Racetech Gold Valve Emulator Damping Rod Mod

If you have ever installed a set of Gold Valve emulators you have felt the improvement that they can make to the performance of the forks on a conventional fork system. A issue with the Race Tech mod method is if you follow Racetechs recommendation on hole placement and size you will end up with no rebound damping after the fork bottoms and for 8mm on the rebound stroke. In the attached images you can see the Racetech method (Left) of modifying the damper rod and next to that you can see the Traxxion damper rod mod (Right) (Traxxion makes a larger OD damper rod that prevents the fluid bypass from the clearance between the damper rod and the check valve so you can use a thinner weight fluid).

I am also posting a couple images of a mockup with the damper rods in place in a lower fork leg. You can see how the Racetech damper rod mod has the open hole when the forks are bottomed out. If you look at the Traxxion damper rod mod you can see there is no opening above the check valve and rebound will act normally even after bottoming the fork.

Racetech (Top) vs Traxxion (Bottom) damper rod mods. The damper rods shown are ones that I have just sitting around and are not ever going in a fork if someone mentions the corrosion on them.

Side by Side Comparison Between Race Tech mod and Alternative (Traxxion) Damper Rod mod:


Racetech modified damper rod.


Traxxion design modified damper rod.