Fork spring upgrades M900

[Albie]

Ok I looked around the search function found basic info but very seriously looking at whilst shocks will be off bike at upgrading the early Showas as they seem to be better than Marzocchi at doing stuff to.
I won a slightly better looking set for £60 and was just thinking of trying to balance the Ohlins rear to a better front spring without changing the look.

What can be done with a limited budget.

[Dukedesmo]

When I was researching suspension, I contacted Maxton who offer a fork internals upgrade so you keep the look but get better function IIRC the price was reasonable.

That said I always use K-tech, my Monster has 916 forks and I had their valve/piston kit which was a big improvement, I also got K-tech internals in my 916 Ohlins for a similar upgrade and I would think they have something for Monster forks?

[Darren69]

Are they adjustable Showas?

[Pedro]

I've got Hyperpro progressive springs in mine and messed around with the oil weight and level, not ohlins but better than stock. Spring kit is about a hundred quid I think

[Darren69]

I've got Hyperpro progressive springs in mine and messed around with the oil weight and level, not ohlins but better than stock. Spring kit is about a hundred quid I think

Same here, and it has made them better, not massively but some improvement over stock I feel, together with the rear Ohlins. I'm happy with them for now, until I can afford a pro set up job by K-Tech/Maxton. Do they re-anodize the legs as well, mine could do with it?

[DrD]

Currently mine has Hyperpro front springs (and HyperPro rear shock)
Had to play around with weights and level to get it to suit me.

[Albie]

Are they adjustable Showas?

No adjustment on them at all. As long as they damp well that's all I wish.

[utopia]

Are you sure they have no adjustment, Albie ?
I think I glanced at the same forks on ebay and they have a little boss below the caliper mounts ..what's that ? ...damping adjustment I presumed ?
If so, and you can therefore fiddle with the damping a bit, the cheapest way to go might be the Hyperpro progressive springs, or maybe even new linear springs but matched to your weight.
Not that I'm an expert but that's what I would've been thinking of doing .....had they not been wrong caliper spacing, wrong spindle etc for my bike.

Personally, since my 750 is a keeper and will pretty much be my only big road bike, I'm going to bite the bullet and get mine Maxton'd ....one day, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon .......
But then, I do have the budget Marzocchis.
One reason for this is that, just for once, after many years of pondering and trying to tweek the suspension on various bikes, I like to try a professionally optimised set-up and see how much better it actually is in real life.


edit ...unless you just meant that they have no preload adjustment ?

[slob]

Mr crust put a racetech gold valve kit in his...

[DrD]

Are you sure they have no adjustment, Albie ?
I think I glanced at the same forks on ebay and they have a little boss below the caliper mounts ..what's that ? ...
Its unused on the '93/'94 M900 but is where the aduster would be.....

[Pedro]

Are you sure they have no adjustment, Albie ?
I think I glanced at the same forks on ebay and they have a little boss below the caliper mounts ..what's that ? ...damping adjustment I presumed ?
If so, and you can therefore fiddle with the damping a bit, the cheapest way to go might be the Hyperpro progressive springs, or maybe even new linear springs but matched to your weight.
Not that I'm an expert but that's what I would've been thinking of doing .....had they not been wrong caliper spacing, wrong spindle etc for my bike.

Personally, since my 750 is a keeper and will pretty much be my only big road bike, I'm going to bite the bullet and get mine Maxton'd ....one day, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon .......
But then, I do have the budget Marzocchis.
One reason for this is that, just for once, after many years of pondering and trying to tweek the suspension on various bikes, I like to try a professionally optimised set-up and see how much better it actually is in real life.


edit ...unless you just meant that they have no preload adjustment ?

Early 900 forks have no adjustment (aside from springs being changed and oil weight / level), the boss you mentioned is not used

[utopia]

Ahaa !

In that case ....
I'm not sure how comparable my experience with the non-adjustable Marzocchis on my 750 is but ....

I've come to the conclusion that the main problem with the budget forks is the harsh/crude damping characteristics and that changing springs and oil can only offer fairly limited improvements.
My situation is perhaps a little unusual since, although I mostly ride solo, I want the bike to be able to perform well with a pillion on certain occasions. Therefore I require some adjustability in the suspension.
In general though, I guess its arguable that you don't really need any adjustment if the suspension is built to your personal specs in the first place.
So now I'm thinking that, although its not exactly a cheap option, the most basic Maxton upgrade where they just fit their own cartridges, along with springs and oil to your specs but no adjustment, might be worth considering in your case.
Externally, the forks would still look like originals (I'm pretty sure).
They do more expensive options too with various levels of adjustability (which incidentally, they also manage to hide away unobtrusively, or so I'm told), but unless you do trackdays or something I can't really see the point (apart from pillion, as mench.)
And even the basic option won't exactly be cheap.
But, if you're going to overhaul the forks anyway with new seals etc, and fill them with new oil, and maybe buy some springs, you're already spending a fair bunch and not really getting to the crux. Maybe that money would be better put towards the budget Maxton thing ?
......... what with Christmas coming up, an' all that .....;)

[Flip]

As many here know, I went for the Maxton conversion on my Marzocchi forks as cosmetically they were good and after having them fit the GP20 cartridges to my fifty year old 250 racer making a huge difference to it's handling it was an easy decision to make for the Monster.

As Utopia has said, outwardly they are left as per the original (they have to in order to comply with classic racing regulations) except for a subtle change to the top as they manufacture them for all their conversions.

I also went for their basic set up for a number of reasons but mostly on the road and once set there isn't really any need to fiddle but even their basic cartridge has rebound adjustment but it is cleverly hidden beneath the central Alen head screw.

All I can say is that I have owned my bike seventeen years and I wish I had done this years ago- the difference really is that much.

Monster Forks:
http://i1372.photobucket.com/albums/ag329/fluke900/Fork%20Tops_zpslifbw3xx.jpg (http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/fluke900/media/Fork%20Tops_zpslifbw3xx.jpg.html)

Race bike forks:
http://i1372.photobucket.com/albums/ag329/fluke900/IMG_4095_zps2x9m9o6h.jpg (http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/fluke900/media/IMG_4095_zps2x9m9o6h.jpg.html)

[fagiano123]

I've got Maxton internals fitted on my forks and the basic Maxton rear shock. Utterly brilliant! If you can visit them, they'll fit and set them up for you. Best mod I've ever made to any of my bikes. I had the hyperpro springs and shock fitted to a bandit 1250 and there's no comparison but I guess it's a completely different bike so difficult to compare.