Well since it was to cold to work in the barn I decided to rework the forks today. The forks have Race Tech G2-R installed and the valving need changing. Figured since it was apart I would install the Race Tech HFR rebound valve. This is not a step by step writeup. More of just showing the people that want to know what the stock to race bits look like.


(Left) Race Tech HFR rebound valve (Right) Stock


Stock rebound taken apart. Yes that's all of it.


Race rebound valve and all the shims.


(Left) Race Tech HFR (Right) Stock
Sorry flash was to strong.


This is the G2-R compression valve taken apart. Had to check the shim stack since both me and the bike are losing more weight.

 

I can honestly say that I don't know anything about the forks except that they're round and shiny. So, what is it about the new parts that make it better than the old parts ? What function does it do ?

 

The compression valve in the last pic makes the world of differance. The stock one even if your 160 lbs that the bike was build for is crap. The spring has to do alot of extra work if you really start to work the front end. With the G2-R valve you can change the shim stack to adjust to your riding style. So its not just an open/close valve. The shims are only .15mm thick but taking one or adding one make a big change in how the front end compresses and feels.

The HFR rebound has better control when in comes to sharp small bumps. Anyone that has hit a sharp bump leaned over knows what I mean by the front end pushes out. Thats because the wheel isn't touching the ground. This valving allows the forks to take the bump but go back to where it was before really fast. It does still control the normal rebound of the forks. Best way to descibe it is like have low and high rebound. Low for normal fork extension and fast for sharp short movements.

 

Exactly, I'm sick of hearing people refer to their weight when it comes to valving/shim stacks. Get the required weight springs, set race sag and go from there. I'm keen to pull apart my F3's front and rear soon so I'll post picks if I do. I changed shim stacks in my CR250R forks and shock three times in two months to get what I wanted. I have access to nitogen so charging the shock is no problem and free.

 

Forgot to mention how drunk I am right now, so I'm probably not making much sense. Anyway, you can set up a stack to react to the short/sharp bumps (high speed compression or rebound) and those bumps that cause the suspension to travel further ("G" out type of bump) within the one stack. All you need is a bit of an understanding of how the stack works and work from there. Trial and error when you're not a suspension tuner with a shock dyno at your disposal.

 

Maybe I should have said my springs are not stock either. Also two people same weight and same bikes may not use the same shim stack. The numbers that the factories are just a good starting point. As your riding improves you have to change the suspension settings too.