Suspension Upgrades

[Syscrush]

Fork update: the OEM Honda tubes have been discontinued. Order has been placed for TNK tubes from Race Tech - once the tech at TD has a chance to inspect them, they'll decide if they want to use the TNK tubes or go with Forking by Frank.

My preference would be to go with TNK because they are the company (mentioned way back in this thread) that were incredibly helpful and attentive in providing info for me about the possibilities of swapping fork bottoms on USD forks. I'd like to send some business their way.

[Jeff Bennetts]

Fork update: the OEM Honda tubes have been discontinued. Order has been placed for TNK tubes from Race Tech - once the tech at TD has a chance to inspect them, they'll decide if they want to use the TNK tubes or go with Forking by Frank.

My preference would be to go with TNK because they are the company (mentioned way back in this thread) that were incredibly helpful and attentive in providing info for me about the possibilities of swapping fork bottoms on USD forks. I'd like to send some business their way.

Phil, how much of a hurry are you to have them at TD?

[NobleHops]

If I had my project to do over I'd follow in your footsteps in many respects, your bike is going to ride, stop, and turn about as well as a stock-framed CBX is going to I reckon.

That's my hope. The old bias ply tires may be the limiting factor once this other work is done, but they won't be any kind of a limitation for a rider like me on public roads.

...but you'll be safer and more confident no matter how hard you're riding. Money spent on thoughtful chassis upgrades is money well spent. That was the lesson from my short-but-earnest roadracing career.

[Syscrush]

Phil, how much of a hurry are you to have them at TD?

Sooner is better than later - they've already been ordered.

Why do you ask?

[Syscrush]

...but you'll be safer and more confident no matter how hard you're riding. Money spent on thoughtful chassis upgrades is money well spent. That was the lesson from my short-but-earnest roadracing career.

Don't forget more comfortable.

I've never raced, but have done racing school and maybe a dozen track days, sometimes on my street-ridden bike - and I contend that good suspension is at least as important on the street as it is on the track. I've ridden some gnarly tracks, but never one that was potholed like city streets in the frost belt. Also never been surprised by washboard pavement on a blind turn on the track.

As far as I'm concerned, hitting the brakes while turning on rough & dirty pavement taxes a motorcycle's suspension at least as much as anything you're likely to encounter on a track.

When I upgraded my SV650 from cartridge emulators to good cartridge forks, I noticed the improvement more on the street than at the track.

As far as allocating funds goes, I am a fervent believer that suspension improvements can change the whole character of a bike for the better, while money spent on engine upgrades tend to be incremental improvements at best.

[NobleHops]

...but you'll be safer and more confident no matter how hard you're riding. Money spent on thoughtful chassis upgrades is money well spent. That was the lesson from my short-but-earnest roadracing career.

Don't forget more comfortable.

I've never raced, but have done racing school and maybe a dozen track days, sometimes on my street-ridden bike - and I contend that good suspension is at least as important on the street as it is on the track. I've ridden some gnarly tracks, but never one that was potholed like city streets in the frost belt. Also never been surprised by washboard pavement on a blind turn on the track.

As far as I'm concerned, hitting the brakes while turning on rough & dirty pavement taxes a motorcycle's suspension at least as much as anything you're likely to encounter on a track.

When I upgraded my SV650 from cartridge emulators to good cartridge forks, I noticed the improvement more on the street than at the track.

As far as allocating funds goes, I am a fervent believer that suspension improvements can change the whole character of a bike for the better, while money spent on engine upgrades tend to be incremental improvements at best.

I'm with you on all of this.

[Jeff Bennetts]

Phil, how much of a hurry are you to have them at TD?

Sooner is better than later - they've already been ordered.

Why do you ask?

I have an extra set but it's probably just as well you go with something brand new and I might do an AK-20 update to them after seeing how your's work out, I'm curious how much better they are compared to a set I have that have the full RaceTech mod and whether it's worth the extra money?

[Syscrush]

I have an extra set but it's probably just as well you go with something brand new and I might do an AK-20 update to them after seeing how your's work out, I'm curious how much better they are compared to a set I have that have the full RaceTech mod and whether it's worth the extra money?

What mods are worth what money depends entirely on the person doing the spending.

Having ridden the same bike (my old SV) before & after upgrading from the Race Tech treatment to full OEM cartridge forks (43mm RSU forks from an R6), I expect the difference to be significant in some circumstances but slight in the majority of normal riding. My position on this is that it's those exceptional circumstances that are most important. I think suspension should be built for dealing with extremes - kind of the suspension equivalent of "dress for the crash, not the ride".

Once everything is back together, I hope I'll have a chance to let some experienced CBXers take it for a spin and provide some unbiased impressions.

[Jeff Bennetts]

I have an extra set but it's probably just as well you go with something brand new and I might do an AK-20 update to them after seeing how your's work out, I'm curious how much better they are compared to a set I have that have the full RaceTech mod and whether it's worth the extra money?

What mods are worth what money depends entirely on the person doing the spending.

Having ridden the same bike (my old SV) before & after upgrading from the Race Tech treatment to full OEM cartridge forks (43mm RSU forks from an R6), I expect the difference to be significant in some circumstances but slight in the majority of normal riding. My position on this is that it's those exceptional circumstances that are most important. I think suspension should be built for dealing with extremes - kind of the suspension equivalent of "dress for the crash, not the ride".

Once everything is back together, I hope I'll have a chance to let some experienced CBXers take it for a spin and provide some unbiased impressions.

Yes, good points.

I think you have set the bar pretty high with your build, looking forward to your ride reports.

[Syscrush]

Shocks have cleared Canadian customs and are <20 miles from the shop for "further processing". I have a date with my mechanic to help with test-fitting the shocks, swinger (with larger pivot bolt), and chain & sprockets on Saturday morning, conditional on their arrival before EOD Friday.

Fork tubes from TNK have arrived at TD, and the tech is very pleased with them. The lowers came back from the powdercoater that they use, but were unacceptable in terms of finish quality, so they've gone back. No hard ETA yet on completion of the forks, but the recoated lowers are the last item outstanding - when they get back to TD and pass inspection, my forks go back together and then start their spring migration north.

I'm tentatively scheduled to bring the bike & all front end parts to the fabricator's shop late March (after the dust settles from Daytona Bike Week) so that the front end can be taken care of.

Between now and then, the fuse block is being relocated to behind the right side cover where my R/R used to be, and we're also swapping the bike to a keyless RFID ignition so that the custom triple won't need to mount an ignition cylinder (also because I think it's cool).Getting rid of both of those items will also make it easier to mount the GPS without interfering with either one.

[Syscrush]

Today I ordered my handlebars (Pro Taper 1-1/8" CR Mid bend in black), bar clamps (stock for a Duke 690), and a GPS mount (KTM accessory that mounts across the top of the Duke 690 bar clamps).

When trying to finalize my bar choice yesterday, I came across the Easton EXP bars & clamps. This got me really worked up and excited until I found out that they're discontinued. Too bad, I think they look really mean and would be right at home on a CBX:



The Pro Taper 1-1/8" bars will look good, too - and the clamps will be hidden beneath the GPS anyhow.

[Syscrush]

Shocks arrived today, forks shipped today and will be here next week (although they won't be ready to go on until late Mar).

Things are happening. Tomorrow I head to the shop to consult with the mechanic as we test fit the swingarm and shocks. We're going to try with the 14mm pivot bolt first, and if that looks OK, we're gonna put the 16mm drill to the frame. If that doesn't look OK, we'll figure out what's wrong and plan next steps from there.

[Syscrush]

Test fitting went very well:





We did this test fitting first with the 14mm pivot bolt, and everything lined up just dandy. Aftermarket shocks and an aftermarket swinger, and it went together basically like OEM. Right now I am very pleased with YSS and with Trac - and of course with my mechanic.


There were 3 issues to contend with:

1. Trac didn't supply the bushings that go in the swingarm eyes that the shock clevis mounts to. These are used on a bunch of old Hondas, and my mechanic actually had a pair in his car that he had picked up for one of his own bikes. :)
2. The spacer for the swingarm pivot (the one that goes between the 2 bearings on the pivot bolt) was too short - like more than 15mm too short. The shop's bits&pieces box yielded a spacer from a CB900 that slips beautifully on the 16mm pivot bolt. It's too long, but their lathe is out of commission so they'll have it cut down later this week.
3. The leading edge of the swingarm is almost touching the rear of the engine cases. This may be because of the play of having the 16mm ID bearings on the 14mm pivot bolt, so we're going to test it against its full range of motion to check for chafing once the frame has been drilled out and we've gone to the 16mm pivot bolt.

The Trac swinger has more wheelbase adjustment than the OEM one - I think that the tire will interfere with the fender with the axle where it is now, but there's plenty of room to move it forward. There's plenty of clearance between the shocks and the wheel assembly, including the sprocket, the chain guard, and the caliper & brake torque arm. Either the swingarm or the shocks have given me a bit of additional ride height even without using the adjustment offered by the shocks, so I know I'll be able to get it set up so that it goes onto the c-stand very easily.

I am feeling MEGA relieved. If the shocks and swingarm both differed a bit too much from OEM in opposite ways, I could have ended up with some major obstacles to deal with.

[Jeff Bennetts]

Test fitting went very well:

I am feeling MEGA relieved. If the shocks and swingarm both differed a bit too much from OEM in opposite ways, I could have ended up with some major obstacles to deal with.

[*]The leading edge of the swingarm is almost touching the rear of the engine cases. This may be because of the play of having the 16mm ID bearings on the 14mm pivot bolt, so we're going to test it against its full range of motion to check for chafing once the frame has been drilled out and we've gone to the 16mm pivot bolt.

I had the same problem when I did my ZRX swingarm swap, look close at the rear of the block and if the interference is at the seam (lip) of the engine case's you have quite a bit of material that can be removed. It still wasn't enough for my ZRX swinger to clear so I had a slot machined into the swingarm at the interference point and plenty of meat was left on the bone.

Getting closer.

[Syscrush]

I sent that pic to my suspension guy, who pointed out that the shock reservoir is very close to the luggage rack, and that the shocks will rotate a bit as the suspension compresses. Not a huge issue if it needs to be clearanced, but definitely another thing to check.