Spring vs Rebound 08 Sprint ST Revalved Forks

Ok finally got back over to Bruce's house to revalve his forks, As you can see in the prior thread the rebound on the Sprint ST's is soft and IMO not even adequate for the bike weight itself without a rider. Bruce had a few concerns while we were revalving and that was (1) Stay very compliant as he rides several hundred miles and encounters various types of road conditions (2) Does not bottom when panic braking (3) Offers a more controlled damping rate.

I made some mods to the stock pistons both rebound and compression and then added a floating mid-valve setup and changed the compression stack around a bit and finally completely revalved the rebound stack.

What we ended up with was a front end that was more controlled while still being very compliant and not offer a harsh ride, It easily soaks up various bumps but you can feel a more gradual compression rate instead of just a drop. I used Torco 5wt oil that is thinner than the stock Showa fork oil (My understanding is it is 7wt). I used the Torco oil as it has excellent anti-stiction properties as well as a light viscosity so damping remains consistent whether it is on the cooler side or the warmer side.

We used the same .95 Racetech springs that we used in the baseline graph and have the front sag set at 38mm. We used a 95mm spacer and the adjuster is set at 4 lines.

Bruce I hope you enjoy your bike more now that we have the front end under control. Ride Safe!!

Well here is a comparison of a before and after revalve and as you can see in the graph the rebound does not exhibit the pogo effect like the baseline graph does.

This image is after the Installation of some .95 Racetech Springs, Notice the pogo? Yep she still needs a little work on valving or some heavier fluid in the forks.


Ok this is after revalving and using a lighter (Torco 5wt) fluid and running the same .95 springs. Notice the damping is more controlled and does not suffer the pogo after the rebound stroke.