82 vs. 83 fork internals

[supervision]

Ok, here's all all I know; they list a emulator for the XS650, and Kiwi says that RD 350 fits also.  The Instructuctins with the kit explain how to do the drilling.  I like the way the person did a slot on the rod, to accomplish the same result. The important part is that you provide enough oil flow to the valve, and that is not messing up the rebound oil curcit.  Any adapting to make the valve seat against the rod is benifical.  Race Tech, doesn't want to say what valve to use because they don't know our forks per/say.  But as you can see by the photo, it's not to diffucult to adapt an  emualtor, to a vision .  I chose the XS 650, kiwi says the RD350.  (they are 2 different part #'s, maybe the RD fits better)  The only other way to do it is send in a fork to them, I chose not to.  If someone wants to send them one, maybe they will come up with a better part # for fitting our aplication, Ididn't think it was worth the trouble.. I compaired the fork sizes of the XS650, and went for it. 

[supervision]

 Kevin, on the springs I used;  I used stock springs and cut off 4 coils, to make them stiffer. Sounds funny, but it is true.  The longer a spring is, the softer it becomes.  As you reduce the # of coils, the same, (now shorter) spring becomes stiffer!  The BIG CONSIDERATION is that if you cut too many coils, it wont travel the full distance, as needed to function.   By measureing the size of a coil and space between, and mulitplying that by the # of coils, and spaces, you can figure how many coils you can afford to lose, and still get the necessary travel of the final result.  In the end you make a pvc spacer to provide  the correct  ride height.

[Cdnlouie]

Supervision: How does the emulator seal against the damping rod?  I think I am remembering that the original holes come up through the top of the damping rod, so it would have to seal at this point of contact by spring pressure?

Alternatively, (if you happen to remember) how much clearance was there between the emulator and fork tube for the XS650? The same question goes out to Kiwibum on the RD350 emulator?

How would you describe the effect of this emulator on your finished product?  Did you try the emulator with the stock spring length at first?

Thanks for these helpful comments,

CDNL

[kiwibum]

Please note I meant the RZ350 (I have edited my posts to reflect this) looked at the kit this morning and took a photo for you while I was doing the seals on a set of ZX400 forks. The part number is FEGV S3301, I bought it off a guy on Ebay who would send them to me in New Zealand since I didn't get any replies from Racetech about shipping. Shop round, the ones on ebay were $10 cheaper than Racetech direct from what I remember. The fit is perfect with the FEGV S3301 for the spring and damper, from what I remember the XS650 one was slightly smaller diameter. Just checked, the RD350 and XS650 use the same one, part number FEGV S3001, and it's smaller than the FEGV S3301, I went for the one with a snug fit.
FEGV S3001    FRK EMULATOR-23.8/16.4/13.5mm
FEGV S3301    FRK EMULATOR-26.5/19.5/13.5mm (I have this one, specified for an RZ350)
Racetech price is $170USD.
Sorry can't comment on what it's like, still haven't fitted it :(. I would say it should make a big difference, I noticed a big difference between my 550 with with standard springs and progressive ones (wondered why the ride was worse when I put the 400 forks on it:-). Not sure if SV mentioned it but the instructions are to shorten the tube spacer not the springs. When I do put them in to start with I'm going to leave the spacer same size so it puts an extra half inch of preload on the springs and see what that does first. One of the aims is to do the changes one at a time and find a way to record the improvements so I can report it back here. But like everything else (including going racing on the XZ) it's all been put back a year to earn some $.

Let me know if this image is too big for the board, link below to higher resolution image (500Kb), the screw driver is pointing to the damper holes that need to be drilled bigger.

http://www.kiwibum.com/images/stories/projects/xz/racetechinfo-hires.jpg

[Night Vision]

slick... I might look into that when I do the 83 dual upgrade.

I have also noticed that the RZ350 shares the same calipers as the 83 Vision.

[supervision]

 That is a better fit than the XS650.  The spring mod is not a Race Tech idea, I read it in another thread.

[kiwibum]

I have also noticed that the RZ350 shares the same calipers as the 83 Vision.

Ya, the RZ350 forks are really a more advanced version of the XZ ones less the trailing design (meaning parts, dimensions). Which is why I'm going to do the bearing slider mod at both ends to bring it to similar spec as the RZ. I think with these slider bearing mods, the race emulator with a fork brace I will have a very acceptable fork setup compared to the original. Wonder if the master cylinder is the same on the RZ as the XZ or a smaller bore?

[Cdnlouie]

Thanks for the pics and updated info KB  ;). One of these days I would enjoy doing this little tweak.  Looking forward to when you get it out for a test.

Good job,

CDNL

[supervision]

  Speaking of emulators, mike's xs is showing some for $ 49.00  They look like he had them Knocked-off

[kiwibum]

That doesn't surprise me, they are really a very simple design and racetech price is very high for what it is. I've considered looking at making some for my other bikes. Problem in making them is sourcing springs with the correct size spring rate and the spring steel discs that allows the oils to flow past. If it was possible to buy the spring and discs somewhere the rest would be fairly easy.