So. One of my forks is super smooth like butter on a warm muffin, and the other has a sizable delay before the rebound valve kicks in. Like... when you push the fork in, it snaps right back out, but halfway through the return the rebound circuit "catches" it and it returns just like the other fork for the last half of the rebound stroke.

This brought me to think that I must have a sticky washer valve on the cartridge piston. When I got the fork broken down and the cartridge piston out of the cartridge body, I discovered something interesting. I do believe the valve washer that sits atop the piston in the cartridge is supposed to have a spring clip above it to lightly mate it to the oil orfices on the piston itself. The bottom valve does not, I know that. It is backed up by flex shims. They do the "springing" there.

Can anyone who has been inside f2 or f3 cartridges tell me if this is the case? Is there a spring clip above the upper valve washer on the cartridge piston? (Or tell me where to find parts fiches for showa cartridge guts...)

 

Figured it out. The upper check valve on the cartridge piston is missing a spring clip.

Anyone know where I get Showa internal stuff? Honda views the cartridge as a "magic stick" that apparently never needs service in their eyes, because the breakdown isn't in the parts fiche.

 

I won the game. Turns out, these cartridge internals are not possible to source parts for. As good as I could get was buying new rebound valve bodies from traxxion suspension. Great guys, but I'm poor. So. Turns out you can cut up feeler gauges with a dremel to make spring washers, lest you need them. Here's what happens when you lose/break one of these little dudes for all you out there working on '94 forks.






D1=D2 ==> success?

I tested the spring constant the poor kid way, by setting big nuts on top of the check valve washers. The washer I made is IDENTICAL to the showa one, if my test was accurate. Cool cool. I got the forks back together, and put them on my shock dyno...
Just playin'. I bolted them up in my triple trees and bounced around my living room on them while my housemate's girlfriend was studying. I donno if she's cool with me anymore... All I know is that they rebound and compress and what feels like the exact same rate, so I guess I did that right. I imagine it'll break soon enough.

For anyone who cares, my rebound valve stack went like so...

-Spring hat
-Spring washer
-Check valve washer
-PISTON
-.004
-.004
-.004
-.004
-.004
-.006
-.006
-thin spacer washer
-backplate washer
-thick cylindrical spacer
-damper rod nut

I think my compression stack was:


-Spring hat
-Spring washer
-Check valve washer
-PISTON
-.006
-.004
-thin spacer washer
-thick cylindrical spacer
-Allen bolt head


I think it's stock....? If anyone confirms that with pics, they win a free F2 part of their choosing out of my stash, shipping paid by winner. I'm not kidding. I need confirmation, you need parts? lets make a deal.