Cartridge Emulators

[leethom]

Does anyone have any experience with Race Tech cartridge emulators for front forks?

[Shappers]

Here's an FJ Owners Club write-up..

http://www.fjmods.btinternet.co.uk/emulators.htm


One of the Aussie riders has fitted them, he said that:

"The Race Tech emulators work great, the difference was amazing on rough corners I used to bounce the front a little, now it goes straight without a problem"

[DeanR]

I don't believe they are available to fit XS forks.

[81xsproject]

yes they are.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Jessie,

Where?? What model #? What Price?

MikesXS has them for the XS650's, but they state they are for their smaller 35mm forks. Ours are 36mm IIRC, but IF these are smaller, then from what I've recently read in that FJ article it is essentially a damper rod TOP MOUNTED shim valve, and that since it's designed to fit the smaller forks, then it should fit within the size of the XS forks. A small adapter may need to be made to allow it to fit onto the XS11's damper rod, but I would "think" that is all, unless the XS11's springs that fit down on top of it are too wide vs. the 650's springs??

Front Fork Damper Valve Set

Front fork Damper Valves (Set/2) Fits: 35mm. forks on 1977-84 XS650's.
Tuneable Valves are installed on top of the front fork dampening rods and below
the fork springs. The adjustable Damper Valve make rod style fork dampers
perform like modern cartridge style forks.

“The Best suspension upgrade modification for the XS650”

Note: Damper rod drilling required.

Photo install instructions included.


Part #27-1086 $49.00 USD /Set/2

[snowdog51]

forks

i want to tell you all that xs1100 's will never handle even ok with the stock fork
it was is just too small it's too small for a xs650 . the fj1100 is a bolt on mod and is available cheap i paid 100.$ for everything . it is almost bolt on.
my fjxs1100 is like a shaft drive fj i see the new fj are shaft making them more xsesive .
bill

[81xsproject]

HERE is the link to the xs page. The part number is FEGV S3301. Maybe this isn't what you all were looking for.

[leethom]

Snowdog - why don't you give us a full write up on the fork conversion. I would like to know what parts you used/needed and what modifications you did, if any.

[Rasputin]

I for one do not have a clue as to what they will do for my ride. the whole emulator tig has me lost. Would anyone care to enlighten me?

[psycoreefer]

I just read a little bit about them. I'll try to recap, and If I can find the site again, I'll post it up.

There are two types of "bumps" we want to handle. Small rounded bumps which cause the forks to move slowly and larger more square edged bumps like rail road tracks and pot holes that cause the forks to move very quickly. A fork like ours will have very little dampening over the "small" bumps and then as the bumps get bigger and bigger the more resistance there is. Its like a curve that gets steeper and steeper. This is bad because we want to be able to absorb those big bumps and use up as much travel as it takes to keep the harshness from transferring to us in the saddle.

On cartridge type forks there is a small hole that keeps the fluid from moving to easily when the forks are compressed slowly over the slow bumps. This is backed by a set of washers and springs so that when the fork trys to move quickly over a large bump the spring compresses and allows the fluid to move more easily so that the forks can compress much further soaking up the big bump. By adjusting the springs and washers the dampening can be adjusted. This results in a linear dampening curve which is good.

A Cartridge emulator is basically a set of springs and washers that sits on top of the dampening rod in our forks and gives us that nice linear curve and gives us the ability to finely tune our forks for a better ride. A lot of folks claim its the best 150 you can spend on your bike.

Edit:
Found the link: all about emulators

[Rasputin]

Thanks psycoreefer. Between what you wrote and the link, I have just had an education on how forks work. I guess I never really knew how they worked as long as they did.