Front Fork Air balance kit may work on Visions

[Cdnlouie]

Here is an interesting kit available for the 2nd generation Ventures for balancing the air in the front fork tubes  ;).  Pretty cheap and not a bad idea to make it a lot easier getting them both at the same PSI setting.  This info was obtained from www.ventureriders.org.

Here is a link to this kit at Dennis Kirk.
http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/tpl/cmn/prodlist.jsp?catId=4&sort=pricedesc&np=0&brandId=612&av=6393

"One of the least expensive but best modifications I have made to my '99 Royal Star Venture was the addition of this "Air Fork Balance Kit". As those of you who own the new Venture know, the front forks are separate and the maximum air pressure is 7 psi. It is very difficult to get the pressure equal and that is where this kit comes in handy.

The kit is made by Progressive Suspension and is available from Dennis Kirk. The part number is 58318 and the price is $23.99. You can order it by calling Dennis Kirk at 1-800-328-9280 and using the part number listed.

Installation is simple and requires only about 15 minutes. You simply remove the valve stem cores from the existing valves, screw these two caps onto the existing valve stems, connect them with the included tubing and you are done."

The Venture valve stems should be the same as a regular valve stem so I can't see why it would not work.  I have not tried this on my Vision, but maybe someone might get to it before me so I am passing it on.

[Lucky]

It's funny you mention that, i just did my second Vision today. i have pics from doing the first one somewhere, but i did it for half the price & it's simple as pie:

obtain 2ea: 1/8" compression/mpt fittings, 8" of 1/8 soft copper & some plumbers putty (in a squeeze tube)

one at a time, drill a hole in each fork tube between the tripple trees (remove the spring first) tap the hole (NPT) install the fittings& 1/8 line.

at this point you can either install the scrader valve inline, or drill out the fork cap for a tire valve. on my 'touring' Vision i have a 30 psi guage installed in the other air cap.  i keep it set around 7-8 psi.

the whole job takes me about an hour start to finish.

While i was at it i allso drilled out a spare waterpump drain plug & tapped it as well, installed a radiator drain petcock in it, just because i could..   ;D

[YellowJacket!]

I trust Lucky implicetly for working on my bike but I still get a bit nervous about drilling holes in my fork tunes.  I might just be the dennis kirk guinea pig and order a set and see what happens.

David

[Lucky]

ok, then i won't mention the 'other' modifications i madeto your bike.  :o 8) ;D

[YellowJacket!]

ok, then i won't mention the 'other' modifications i madeto your bike.  :o 8) ;D

Heh heh heh...I found the front cylinder cutout.  Oh, btw, remember when you left your bike at my house for safe keeping.... that was AFTER I found the cutout.  Tag.. you're it.  ;D  ;D  ;D

David

[Cdnlouie]

I agree your idea Lucky of drilling the tubes is definitely a sweet little fix for the balance tubes, but you do need that 'special touch' of knowing just how to drill, and then get the fittings installed just right without stripping anything, and you know how many different ways this can go wrong.  As long as the threads are the standard air valve stem it should attach quite nicely.  Again, I just saw this gizmo and do not know if it works for the Vision setup, so someone would need to check it out.

This sure beats counting the number of pumps on a little hand pump to try and equalize the setting.  Makes it more readily adjustable for riding style changes as I'm sure you noticed.  It's not a bad little tweak  :).

[Aelwulf]

It's funny you mention that, i just did my second Vision today. i have pics from doing the first one somewhere, but i did it for half the price & it's simple as pie:

obtain 2ea: 1/8" compression/mpt fittings, 8" of 1/8 soft copper & some plumbers putty (in a squeeze tube)

one at a time, drill a hole in each fork tube between the tripple trees (remove the spring first) tap the hole (NPT) install the fittings& 1/8 line.

at this point you can either install the scrader valve inline, or drill out the fork cap for a tire valve. on my 'touring' Vision i have a 30 psi guage installed in the other air cap.  i keep it set around 7-8 psi.

the whole job takes me about an hour start to finish.

While i was at it i allso drilled out a spare waterpump drain plug & tapped it as well, installed a radiator drain petcock in it, just because i could..   ;D

Yeah, see, I understood maybe about half of that. lol Hence why I get nervous exploring solo maintenance the first time on anything.  Thinkin' if I get to it I'll try the Dennis Kirk one as well.

[GT @ oh.]

Sounds very doable..... drill/tap out the caps for screw in valves or tire valves hook up this balancer between and get a more stable front end I likeey

[jasonm.]

I have that same gizmo shown in that link. Mine is 30 years old...I never installed it. The bike it was for ...I sold before installing.  It's rather ugly looking when installed,But functional.

[Squirrels]

I like Lucky's idea of the hole in the forks.  But I wonder if the fitting projecting into the tube might wear on the springs?  My GPZ 750 has linked air forks, and the link consists of two sleeves which slide over the fork tubes, between the two triple trees.  The sleeves are positioned over small holes in each tube, and link with a tube between them.  They slide off when the forks are pulled out of the clamps, and do the job reliably.  The GPZ 550 had this as well, and shared our 35mm fork inner tube diameter, so this may be a possible junkyard job.  No tapping necessary.

-erik

[Tiger]

  The GPZ 550 had this as well, and shared our 35mm fork inner tube diameter, so this may be a possible junkyard job.  No tapping necessary.

:) Hmmmmmmmm, that seems doable... 8)

                      8).......TIGER....... 8)

[Rick G]

I couldn't get the fork caps out of my first Vision  on my first attempt . So I drilled  a hole about 1 inch down from the top , on the rear and threaded  it 1/4 20  and installed a  headless 1/4 20 socket head screw (allen) and locktited it in, worked fine until I found the VW drain plug wrench, to remove the fork cap with,

[jasonm.]

Air forks are old school. Plus they cause seal friction(stiction). Add spacers to preload or get progressive springs. I have stock springs in my '83 w/an 80mm spacer instead of the stock 60mm of preload spacer. I like the ride a bit better than the Progressive brand springs. So I have a spare set of those lyiing around. My static drop is between 2"- 2 1/4" of the 5.5" travel. Which works well to soak up holes and bumps. Never bottoms..., rides smooth...

[Rick G]

My  forks came off the Vision race bike , I was moving at that time so I just put them on , with out inspecting them. Later I  put new seals in  and discovered  that the spacer was a full inch longer , which explanes the harshness when passing over the expansion joints  in concrete highways , or and small bump for that matter.
Air shocks are old hat,  but its a inexpensive modification  and to me worth the investment.  I have been told that air shocks cause premature seal failure , but I have not experienced this.
I think that the cartridge emulators  would be the hot ticket , but are something I can't afford right now.

[Cdnlouie]

Some good points have been made about the pros and cons of air and preload.  I would suggest that preload be your first adjustment to set up the bike for your type of driving and weight.  I have used up to 100mm (1cm) of additional PVC spacer which is pretty much the maximum (80mm would work really well as Jason has suggested) you might want to use with stock springs (also used 10wt fork oil), but the improvements were drastic to say the least.

I agree with Jason on my personal preference of the stock springs since you can get a really luxurious ride out them, as well as good handling if properly setup (which they are not from the factory).  I have to say I like the progressives as well as they give a really firmly planted feel to the bike, superb for a real sport handling feel. The additional preload also eliminates any clunking (often mentioned is past posts) as well, since you introduce the proper amount of compression (spring tension) for your fork tubes.

I also agree with the "old school" that air (while not my first choice) is darn convenient and an excellent back up when you just need some load carrying capability. I added air at the same time I tweaked my 82 front end this summer and I have not had occasion to use it yet, but its nice to have it there.

Perhaps the best setup I have known about, belonged to a fellow named Rick (not "G", goes way back now) who had an adjustable preload fork caps with three settings. That's about the best setup I have seem for these forks.  Pretty slick operation that someone must have made for a race bike in the early days.

Great time to give those forks a real tune-up!

CDNL  ;)
 

[Rick G]

I wonder if that was Rick Laffer ? from Tazmania?

[Night Vision]

I think this is what CDNL was referring to.

http://ridersofvision.net/forum/zindex.php?topic=2724.msg22520#msg22520

[Lucky]

Rick L lost his Vision when his house & garage burned down several years ago.. :(

[Cdnlouie]

Good find NV!  ;D This is the fellow (Rick's 83) who definitely was a good old boy when it comes to Visions. I don't know if he is still around as I have not seen a post for many years.  He actually supplied the 82 carb set that I took to Sirius to get the Keyster carb kits made up way back then. 

Actually, his name is not Rick, but J.R., and I know that Lucky knows who this is. Now, that I'm more familiar with the Vision, I can appreciate what he actually had and wish I had bought them from him.

CDNL

[Lucky]

His name is James Ransome, he was pretty ecsentric..lived in Idaho. he traveled extensivly in a motor  home & raced cars (not sure what)he often sent me parts out of the blue, no charge, once my old red fairing & frame. (beat to hell, but it was free).  he would sometimes answer a request for a part from me or others & then never hear from him again about it. 

He several times wrote me about his bad experiences with people, some pretty harrowing that i wouldn't repeat here. one of the last times i heard from him via email he said he was very sick & probably wouldn't be around much longer, but then he would pop up on here occasionally... but it's been a long time now.

i'll throw him an email & see what happens.

--Lucky