k tech

[chris vtr virgin]

Looking to replace my standard fork springs with a set of k tech spring's
Been advised 9.5N for my style of riding and my weight. Oil recommend is 7.5wt
They seem a good price at 85 quid
What kind do you lot use

[carmanbikes]

I have gone for K tech and mine are 9.5 with 7.5 oil that was recommended but cant advice on how they are as haven`t been out on it yet still working on it

[leevtr]

I put k-tec springs in my last one, about the same weight from memory. I cant say that it really inproved things a whole lot. I recently changed the oil in my current bikes forks, but left the springs alone, and she's on rails.
There seems to be a general consensus that stiff=better, but compliance and good damping is way more important.

The only time I remember a big difference was on my first storm, when I got Ohlins springs and shock fitted at the same time....that felt like a different bike straight away, but I was on 30,000 mile sand probably the original oil, so it would do.

[macdee]

Give roger a shout
I think he can get you a set of springs and hes always there for back up

[8541Hawk]

I put k-tec springs in my last one, about the same weight from memory. I cant say that it really inproved things a whole lot. I recently changed the oil in my current bikes forks, but left the springs alone, and she's on rails.
There seems to be a general consensus that stiff=better, but compliance and good damping is way more important.

While I do agree with your statement "compliance and good damping is way more important"
I do find the rest of your statement a bit misleading to someone who might not know much about suspension or set up.

The stock (from the factory) set up is poor at best and IMHO actually a bit dangerous if you weigh 13-14 stone or more and ride a bit "spirited".
The stock .56 KG/MM springs and poor valving is an accident waiting to happen IMHO and I can say that is it is what lead to me tossing my bike down the road the first time.....

Came into a corner, on the brakes, hit some ripple bumps right as I rolled into the corner.
The next thing I know the forks pack up ( the valving can't keep up with the speed of the fork movement, so the oil stops flowing and the fork goes "solid" or doesn't move at all) and the front tire starts skipping over the road...... the wet pine needles down the center line of the road sealed my fate but the result was my 4 month old VTR sliding down the road on her side....

Sorry to ramble on but this happened 12\97 and I've been slowly upgrading since then from dialed in stock components all the way up to all the Ohlins bits I run now. So this is my take on the steps you can take to get the bike to work properly.

Just swapping fork springs and playing with the oil viscosity, while better than stock, is a band-aid fix and will never really work very well.
The problem is the valving stack. It is barely adequate to handle the .56 springs so what do you think happens when you almost double the spring rate?
Yes you can play with the weight of the oil but the spring and valving need to work together and the only way to actually get it right is to have the valving done, which is adjusting the shim stack and cleaning up the valve but that is another topic.

This is why I always recommend doing the springs and valving at the same time. It is worth it, again IMHO.
Also on this bike, run a fork brace as it really does help.

Which finally leads to the original question of spring rate and what you should run.
The whole stiffer is better is sometimes how it is taken but the real truth is it depends on your riding style and how you like the bike to feel.

There are spring rate calculators on some of the site which will give you a starting point (for most guys it is in the .90-.95 range) then where you go from there depends on you.
The first "numbers" you want to look for are the rider sag and free sag.

Rider sag is you in full gear on the bike. The numbers I look for on this bike are 28mm rear and between 30-35mm front
Free sag is just the weight of the bike which should compress the springs around 3-5mm. More the springs are too soft-less you are running too much spring.

There are other ways to get a base line setting but this is what has worked for me.

Then you adjust things from there. For example, I run very heavy front springs. Sure I'm 16 stone and 6'3" but I also trail brake and just brake hard. So I run 1.1s in my front end or I bottom out under braking.

Again sorry to ramble so but suspension is the most important thing IMHO as it doesn't matter how much power you have or how good your brakes are if the wheels are not on the ground.

Also be prepared to find out how shite the rear shock is once you get the forks dialed in.....it is about on par with a 2X4......

[leevtr]

I put k-tec springs in my last one, about the same weight from memory. I cant say that it really inproved things a whole lot. I recently changed the oil in my current bikes forks, but left the springs alone, and she's on rails.
There seems to be a general consensus that stiff=better, but compliance and good damping is way more important.

Came into a corner, on the brakes, hit some ripple bumps right as I rolled into the corner.
The next thing I know the forks pack up ( the valving can't keep up with the speed of the fork movement, so the oil stops flowing and the fork goes "solid" or doesn't move at all) and the front tire starts skipping over the road...... the wet pine needles down the center line of the road sealed my fate but the result was my 4 month old VTR sliding down the road on her side....

That sounds like you probably would have crashed, uprated springs or not. I was only answering with regards to a spring and oil change, of course improving the internal valving helps a lot, but that wasn't the original post.

[agentpineapple]

Give roger a shout
I think he can get you a set of springs and hes always there for back up

+1
rodger is your man and he recently returned a fellow members revamped forks in record time, you'll pay for it, but you'll get the best and the benefit from all the countless hours of research and development that's gone with it....

[Jamoi]

Came into a corner, on the brakes, hit some ripple bumps right as I rolled into the corner.
The next thing I know the forks pack up ( the valving can't keep up with the speed of the fork movement, so the oil stops flowing and the fork goes "solid" or doesn't move at all) and the front tire starts skipping over the road

That's exactly what happened to me twice on the standard forks, so I tried the same scenario with my rogered forks and it dealt with the hard breaking and ripples so much better!

[AMCQ46]

That sounds like you probably would have crashed, uprated springs or not..

If you ever have the misfortune to hit the conditions that make the front forks stop working like Hawk describes, it is bloody scary, you effectively lose all front tyre grip with no warning. But On a bike with decent front fork settings you wouldnt even register a twitch, so you arent going at a speed that would normally be causing a crash.

So although I didnt crash when it happened to me [more luck than judgement as I was right across the white line to get round the corner], I can say that it is the fork setting that would have caused the crash, not that you were riding beyond the conditions and were going to crash anyway