1st Gen fork upgrades

[Judd]

At 80K miles it's time to do the forks again. Prolly past time since the last seal and oil change was around 20-25K miles. I'm guessing it's prolly need new fork tube bushing {not that I've noticed any abnormal movement} but what I'm really wondering about are, as the title states,,,,,upgrades. I know Race Tech offere's their Gold Valves and Traxxion offers the AK20 kit but too exspensive IMO for a bike only worth 3K$ or so and the bottom line, it's not a race bike and I'm not getting trophies at the top or bottom of my local mountain run. Are there any other valving options?

Also I tend to play a bit in the twisties and I drag hard parts even with mediocre tires. It has a base model Wilbers on it with about 50K miles on it so it prolly needs attention too. Like I said, it's a base model and it only has one damping adustment on the bottom which changes rebound only. As I said, it drags parts and I recently added a set of 1 inch raising links. I would like to get rid of the raising links in the near future and I'm wondering if a shop like Traxxion could mod the shock to make it longer, possibly add a height aduster and possibly add a remote reservoir with compression adustment? Prolly be better off to just buy a derned Ohlins ehh?

 

[101stpathfinder]

Traxxion is right around the block from you. Worth a call at least. I had a total upgrade done there this past Feb. My '05 has 142k on it and I debated the same "Put big $ into this bike?" question.

I got the AK20's and a Penske put on my bike after I learned the compatibility with transferring to my '08 FJR, should the '05 go down. (May it never!) I have never looked back with the decision.

The bike is a different bike now AND my '08 is impatiently awaiting the demise of the '05, so It can ride better also.

 

[MCRIDER007]

The shock is probably an easy fix, Wilber's generally are undersprung with too much base preload. It is way overdue for a rebuild and you can put a heavier spring on it and have it re-valved (if necessary) at the same time. I have the same shock on my 08 (was previously on a 05) and went from a 646 lb spring to a 800 lb without re-valving. The rebound adjusting valve on the bottom shock actually changes the compression damping as well as the rebound damping since all the oil flows through a common valve. Works pretty good as long as the valving is correct in the first place. I, like you, prefer to have separate adjustments but that ship has already sailed for that shock, likewise on the ride height adjustment. You could probably sell the shock and buy a Penske for less $$$ than having someone attempt a conversion.

You have 3 options on the front end.....the AK-20s, a re-valving kit from RaceTech or GPSuspension, or just adding some heavier springs. I would spend $100 on some new fork springs and see how that works with a rebuilt and properly sprung shock. If you still want new valving in the forks I would recommend Stoltec Moto in Bangor, PA since he is close to you and a GPSuspension dealer. I think the AK-20s are great products but after buying a set a month ago and getting to opportunity to examine them. I can't see how they can give any better performance than a well designed valving kit. It all comes down to the shim stacks in the damping pistons and who has selected the best combination of spring rate and shims (but I won't know for sure until I get a chance to compare the AK-20s to a GPSuspension rebuilt fork).

 

[clocklaw]

Traxxion will revalve and respring your shocks for a lot less than the AK20 cartridge (I think it was $600). They are more or less local to you. I recently had them do my forks and a new Penske rear.

At 80K miles it's time to do the forks again. Prolly past time since the last seal and oil change was around 20-25K miles. I'm guessing it's prolly need new fork tube bushing {not that I've noticed any abnormal movement} but what I'm really wondering about are, as the title states,,,,,upgrades. I know Race Tech offere's their Gold Valves and Traxxion offers the AK20 kit but too exspensive IMO for a bike only worth 3K$ or so and the bottom line, it's not a race bike and I'm not getting trophies at the top or bottom of my local mountain run. Are there any other valving options?
Also I tend to play a bit in the twisties and I drag hard parts even with mediocre tires. It has a base model Wilbers on it with about 50K miles on it so it prolly needs attention too. Like I said, it's a base model and it only has one damping adustment on the bottom which changes rebound only. As I said, it drags parts and I recently added a set of 1 inch raising links. I would like to get rid of the raising links in the near future and I'm wondering if a shop like Traxxion could mod the shock to make it longer, possibly add a height aduster and possibly add a remote reservoir with compression adustment? Prolly be better off to just buy a derned Ohlins ehh?