MikesXS emulators

[crazy steve]

...I am just curious as to why 6 holes on mikes and not 4 like racetech?

RaceTech recommends a minimum of 4 holes (at least my instructions did), with more making sure that the stock compression circuit is disabled...

[yamahansolo]

I have to go look for my directions I don't remember a min of 4... also I bet all the racetech emulators are the same size because they come with 2 sets of springs. For lighter bikes and heavier bikes.

[yamahansolo]

Ok they are sized according to your springs...


According to racetech your emulator should be within 1mm smaller than your springs outer diameter. So if phils 650 emulator is within that it should be fine. All it does is sit under the spring.

[natemoen]

So, are the standard and the special springs the same IS?

[bikerphil]

The Standard and the Special springs are the same diameter. With a custom spacer, I know the cheap MixesXS emulators could work with the Standard's "bottle cap" type damp rods.

Report on the handling of my Special after about 100 miles........

Man, we are cheap tryin' to save a hundred bucks.

[yamahansolo]

Hey who you callin cheap... I got the real deal...

Any way I would order the mikes ones if I keep the 300 one... I just got the theme for the bike...

[crazy steve]

....also I bet all the racetech emulators are the same size because they come with 2 sets of springs. For lighter bikes and heavier bikes.

There's actually quite a bit of difference in sizes depending on what forks you have, assuming you the 'correct' units. First, they have to cover and stay centered on the top of the damper tube. If the emulator can move around and expose the opening in the damper, some or all of the effect will be lost.

And not only is the diameters different for various fork sizes, but the orifices in the emulators are different. There's quite a bit of difference in fork oil volume displacement per inch of fork travel as the forks get larger; going from the XS 37mm forks to FJ 41mm units will increase displacement by over 40% for the same travel. You can 'tune around' this to a large degree by changing the spring tension, oil weight, etc, but you might get beyond the units' design limits in some cases...

[yamahansolo]

Ok the kit I ordered from racetech is for the xs11 if you go to their site you can look it up. I don't know abut the different orifice sizes. Racetech probobly has good info. I was told not to use the other springs in the kit because they were for lighter bikes. To me that would indicate you can use the emulators I have on other bikes. Someone would have to go to their product page to find out

[bikerphil]

Couple of dimensions:

MikesXS emulators OD: 23MM
Special damp rod top OD: 26.4MM
Special damp rod top ID: 20MM

So, the 23MM emulator sits atop a 20 MM hole on the Special.

Again, the Standard damp rod ID is slightly larger than 20MM, due to the 12 point bottle cap design. It does not sit nicely flush like it does on the Special damp rod. Some sort of spacer/adapter would be needed for it to sit correctly. As for the spring/emulator mating surface, no problems there.

[TomRodgers]

Emulator guru's...

Okay..... Long and short of it...on a Standard...will the Mikes emulators fit or no? Will the expensive units fit?

[bikerphil]

Okay..... Long and short of it...on a Standard...will the Mikes emulators fit or no? Will the expensive units fit?

I would say no, the Mike's emulators won't just drop in on the Standard forks. We yet don't know the dimensions of the expensive units, but since they are correct for the XS11 Standard application, I would say yes, they will fit.

[jetmechmarty]

I haven't played with the emulators, but I do buy a lot of parts from Mike's XS due to the four XS650s in my garage.

Mike's XS provides reasonably priced parts to provide for the continued enjoyment and service from the Yamaha XS650. He retails only parts for the XS650. Many of the parts are sourced from China. (because if they were sourced elsewhere, most of us wouldn't be willing to pay for them)

I suspect Mike's XS' emulators are Chinese knockoffs of the Race-Tech units, specifically designed for the XS650 application.

Back to you.

[yamahansolo]

I have a standard and my racetech ones fit... they are made for the standard rod... no spacers needed... I guess ill have to pull one and measure...

[bikerphil]

These are some spacers I used to adapt the Mikes emulators to fit the 41mm forks I have on my Standard. I'm sure something similar could be made up to adapt them to the Standard forks.

[yamahansolo]

Racetech lists a diffrent part number for the 650 so I bet they are smaller. Plus I thenk the shape of thoseholes look a little diffrent...