Front Fork Upgrades and Maintenance

I added a batwing fairing and feel like me  front forks are soft. I decided to upgrade the springs, change the oil and update the bushings. There are a couple videos that proved helpful for this process so I will provide them below. I will also share my experience and parts that are needed for each aspect of the upgrade.

James Daniel (video below) indicated that if you’re up to about 190 pounds, it can be set up with some pre-load to work pretty decent with stock springs. If you’re over 200, the stock springs are never going to support the load correctly.  Fluid viscosity is tailored to work with your spring rate. Too light and it’ll be bouncy. Too heavy and it’ll be harsh and not offer any feel.

There are a couple choices when it comes to springs. You can go with a Progressive spring or a Race Tech spring. After chatting with James, he recommended I go with Race Tech I found the Race Tech Website  to be very helpful. You can add your bike and they will tell you what you need. You can also tell them your preferences for a soft or stiff ride, add your weight, indicate whether your front end is lowered or not and they will tell you exactly which spring rate they recommend, fluid weight, fluid height and pre-load amount.

I decided to change the bushings and seal while I had the forks off. James video (below) as well as the third video provide details on pulling them apart, etc. A parts list for this is as follows.

OEM – 4nk-23135-00 – big busing – you need two
OEM – 4nk-23125-00 – small bushing – you need two
All Balls Racing Fork Seals KIT 55-120 – comes with both

You will need to make or purchase a seal driver. My research tells me it is a 43mm driver.

 

This video provides instructions on a dump and fill on a V-Star. While the specs and amount of oil may differ, the process is the same. I found this video very informative.

This video is presented by James Daniel (fellow Road Star Clinic member and admin). He provides lots of detail and instruction. It is worth your time to get a good idea of the work it takes to change out the bushings and seal.

This video shows you how to separate the different parts of the forks. I didn’t shorten my forks but this video was helpful for certain aspects of the work I needed to do.