I think I am bottoming out my forks on potholes and bumps. Basically theres a big BANG when I go in to one. I weight 150lbs, so suspension isn't usually an issue for me. I am pretty happy with the suspension otherwise. Maybe coming off a SMC I need to adjust my riding style too

I read a lot of threads about swaps. I know 94 F2 or F3 internals fit. There's also the racetech emulators. How do the emulators compare to the newer forks. What would be better?

 

F2s in stock form are sprung for about a 140 lb. rider, which is pretty soft as it is, but given your weight, if your bottoming it out, then my guess is you are seriously low on fork oil, that would be the first thing to check.

I weigh around 200 with gear, and even before I upped my springs to Race Tech .95KG/mm units, I never bottomed out the front fork.

 

I opened my forks yesterday to swap the spring between my old F2 and this one. There was definitely oil in there. Maybe even too much. It's as high as the top of the spring. There was no change. I remember my old F2 being a LOT better. I used to ride fire roads with it. Maybe these forks have the wrong oil? What weight would you recommend?

 

OH it just clicked. I bet it's way too much oil making it to bottom out.

 

Bingo, baby!!

I should have mentioned that excess oil can cause issues, just like little to no oil, but it's usually the lack of oil, due to leaks, that most folks encounter!

 

To get your level correct, you'll need the forks off the bike, and if the oil is not new, you should just dump the existing oil while you're in there anyway - after you dump all the oil, pump the fork a bit, to get as much evacuated as possible.

Then with your forks straight up and down, pour a little under the specified capacity, into the forks, with the spring out, and pump the forks at least 5 times, then with the fork full compressed, add oil until the level is 135mm from the top of the fork leg - if it's a '91 or '92, the level should be 118mm from the top.

I don't have my manual with me at the moment, but I believe that if you put in about 13.5 to 14 oz. in each leg initially, that should give you about the right "starting point" for adjusting the level to 135mm, for the '93 and '94 forks, and just reduce that amount a bit, for the '91 and '92 models... either way, you should be able to get by with just 1 quart of oil.
OEM is 5W, but depending on how firm you want the damping, you could always step up to 7.5W or 10W.

 

I emptied them last night and refilled them with the right amount. The feel better. Before I start changing oil and all that I have to make a decision if I am upgrading to F2 cartridge forks or emulators. Any idea which one's are better JNS?

 

I've heard very good things about the cartridge emulators, but even those, in just damping rod forks, are not as nice as a cartridge fork ('94 and above) - some might dispute that, saying that the emulators really are great, and I wouldn't doubt that at all, but know this, adjustments cannot be made externally - the fork caps will have to come off, the springs removed, and I believe you'll have to have something rigged up for reaching down into the tube, to pluck out the emulator.

My personal recommendation, would be to drop in uppers/internals from '94 forks, or from F3 forks, into the lowers. There is a slight modification required to use the F3 parts, but I think it's relatively simple - I dont' know precisely what it is that must be done, as I've never personally put F3 uppers in F2 sliders. The easiest solution would be to just get some '94 forks and bolt 'em up.
At that point, the product world opens up a little more, with some Race Tech Gold Valve fork kits, though if you're closer to the beginner-to-intermediate riding level, you would probably be good with just the ability to adjust rebound damping, using the '94 to '98 cartridge forks, and the expenditure for these kits might just be overkill... the truth is, depending on your riding intensity, you might not even really benefit from this additional adjustability.

 

Bro i'm PRO.

This is my "touring" bike. Reality is, while I love my SMC to death 1000KM 2UP rides get unpleasant. I think the F series strike a very good balance between all out sport bike and touring bike. I spent lots of money on the SMC so I picked up this F2 because it was cheap, I have another F2 for parts, and because me and my GF had awesome times on my previous one.

I am a bit fussier about suspension now than I was when I had my old F2, but overall I don't regret my choice to go back to the F2 My biggest problem is when I have the bike fully loaded with my GF and all our camping/climbing gear. The weight doubles. I am not sure what spring rate to choose. If I go with the 2up weight I am afraid it will be way too harsh. The roads are not that good around here.

I don't want to turn this into another project. I found these from a SV board. apparently they are just as good as racetech valve emulators. Harley Parts | Aftermarket Harley Davidson Motorcycle and Custom Parts and Accessories | Debrix Cycles - www.debrix.com For $36 they are definitely worth a shot.


BTW the bike had 100ML extra oil.