Fork Rebuild - No Compression Adj now.....

[etxxz]

Ref 2008 R6, typical inverted forks.

So, my forks were pretty bent (0.090" runout) from a little incident i had recently. I went for a good deal on a pair of re-valved forks from a guy my same weight that had Racetech Gold G2R compression valves, and rebound valves.. new bushings, work done by a reputable suspension person / shop in his area blah blah blah.

Of course i get them and first thing i do is open them up to verify what i bought. It was quite a bit of work to get to, remove and re install the compression valve. I could see the gold rebound valve inside the damper from there and figured if one fork had it, so would the other. Oil was filthy so i changed it. Catalyst Reaction actually mentioned something about the rough surface of the racetech spring causing oil to dirty up very quickly? Anyways, not important right now.

Now i have the problem that the Compression Adjuster (bottom of fork) doesn't do squat. No change opened or closed. My "test" is me bouncing up and down on a fork with it off the bike. I didn't test before taking apart so i can't tell you i caused the problem.

How does the compression adjuster on the side actually change flow out/through the compression valve? Did i miss a lining up step. Man i don't recall any of this on the previous forks, or any one of my dirt bikes. Nothing on the manual either.

Rebound does work flawlessly on both, i can go from like 0.5sec to 3sec rebound (not actually timed, i'm going swish swoooosh in my head)... what did i miss?
I'm mind boggled. First time i encounter this problem.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,

 

[elskipador]

How does the compression adjuster on the side actually change flow out/through the compression valve?
Thanks,

it uses a tapered needle that goes into a hole, hard to mess up, but valving could be the issue. what shim stack did you use?

 

[etxxz]

it uses a tapered needle that goes into a hole, hard to mess up, but valving could be the issue. what shim stack did you use?

so that i understand, but the adjuster is perpendicular to the damper rod. guess i'm not seeing how the two interact. that's why i'm thinking maybe there's an alignment procedure I didn't know about..

can't say about the shim stakc. i bought the forks already done. I assume it was whatever stack came with the racetech G2R kit... my *assumption* is that it was done right.

will wait for a few more replies before i go back in there and pull the valve out from the bottom of the damper rod to check :x

 

[stangmx13]

ive seen this before on racetech valving. because some of their valves have such huge holes, the shim stack blows open very easily, allowing the oil to flow there, making it seem like the adjusters do little to nothing.

how is the actual valving? does it feel like there is no comp damping?

when u get it apart, id check to make sure both checkvalves are sealing. IIRC, racetech uses a very weak coil spring on there's.

 

[etxxz]

I see.... hmmm.

I bet using the 5W fork oil they recommended isn't helping that issue. There is enough compression damping right now, feels comparable to my other forks which even though they are bent still work right. Kind of useless not to have the adjustment though!

 

[etxxz]

Got some input from racetech for things to look out for. I'm gonna tear into one of the forks again tonight and look at the shim stack.

Also ran their valving calculator, looks like i'm starting from scratch again. Will report when its done just in case someone else has this problem..

also figured out how the oil gets in and out of the compression valve. Through the banjo'ish bolt at the bottom of the fork. Duh -.-

 

[elskipador]

also figured out how the oil gets in and out of the compression valve. Through the banjo'ish bolt at the bottom of the fork. Duh -.-

better rethink that because its incorrect. that bolt just mounts the cartridge to the fork leg. oil is drawn into the cartridge through holes in the cartridge body, 1 of which the compression adjuster interacts with.

 

[stangmx13]

if u want, u can remove the compression adjuster and see where the holes go. just turn the forks upside down, wait a bit for the oil to drain down, and unscrew the adjuster holder.

 

[etxxz]

better rethink that because its incorrect. that bolt just mounts the cartridge to the fork leg. oil is drawn into the cartridge through holes in the cartridge body, 1 of which the compression adjuster interacts with.

here i was thinking it was drillings in the knuckle otherwise said hole in the cartridge body would have to align with the compression adjuster and seal against it somehow.

Looks like i'm going to have to open the forks this weekend again and i'll know for sure. Have a 2mo baby in the house, yesterday was just not a good day to spend all night in the garage :laughing

if u want, u can remove the compression adjuster and see where the holes go. just turn the forks upside down, wait a bit for the oil to drain down, and unscrew the adjuster holder.

that won't introduce air into the system?

probably a good idea to inspect the adjuster as well. Never know, you think its a simple needle valve and then boom, surprise, honda did it again :afm199

 

[stangmx13]

that won't introduce air into the system?

probably a good idea to inspect the adjuster as well. Never know, you think its a simple needle valve and then boom, surprise, honda did it again :afm199

open-bath forks already have air in them. as long as u dont pump the fork while its upside-down and open, its not likely that ull drain the cartridge so bad to cause problems.

nothing special about the honda adjusters. the taper is pretty big so u get a lot of adjustment if the valving is done right. when i was running the stock carts, i actually swapped to GP Suspension needles for finer adjustment.

 

[elskipador]

here i was thinking it was drillings in the knuckle otherwise said hole in the cartridge body would have to align with the compression adjuster and seal against it somehow.

it doesn't need to seal to the cartridge, it just has to affect the flow of oil.