How to: Race Tech Gold Valve Cartridge Emulator install

[Slack]

I'm installing these on my 05, but it's basically the same for all years, except for removing the damping rod.  I suggest you read the following threads and watch the video in the second link to give yourself a good background before beginning.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=25706.0
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=58212.msg660054#msg660054
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=58762.msg668369#msg668369

Step 1:  Break the top fork caps loose.  They are 19mm.  Don't remove them yet, or even loosen them much, just break them loose.


Step 2:  Put the bike on the center stand and support it with the front wheel off the ground.  I've found that a cement block under the exhaust fits perfectly.


Step 3:  Remove the brake caliper.  It's held on with 2 bolts, both are 14mm.  Remove the bolts and slide the caliper off of the rotor.  You can let the caliper hang by the line, it doesn't weigh very much, or you can support it somehow.  I left mine hanging for now.  Do not squeeze the brake lever while the caliper is off the rotor.  If you do the piston will slide out and you'll have to push it back in with a c-clamp and some 2x4's to get enough clearance between the brake pads for the rotor to slide into.


Step 4: Remove the safety pin from the castle nut on the axle.  Yours is probably a one time use pin.  I've replaced mine with a reusable style, they are easier to get on and off, and I don't have to buy a new cotter pin every time I take off the front wheel (or adjust the chain on the back wheel).


Step 5:  Remove the axle.  The castle nut is 19mm, the axle is 17mm.  Remove the castle nut and then slide the axle out the other side.  It will help if you support the wheel while pulling the axle.  The wheel is now free to roll right out.


You probably had a part hit the floor as you pulled the axle/wheel.  That's ok.  It's a spacer that goes on the brake side of the wheel.  The speedometer pickup goes on the other side of the wheel, and should be hanging by the cable.



Step 6:  Remove the lower speedometer cable routing bracket, it's 10mm and will stay connected to the cable.


Step 7:  Disconnect the fork brace from the fork tubes.  There are 8 allen bolts visible on the top of the fork brace.  You need to remove the 4 larger 4mm hex bolts found on the outside corners.  Removing all of these will also release the upper speedometer cable routing bracket.



Step 8:  Separate the fork brace from the fender and remove both.  The allen bolts on top are 3mm, the nuts, accessed from inside the fender, are 8mm.



Step 9:  Remove the lower brake hose routing bracket.  It's 10mm.  Now that I have a lot of slack in the brake line I moved the caliper and set it on top of the exhaust, to relieve pressure from the hose.



NOTICE!!!!  If you didn't follow step 1 now is your last chance to save yourself a headache.

Step 10:  Loosen the lower triple tree bolts to finger tight.  They are 14mm.


Step 11:  Loosen the upper triple tree allen bolts to finger tight and slide out the fork tubes.  The hex bolts are 6mm.




Step 12:  Remove the top cap (19mm) be careful it is under pressure, but not a ton from the factory, just don't let it go flying off.


Step 13:  Drain the oil.  Remove the innards: a spacer, then a washer, then the spring.



Step 14':  This is only required on the brake side fork tube.  Remove the pinch bolt at the bottom of the tube (10mm) and slide out the sleeve, to give yourself access to the allen bolt from the bottom.



Step 14:  Either construct your specialty damping rod tool (02-) or build one from a broom handle (04+).  Here is a pic of mine.  I'm pointing out the section that was gripping and doing the work in the second photo.



Step 15:  Bang the broom handle into the damping rod and secure it with a table vise to keep it from spinning.  Use a 7mm long allen wrench to remove the bottom bolt, don't lose the copper washer.  This in theory should be doable with hand tools, but may need an impact driver on 04+ due to the slippage issue.  Everyone else seems to have an 8mm allen bolt at the bottom of their forks, but mine was 7mm- maybe all 04+ are 7mm, maybe only 05's, I don't know.  After removing the allen bolt the damping rod will slide right out of the fork tube.  I had to knock it off the drift with a rubber mallet.  After the damping rod comes out the small bottom-out spring falls out.  On my forks the bottom-out spring is cone shaped, the smaller diameter end goes up against the under side lip of the damping rod.
It took me hours to get the drift to bite the second fork tube.  Finally, I remembered a little trick I've used before on these sorts of limited grip bolts:  I turned my impact driver to tighten and blipped the trigger, just for 2 or 3 good impacts.  Then switched it back to reverse and took the allen bolt right out.  Wish I had remembered that one sooner   





Step 16:  Enlarge the compression holes to 8mm (5/16") and add two additional holes.  The compression holes are the 4 hole along the bottom of the damping rod, roughly 1/8" stock.

They need to be enlarged with a drill press.


And then 2 more holes need to be added.  Space the new holes the same as the old, 1 cm up and 90* rotation.

De bur all the holes with a file or dremmel.

Step 17:  Clean your fork tubes, damping rods, and other small internal parts with parts cleaner.  You don't want and debris clogging up one of the small passageways.

Step 18:  Reinstall the damping rod into the fork tube.  Tap it back onto the drift then insert it into the fork tube and tighten the allen bolt at the bottom.  Don't forget to install the copper washer on the allen bolt or the bottom out spring on the damping rod, make sure the spring is orientated properly too.

Step 18':  Push the alignment sleeve back into the bottom of the right side fork tube and install the retaining bolt.  No need to tighten this down yet, you'll need to adjust it when installing the wheel.

Here is a picture of the emulator spacer that I needed.  Burning1 has reported that earlier models' damping rods don't require these spacers.


The spacer will ride in the tube between the damping rod and emulator like such:


Step 19:  Set the preload: Slide the emulator spacer down the tube followed by the Emulator (the spring on the emulator points up), then the new fork spring, washer, and finally the old preload spacer.  Both my preload spacers would need to be shortened, so I reused the stock spacers instead of cutting the supplied spacing material from Race Tech.  The top cap on the fork tubes will compress the springs 18mm below the top of the tubes once installed so I marked my spacers 2mm above the top of the tubes giving myself 20mm of preload.  Cut the spacers down, I used a dremmel again.




Step 20:  Remove the washers, springs and emulators.  Adjust the emulators if need be (Tuning info found at bottom of post) and reinstall the emulators, leave the springs and washers out.

Step 21:  Set the fork oil level.  I bought a tool for this.  It was $20 and worth every penny, made setting the oil level a breeze.  Hold the fork tube vertically while compressed and fill with oil.  Pump the tube up and down several time to get all the air bubbles out of the lower section.  Add more oil if needed.  While the tube is fully compressed use the tool to suck out excess oil to desired level.  Drop in the spring, washer, and preload spacer.  Put the cap on and tighten it down.  Be sure you don't cross thread the cap.  If you have really stiff springs or a lot of preload you may need a mate to help you out with this, I was fine solo mio.



Step 22:  Slide the fork tubes back into the triple tree and tighten the pinch bolt for the upper tripple (hex).  Be sure that you have the same amount of fork sticking out above the upper triple on each tube.  There isn't much room for adjustment with stock bars, but if you have bar risers you can adjust the height to your liking.  Don't sink the triple down the tubes more then 25mm (1") or you will have problems at full compression.  You can leave the lower triple pinch bolts loose for now.  They will get tightened after the wheel has been installed.

Step 23:  Reinstall the lower speedometer routing bracket.

Step 24:  Reinstall the brake hose routing bracket.

Step 25:  Loosely bolt the fork brace onto the fork tubes.  Don't forget to include the upper speedometer cable routing bracket on the back left bolt.


Step 26:  Bolt the fender to the fork brace.

Step 27:  Roll the wheel into place with the speedometer pickup set into the left side of the wheel and the axle spacer on the right.  Slide the axle through the forks and wheel.

Step 28:  Adjust the side to side play of the wheel between the forks by pushing the alignment sleeve (in the bottom of the right fork) over to take up all of the play, then tightening it's pinch bolt.  Picture shows gap that must be filled:


Step 29:  Loosely install the axle castle nut.

Step 30:  Install the brake caliper.  Be sure the brake pads are separated, slip the caliper between the wheel and the rotor, and slide the rotor in between the pads.  Bolt it to the right fork tube.  Make sure you haven't put any twists in the brake line.  If you pulled the front brake lever while the caliper was off you'll find that there isn't enough room between the pads for the rotor.  You need to pull out both pads.  Then using a c-clamp press the piston back into the caliper housing.  Don't put the c-clamp directly onto the piston, use a block of wood between.  Then throw your pads back in, mount that bad boy up, and slap yourself for pulling the brake lever.

Step 31:  Shake the wheel side to side to get everything centered and the forks straight.  Maybe give it a kick or two.  Then tighten your lower triple tree pinch bolts, fork brace, and axle.  And throw a cotter pin on the castle nut.

Step 32:  Tighten the top caps on the fork tubes.

Step 33:  Take the bike off of the lift / jack / 2x4's / cement block and go ride it.

Info on Cartridge Emulator tuning:
You will need a T-20 bit and a 9mm socket/wrench.
The Emulators come with 2 springs.  Yellow is harder, 64 in/lbs.  Blue is softer, 40 in/lbs.  They also offer super soft and super hard springs if you need them.
Then you can adjust the preload on the spring from 1-7 turns.
There is also the option of drilling up to 2 additional rebound holes (the Emulators come with dimples in the drill locations).
Then you can change your fork oil level, oil weight, spring preload, and spring rate on top of that to get a fork that works exactly as you want it to.

I weigh 160lbs in the buff and am setting my bike up for slightly aggressive sport touring.  I'm planning on starting out with the blue spring, 4 turns of preload, 15 weight oil, 110mm oil level, .8 kg/mm springs, and ~20mm of spring preload with the stock rebound holes in the emulators.

Torque Specs:
Front Axle : 26-38 ft lbs
Upper Triple Pinch Bolts : 13-20 ft lbs
Lower Triple Pinch Bolts : 18-29 ft lbs
Front Caliper Bolts : 22-45 ft lbs
Bar Clamp Bolts : 6-9 ft lbs (in case you need to move your handle bar to get to the fork tube caps while the tubes are in the triple tree)

[Phil B]

Nice details! Looking forward to the next installment.

Meanwhile, http://wiki.gstwins.com/index.php?n=Upgrades.FrontSprings updated

[The Buddha]

This is more work than katana fe swap, of course the kat FE aint no cartridge emulator.
Cool.
Buddha.

[steezin_and_wheezin]

great job mang!! i'm stoked to hear how they work for ya

[Phil B]

This is more work than katana fe swap, of course the kat FE aint no cartridge emulator.

Questions that come to my mind are:

1. what front end swap (that has minimal work involved) lets you keep some kind of front fairing
2. what front end swap gives you new suspension tech that is as good or better than cartridge emulators?

[Slack]

I thought about doing the Katana front end swap.  But after spending all that money, and with all the headache for the gauges, steering stem, and getting a touring handle bar to fit, it still wouldn't perform as well as these forks will.  And I'd say it's about as much extra work as replacing the valve seals while doing springs.  You don't have to break it down as far, but you have to drill and de bur a dozen holes.  It would have been nice to have dual front brakes.  That's the only reason I would have done the katana swap, but then I'd still want to put in the Emulators. . . At that point you've spent so much money you could have put in a quality front fork to begin with (GSXR etc).  Which is why if I do ever build a track bike I'll skip the Katana front end swap and go straight to a quality front end.

[BaltimoreGS]

This is more work than katana fe swap, of course the kat FE aint no cartridge emulator.

Questions that come to my mind are:

1. what front end swap (that has minimal work involved) lets you keep some kind of front fairing
2. what front end swap gives you new suspension tech that is as good or better than cartridge emulators?

1.  CBR600F1 Hurricane is 37mm, fits in the stock GS triple clamp.  Works better with '89 style handle bars if you want to retain the stock ride height.  Not a huge improvement technology wise over the GS but you do get dual front calipers.
2.  Any actual cartridge front end   

-Jessie

[Twisted]

I had a look at these for my Ducati and was quoted $1000+. What did they set you back for the GS?

[Slack]

$135 off amazon, IIRC.  They are $170 direct from Race Tech.  (I payed $110 for the Race Tech springs from Bike Bandit, I think.  They are $120 direct from Race Tech).

[Twisted]

Sorry I am getting confused with a fork cartridge kit.

[The Buddha]

Kat forks the biggest thing you gain is that they are 41mm and dual disks.
Other than that, kat legs pre 96 are easier to take apart, no need to broom stick. They also seem better made than GS legs, they rust a lot less and they are closer tolerance to the seals. The legs on a GS a a few thou under their seal size, you have a few more 1000 of wear and they wont seal anymore. fewer problems with kat legs there they seem to be closer and better made ...

Cool.
Buddha.

[Phil B]

Questions that come to my mind are:

1. what front end swap (that has minimal work involved) lets you keep some kind of front fairing
2. what front end swap gives you new suspension tech that is as good or better than cartridge emulators?

1.  CBR600F1 Hurricane is 37mm, fits in the stock GS triple clamp.  Works better with '89 style handle bars if you want to retain the stock ride height.  Not a huge improvement technology wise over the GS but you do get dual front calipers.
2.  Any actual cartridge front end   

I dont know what bikes have cartridge front ends, and will fit, hence the question :-/
I dont really need double brakes. but better front suspension is a win.

[BaltimoreGS]

Misunderstood your question    There is no cartridge fork I know of that is a direct swap.  Any front end could probably be modified to fit with some effort.  The most common modification is to press the gs stem into another bike's triple clamp.  Buddha used to sell Katana triples with the GS stem already fitted.  Another option is custom spacers Ben2go sells that allow the stock Katana triple to fit up to the GS frame.  I have a set but haven't gotten around to trying them.  The GS500F is different than most sport bikes in that the gauges are mounted on the triple, not the fairing.  If you want to retain the stock gauges you have to fab up some sort of mount.

-Jessie

[Slack]

 




woops

[burning1]

The manual states that 2 new holes need to be added, but if you measure the ID of the damping rod, multiply it by pi*r^2, and compare that to the area of 4 10mm holes, you'll probably find that enlarging the existing holes is sufficient.

I can't emphasize what you said enough: A drill press is required. You cannot drill the rods out using a hand held drill - you're liable to just hurt yourself, ruin your bits, and wedge the drill in the hole. Although drill presses are handy and not super expensive, pretty much any machine shop will have one, and it's a pretty cheap job to do.

While you're in there, I recommend doing your oil seals, and upgrading the springs as well.

BTW: Dave Moss makes a set of specially modified Emulators that give enhanced performance over the stock units, and he offers it at a good price. He changes the damping ports for rebound, and adds a shim stack. Highly recommend his version. Call Catalyst Reaction - the prices are very reasonable.

[Phil B]

...
While you're in there, I recommend doing your oil seals, and upgrading the springs as well.
...

oh wait i forgot about that. 
erm... so should one use the same spring strength as without the emulators.. or something different?

[burning1]

If the seals aren't leaking, no point in replacing them now that the forks are together.

Same springs should be fine. If you're doing trackdays and working with a suspension expert, you might find that emulators allow you to run different springs. You'd be blown away by how much effort we put into tuning the front end of my race bike, though.

[Slack]

The manual states that 2 new holes need to be added, but if you measure the ID of the damping rod, multiply it by pi*r^2, and compare that to the area of 4 10mm holes, you'll probably find that enlarging the existing holes is sufficient.

I can't emphasize what you said enough: A drill press is required. You cannot drill the rods out using a hand held drill - you're liable to just hurt yourself, ruin your bits, and wedge the drill in the hole. Although drill presses are handy and not super expensive, pretty much any machine shop will have one, and it's a pretty cheap job to do.

While you're in there, I recommend doing your oil seals, and upgrading the springs as well.

BTW: Dave Moss makes a set of specially modified Emulators that give enhanced performance over the stock units, and he offers it at a good price. He changes the damping ports for rebound, and adds a shim stack. Highly recommend his version. Call Catalyst Reaction - the prices are very reasonable.

Actually enlarging the 4 holes to 8 mm without adding the 2 extra would leave you with an identical surface area between all the holes and the end of the damping rod.
(0.4^2)*3.14*4 = 2.0something cm^2
The opening on the damping rod, crudely measured with a ruler is 16 mm:     (.8^2)*3.14*1 = 2.0something cm^2
I don't know much about fluid dynamics, but I think* that there would be more turbulence and less flow through the 4 holes then there would be as a straight shot out of the end of the damping rod (taking into account not just area but velocity as well).
With six 8 mm holes you know that the bottle neck will be at the end of the damping rod (at the emulator), it doesn't hurt to have any extra flow through the compression holes.  I did however consider drilling 7 mm holes instead of 8 mm: The Emulator instructions say that smaller bikes (31-35 mm forks) use 6 mm holes.  But then they suggest everyone else use 8 mm.  Since our forks are just barely larger then the 6 mm suggestion I thought about 7 mm, the math is:    (.35^2)*3.14*6 = 2.3something cm^2     That might have sufficed, if I knew more about fluid dynamics I might have calculated if that would have sufficed.  But I don't, so I just drilled six 8 mm holes, knowing that it would be enough flow, and I couldn't have too much, as long as I didn't sacrifice the structural integrity of the damping rod.  Math of final product:   (.4^2)*3.14*6 = 3.0something cm^2

You definitely need a drill press.  I got mine on sale at harbor freight for $45.

I'm not going to do my seals until they start leaking.  They are only 7 years old and should hold up for a few more years.  It isn't very hard to get back in there once you know your way around.

Dave's kit adds a shim stack to the spring on the emulator for more preload?  I'll have to check them out, but I hope that for my non track needs I can tune the stock emulator to my liking.

Did you run these when you had your stock forks in?  I know it won't do me any good but I'd be interested to know how you had the forks tuned, the whole 9 yards.  Did you need a spacer for the emulators or do they just drop right into earlier model's damping rods?

[burning1]

Nothing wrong with drilling an extra hole, but as you confirmed, it probably isn't necessary. The rod is already over-sided, and won't be contributing to damping. You can open the holes up to 9-10mm if you like.

In the case of my GS, we made adjustments to the oil height, viscosity, preload, and fork height to get the forks right... And even then, I was often bottoming them out on the brakes. I had .85 springs, and really would have benefited from .90s.

Ended up using a 100mm oil height - which was just shy of hydraulic lock with the Racetech springs. Added 1-2mm of preload over stock, and eventually went with 20 weight oil, if I recall correctly.

I eventually installed GSX-R forks with .90s. We ended up adjusting preload, compression, and rebound to get damping close to right. I'll eventually pull them apart, replace the oil, increase the height a little, and continue working from there.

Oil height is incredibly important for bottoming resistance. As you get towards 100mm, you dramatically increase the effective spring rate of the forks at bottom of travel. 10+bar of pressure will tend to make them pretty stiff. When I sold the forks, I lowered the oil height to 120mm, and they were noticeably more compliant.

[Slack]

So you didn't run Emulators?

Has anyone on the board run these in a GS 500 fork before?  I was wondering why Race Tech didn't know that I would need spacers to fit them on the damping rods.