Are my forks fading?

[cal1mr]

So I've been going on these long, aggressive street rides lately through the hills of malibu in the los angeles area and towards the end of said rides my front end, I'm thinking my forks, starts to feel real loose and uncontrolled. The ride starts with everything up front feeling nice, tight and damped, then becomes unstable, then by the time I'm back home it's back to normal. Am I overheating the oil or something? It's an '02 rsvr and the forks were most likely never serviced.
On a side note, I've been looking to upgrade the forks anyway lately. Anyone know anything about the traxxion dynamics gas charged cartridges? Am I stuck with Ohlins if I just want to do internals. Basically, I could use more front grip. Already had the stock stuff set to my weight and the rear shock was rebuilt and revalved, it feels great in the back. Some help?

[Sensei]

It does sound like they could do with a service . If you are getting them pulled apart then you may as well get them kitted which will give the front a much better sharp bump compilance & feed back depending on the spec you use , Have SBK spec forks in my 03RSVR to go with the custom built TTX36 rear shock & the bikes feed back & ride is Unbelieveable compared to the stock Ohlins it has standard .

[PennyPasta]

http://www.trackdaymag.com/Articles/...-Enhanced.aspx Read this. It's about upgrading your specific Ohlins suspension and what you can expect.

[Diablo1]

Ohlins recommend that you change your fork fluid every year. Can't say that I follow their schedule, but I'd bet the consistency of your damping would improve if you put in fresh fluid.

[MaKuono]

My "new" mille r also needs a fork repair/rebuild/whatever.

When i leave the bike for some time in the garage, it starts leaking.

Anybody here can inform me on the references of the parts i should buy and what kind of oil i should use?

thank you.

Pennypasta: what is the cost of the kit you just upgraded your fork with? It work on the mille r 01 fork too?

Ricardo

[norcolmille]

with all of my bikes - I would pick the faster cheaper methid. Change the fork fluid and check your tire pressures.....before and after your canyon ride...

[velowood]

Makuono- you need seals, obviously. The last bike I bought was crashed and needed seals- I think that may be WHY it was crashed.

[FowlPlay]

fork oil is often overlooked, and with the tolerances involved with the Ohlins gear the service is quite important to

[kick6]

I think traxxion dynamics gas charged forks are beyond overkill for a streetbike. Honestly.....I'm scared to think how hard you must be pushing in order to feel fork fade on the street!

[cal1mr]

Yeah, didn't know they were that expensive, too rich for my blood. Is there a cartridge kit that fits the non radial '02 forks? not a lot comes up on google. The ones AF1 sell are for later models.

[PennyPasta]

MaKuono, Parts costs are in the article which I linked earlier in this thread. Sorry, they are in dollars, not Euros!

Cal!mr, If you have an R with Ohlins, you already have 25mm cartridges in your forks. The upgrades listed in the earlier link are your best solution for the Ohlins forks. If you have a standard Mille, Traxxion Dynamics sells the AK-20 kit, which costs about a grand and comes preassmebled. You can easily drop them in at home. Here is an article that TrackdayMag.com published on installing the AK-20 kit in a Gixxer. http://www.trackdaymag.com/Articles/...ridge-Kit.aspx

A 20mm kit that uses your stock internals (Race Tech, Traxxion, Ohlins, ect.) would be cheaper but requires far more knowledge to install yourself, so factor in the time of a suspension professional if you decide on a valve kit.

[cal1mr]

Ah, I see, thanks. Looks like I'll be following in your footsteps penny, cheers.

[hank]

It's an '02 rsvr and the forks were most likely never serviced.

I didn't read past this....

Your forks will feel amazing relative to what they are now if the ONLY thing you do is properly service them and have your sag set to your weight.

[cal1mr]

Can't blame you, Hank. The thing is I got the bike in '07 with only 700 miles on it. Today, she has about 3800mi. Also, the sag is set for my weight.

[Exdukenut]

Ohlins here in Oz recommend servicing on the forks every 20k kms. For the rear Ohlins shocks they recommend 40k kms.

Replace the fork sealls with K4 Gixxer thou ones. They are double lipped, and cheaper than the Ohlins ones.

And yes serviced forks with new oil and fork seals will dramatically improve your forks.

Also with leaking seals, you can get some film negative and slide up and into the seals, then around the fork, and this can dislodge possible dirt in the seals as a first easy and cheap fix. If it works great, if it still leaks replace with new Gixxer seals as above.