fork oil question 83 husky 125XC

[yota]

decided to dig out the 125XC thats been sitting in my garage for 12 years or so and "freshen it up". got some neat stuff from Husqvarna parts.com and Vintage Husky.

I rode this bike hard for a long time and always felt that the suspension was too soft. put in race tech fork springs years ago which helped but the rear was always bad. to my great surprise I was able to purchase a new pair of yellow Ohlins springs of the correct size for my weight for the ITC shocks recently.

my question, one of the above shops has advised putting 20-50 motor oil in the forks, the other says hell no use 15wt fork oil (which is what I used to use). any opinions?

thanks!

 

[Enduro_Nut]

I use ohlins 20wt and with the forks fully collapsed(no springs) I set them 6" from the top and go from there. I would NOT use heavier than 30wt on ANY bike. This is how I setup ALL my bikes('67-'07). This is based off a firend who is an authorized RACE TECH dealer along with an 8x ISDE rider. Don't forget to rebuild the rears... it's more important than the front. I send mine to OHLINS for a rebuild.
Good Luck on the restoration!

 

[yota]

I was thinking 20 wt myself to maybe get a little more damping. the shocks were completely rebuilt about 5 rides ago and work well. Should be great with the new springs.

thanks for your reply and the info. used to put 450cc in ea leg, will see how that compares with your suggestion.

 

[Vince Stokes]

Race Tec cartridge emmulators are the best fork mod around,
if they are not cartride forks you can set them to handle big
jumps or small bumps BUT NOT BOTH,get the emmulators and they will do both,find someone who know there stuff and get some for another model to fit the Husky,I fitted a set of forks
for a KX 125 on my 82 Husky Auto,great MX fork for the time but crap on the little stuff but with the emulators they were very very nice.

 

[yota]

I talked to Race Tech and they have no idea about emulators for Husky forks. Do you remember what yr KX 125 your husky emulators were from?

 

[Vince Stokes]

There is a misunderstanding here,I fitted a complete KX 125 disc brake
front end to my 82 Husky Auto and then fitted the Emulators to the Kawasaki forks,you have to think outside the box,tomorrow I will give the local Race Tec rep a ring,thats Terry Hays in Sydney OZ and see if he has found a set that fits, funnily enough they dont make a set thats made for my Laverda but I have a set in it as well.

 

[yota]

aha, didn't realize you replaced the front end.

 

[Vince Stokes]

Spoke to the guru and its doable,talk to your Race tec bloke and if your bike has 40mm fork legs you could fit emulator part no 3801,it might need turning down a bit.These things just sit inside your fork and the spring sits on top,so all you need is the right size gadget That is a snug fit inside the fork tube and lets the spring sit on it nice or slightly bigger and turn it down to fit,they retail for $249 ozzie dollars

 

[yota]

interesting. hey, thanks for taking the time to talk to your guy, a very nice thing to do. I will check it out.

 

[yota]

I found this excellent info

http://www.racetech.com/articles/EmulatorFitting.htm

on the Race Tech website. apparently they have to fit not only the inside of the fork tube but have to fit the top of the damping rod and the spring above it. I will have to check all 3 dimensions. They also add some preload to the forks as they take up space between the damper rod and spring.

 

[Vince Stokes]

Us Husky types need to stick together,good luck with it.

 

[Enduro_Nut]

Vince is 100% accurate!! I have had a set in 2 of my bikes... WELL worth the time(1-2 hrs. for me) to set them up and they are really cheap when you consider what they do. Basicly they are a modern shim stack in your forks that give a more fluid compression stroke by adjusting the shims in the emulator.
Best thing out there for vintage forks!
If you need a RACE TECH shop let me know, a friend is a dealer for them and he really know suspension work.

 

[yota]

unfortunately they are $170.00 ea :yikes: . Have you guys seen these? I have spoken to Phillip (he supplied most of my stuff to rehab this bike) about these and he says they work great (out of stock temporarily). They completely get rid of the stock crappy plastic top out washers.

http://www.husqvarna-parts.com/catalog/item/3736872/3413747.htm