Hi all. Have been slowly converting the F4i to a track bike (sprockets, brakes, brake lines, pc, rearsets, etc). Now in process of upgrading the front suspension. Would be very interested in views on swapping the front forks vs. revalving/new springs in the existing fork tubes. I have searched and found much on 929 and 954 swaps, but have not found much on revalving/new springs and what the differences are. My bike is a 2004. Thanks for the advice!

 

this is my opinion just so you know
this is all from my understanding and the research ive done that last couple months bc i almost did a fork swap
first off, howserious do you want it? you can change everything but its still gonna be an f4i, i love my bike and wouldnt get another but for the money youll dump doing most of this you wont notice much of a difference unless you are AMAZING (which you may be, i know im not i just like to have fun)
with inverted forks, you can do any you want as long as you get a triple to fit. just make sure you get your lengths right. the main thing about the inverted tubes is the RADIAL brakes. meaning less flex. you can accomplish this by putting a radial mater cylinder and your ss lines-thats gonna take away a lot of the fles and bring it more like the feel or radial brakes, it still wont be the same bc the mounts are different, but i think its more cost effective that way. respringing and valving supposedly will do wonders for your forks. i just rebuilt mine and put new oil in and left them all stock and they feel a million times better than before-but i did have a blown seal. i wouldve done springs but i didnt find any in the time i was looking to do my forks.
i hope some of that is understandable, i bet it isnt, but to put it simply i dont think fork swaps are the way to go, id say rebuild yours with some new springs and valves
but thats only if you want to get the bang for your buck. if moneys no option id say do a swap just because i think inverted looks cooler. lol

 

All I'm doing on the front is replacing the OEM compression clickers with after market, respringing it, and replacing the shim stack -- Should a < $600 project.

The biggest gain I'm expecting is when I replace the rear shock... I keep feeling like she doesn't want to turn anymore (from how much squat I get mid corner). On throttle she tries to pull wide and takes more input than one would expect.

 

I think the general consensus with the F4i is to just upgrade the internals of the stock forks. The dynamics of the bike won't change, and (if you care) have better resale appeal.

 

i ended up going with racetech .90 springs and used 15wt fork oil for better damping. MUCH better than before!

 

Do not swap the 954/929 front end onto the f4i. Just revalve and respring and you will be good to go.

 

all, thanks a ton for the responses. i was leaning toward the revalve/respring option (did not think of heavier oil!)...i believe so many more parts need to be changed when swapping to the 954/929 front end that it just it not worth it. Revalve/respring seems like the way to go.

 

i was gonna do heavier oil, but my shop told me id have to revalve it or else it could mess stuff up if i came down hard on a wheelie. it will with the lighter oil too, but not as easily. also, a lot of the newer bikes only have 5 wt oil. i think 10 is the best to stay with, but thats just me

 

The clickers will give you a lot better range of adjustment - a good upgrade on the front to do when you've got them apart anyhow!

 

i used 15wt oil because it's a poor man's re-valve. certainly re-valving is preferable, but i didn't have enough benjamins to afford valves. the heavier oil helps dampen that stiffer racetech spring.

but if you got the money then by all means re-valve it!