell

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Joined
Aug 23, 2017
Messages
460
Location
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Finally able to get some miles on the new fork setup. I will say worth every penny. Last year every time I rode the bike I was pulling over and making an adjustment. Try this, try that, and never was I able to get the fork to work even close to satisfactory. Excessive dive while on the brakes, extremely harsh, no where near enough rebound damping, and not confidence inspiring at all.

I have been out on a few good rides this year and have not one time thought I need to pull over and make an adjustment. I am sure I can make it better, but after an hour or so getting the sag and damping sorted in the garage, it is pretty darn good in my opinion.

It would have been nice to see what just springs would have done, but I do not regret spending more for the race tech stuff. I was considering the Ohlins cartridge kit , but I am very happy with what I have.
 

ocgeek

Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2019
Messages
95
Location
Italy
Hi apology as this is not the exact thread and a bit old but i was wondering if the ES variant still needs so much hard compression on the spring to remove the top cap.
The service books shows that for the STD S10 but on the ES S10 it seems to suggest that pressing the tool by hand will suffice...is it really like that ?

STD S10 Forks
bandicam 2019-11-02 10-42-21-881.jpg

ES S10 Forks
bandicam 2019-11-02 10-39-38-917.jpg

Thanks for advice; i've not opened the forks yet, will do this late winter and i'm prep myself :)
 

jrusell

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Joined
Aug 23, 2017
Messages
460
Location
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
I do not have personal experience on ES forks, but you will need something help you compress the forks. You will not be able to do it by hand by yourself.
ES or non es you are still dealing with compressing the springs to access some sort of lock nut on the damper rod. (#2 in the pic above) It will be impossible to hold the spring compressed with one hand while your other 2 hands are needed to remove the cap. If you have someone to help you they can compress the spring while you loosen the lock nut on the damper rod and remove the cap.

Personally I would loosen the cap and take a look. Then make a tool and use ratchet straps to compress and hold the spring so I could work to remove the cap. Remember when reassembling the fork you will need to hold them compressed again to set the lock nut distance.(this is very important)

To give you some idea what type of force you are working with here are some numbers.
To remove Non ES caps you need to compress the springs approx 2.5 inches (63mm) to get enough room to work comfortably.
63mm x 0.95kg/mm =59.8kg = 131 lbs of force

On the ES maybe you need to compress more, maybe less? Ratchet straps and a homemade tool will do the job without issue. Or as mentioned a friend can hold them down while you take the cap off.

Good luck let us know how you make out.
 

ocgeek

Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2019
Messages
95
Location
Italy
Thanks. If anyone around did it already please jump in

Otherwise yes i'll have to open and discover :)
 

Tenman

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Joined
Dec 7, 2013
Messages
2,102
Location
Natchez Ms USA
Sooner or later you will need to replace the fork seals. Getting the right tools will be worth it and it will be so much easier.
 
Last edited:

jmz

Active Member
Joined
Feb 1, 2015
Messages
206
Location
Gonzales TX
The best thing to make fork seals last a long time is buying new replacement seals in advance before they start leaking .

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
 

ocgeek

Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2019
Messages
95
Location
Italy
Sooner or later you will need to replace the fork seals. Getting the right tools will be worth it and it will be so much easier.
Yes i'm in on the tool (actually i plan to laser cut it from iron)

Chiave Tappo Forcella ED03.jpg

What is still an open Q is if it may be pushed down by hand (mind on the ES not the STD) or need a ratchet strap (which i bought as a plan B)

I indeed plan to change all of it in the fork, Bushings, Oil and Dust Seals... and Oil itself indeed as it is 5Y old now...it's gonna stink badly :) )

Thanks
 
Last edited:

jmz

Active Member
Joined
Feb 1, 2015
Messages
206
Location
Gonzales TX
You can always try it by hand and if it doesn't work , use the straps . After doing other bikes by hand I was really surprised how tough it was doing the tenere.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
 

Kashe

New Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2022
Messages
4
Location
Edmonton Alberta
Springs came in last week, so with the temp finally above zero I figured I should get off my butt and put my forks back together.
Hopefully I will be happy with the result, but probably another month or more before I get the bike on the road and test them.
0.95kg springs, 5wt oil, 150mm oil level(+-470ml),
I plan to get the forks on the bike tomorrow and then move on to whatever is next on the list.
Sorry to bring up an old post but I just received my Sonic springs. I am having trouble interpreting their instructions as to set the pre load with the supplied spacer material. Installed same as your picture basically has the preload at zero. Can't really find any other info on this.
 

jrusell

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Joined
Aug 23, 2017
Messages
460
Location
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Sorry to bring up an old post but I just received my Sonic springs. I am having trouble interpreting their instructions as to set the pre load with the supplied spacer material. Installed same as your picture basically has the preload at zero. Can't really find any other info on this.
As Gv550 stated above you should be able to install with the stock spacer with no issue.

Unless sonic has changed their springs they should be the same length as stock.
Measure the sonic and compare to your stock springs. If they are the same length (within a few mm) just install using the stock spacer and you should be good to go.

If for some reason the springs are a different length, you will need the new spring and spacer to be the same total length as the stock spring and stock spacer.

Let us know how it goes.
 

Kashe

New Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2022
Messages
4
Location
Edmonton Alberta
As Gv550 stated above you should be able to install with the stock spacer with no issue.

Unless sonic has changed their springs they should be the same length as stock.
Measure the sonic and compare to your stock springs. If they are the same length (within a few mm) just install using the stock spacer and you should be good to go.

If for some reason the springs are a different length, you will need the new spring and spacer to be the same total length as the stock spring and stock spacer.

Let us know how it goes.
The Sonics were about 3mm shorter than the stock springs. I ended up cutting 9.5mm spacers from the spacer material provided by sonic. I did go with 1kg/mm spring rate so we will see if the 9.5mm spacer is too much. I also still have 13mm of preload adjustment on the fork cap.
 

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