Front Fork Preload Adjusters

[akapellen17]

I am looking to put preload adjusters on the front forks. I have seen them where there is a washer that can be pushed down to adjust the preload. There are not many any options for a gs500 except for one option. I am curious what the thread pitch is on the fork caps if anyone has any idea what they are. Obviously I know they are 37mm, just don't know the thread pitch. The guy that I am talking to says that the threads are different from different year GS500s but I thought the forks were the same throughout the years. So my bike is a 2005 and am curious on the thread pitch. Thanks

[EdChen]

http://m.ebay.com/itm/FRONT-FORK-BOLT-FOR-SUZUKI-GS500-GS-500-SILVER-FORK-CAP-ADJUSTERS-/251993910085?nav=SEARCH

There are some on ebay, but they claim to only fit early years. I can't confirm the treads, but I find it hard to believe that the threads would be different. I would imagine that the 37mm caps from a cbr250 would be the same as ours too.

One thing to note though, if you have the stock bars, you may not be able to get them to fit underneath.

[HPP8140]

http://m.ebay.com/itm/FRONT-FORK-BOLT-FOR-SUZUKI-GS500-GS-500-SILVER-FORK-CAP-ADJUSTERS-/251993910085?nav=SEARCH

There are some on ebay, but they claim to only fit early years. I can't confirm the treads, but I find it hard to believe that the threads would be different. I would imagine that the 37mm caps from a cbr250 would be the same as ours too.

One thing to note though, if you have the stock bars, you may not be able to get them to fit underneath.

It's the depth of the threads that is different. The cap from my 1995 GS don't fit the newer set of forks I have.

[akapellen17]

I see. So would those not work for me?

[RichDesmond]

There's also not much value to fork preload adjusters. They don't make the spring any softer or stiffer, all they are good for is setting sag. That's pretty much a "set it and forget it" thing, so it's not hard to do it once by adjusting spacer length.

http://www.sonicsprings.com/catalog/preload_tech_article.php

[akapellen17]

Yea I understand that it doesn't change the stiffness of the spring. I just wanted to add some more tuneability to the forks. Since this will eventually be a track bike, I wanted to be able to make quick changes in preload. Like if it's wet conditions, I can soften the preload for better performance in the wet (I understand that that won't make the spring softer, just put it into a more workable range for the conditions) my other option would be to have different sized spacers already precut so that I can swap them out, but that's a little more difficult

[HPP8140]

I see. So would those not work for me?

Not sure. The cap thread depth was shorter for my new forks compared to my 95, which were deeper. So when I tried to use the 95 cap, it only screwed in little more than half way.

[akapellen17]

Alright! Thanks for letting me know!

[HPP8140]

yeah, I liked the recessed socket cap of the 95 better, so I tried and that's how I found out.

[Slack]

You could pick up a set of pre 96 forks and swap all your internals into them, then sell your forks. But I think there's a difference in the front brake. I'm not sure if a 2000+ caliper will fit on pre 96 forks.  Maybe some one else will chime in.

[Slack]

Just realized you could pull the fork tubes from the pre 96 fork and install them in your fork legs, if the brake turns out to be an issue. Not too sure if that is less work then making 3 or 4 different sets of spacers, but it's an option.

[akapellen17]

It's a good idea, but I think it's a bit overkill for a small little adjustment. I think I'm just going to do the multiple space idea. Thanks though!

[RichDesmond]

...Like if it's wet conditions, I can soften the preload for better performance in the wet (I understand that that won't make the spring softer, just put it into a more workable range for the conditions) my other option would be to have different sized spacers already precut so that I can swap them out, but that's a little more difficult

LOL, you're overestimating the amount of trackside tuning that gets done. Once you have a good setup you really don't mess with it again. Or at least you shouldn't.