Finally got round to fitting Ohlins springs and Teknik valves. ...but the valves don't fit in the damper rods as they should. ..? Is there a piece missing or do I need some sort of adapter from Teknik. ..? Any thoughts appreciated! Steve

Wish I could offer some words of wisdom Steve, but I sent my forks to Teknik to have the fitting done. Sorry mate. I think Sea horse & Pleaides fitted their own?

If you can access a lathe, machine up a couple of spacer rings to support the VS4 valves.

Outside Diameter = 36mm

Inside Diameter = 29.5mm

Height = 5mm

I made mine from mild steel and Silver Soldered them in place, but you can weld them if you wish, provided you file/machine the excess weld material and any spatter off. (Paying particular attention to the piston ring lands).

You could also make them from a non ferrous material, such as aluminium or PC, then glue them in place. Just ensure a suitable oil resistant adhesive is used, and that the surfaces are free of contamination, also the material used is strong enough to withstand the spring force etc.




While you have the damper rods out, take the opportunity to machine a light skim off the base. These rods come from the factory "rolled", and are not particularly accurate. A "LIGHT" skim will square them up, which will centralise them more accurately in the fork tube, allowing the piston ring to work more effectively, and also prevent the rods and VS4 valves from rubbing on the tubes.



BTW, I recently had my forks apart for servicing, and adjusted the spring tension on the VS4 valves from 3 turns, back to 2 1/2 turns...Suits the type of riding I do better.

__________________
Attitude is the difference between an Ordeal and an ADVENTURE

Brilliant. ....thanks Seahorse! . Even I can follow those instructions. And that's a good tip about skimming the face of the damper rods. I've had to put the forks back together as I need the bike. ...I'll get the spacers made up. One other thing I found was the Ohlins springs were too long and I had to cut down the spacer tube. It's all a good learning curve and it's great to understand the workings of the bike better....thanks again! Steve

Yes, the final length of the spacer tube will depend on several things....Firstly, the difference in free length between the original springs and the new Ohlins springs. The thickness of the spacers you have machined up, and finally, the thickness of the VS4 valves themselves. A bit of math involved, but not rocket science.

Ultimately you will want to end up with around 18mm or so of initial preload on the new Ohlins springs. (don't forget to have your pre-load adjusters backed right off) If you are lucky, when everything is buttoned up, this will give pretty close to the right amount of static sag, and you will still have around 25mm of preload adjustment to play with for adjusting rider sag correctly, when everything beds in.

As a guide for initial preload, you could measure the preload on your original springs and use that as a starting point....Measure the distance between the base of the Fork Nut Shoulder and the top of the fork tube...

BTW, don't forget you also need to drill out the damper rod holes to eliminate their effect....this should be explained in the instructions provided.

I ended up needing around 5 turns (5mm) of additional preload to achieve the correct riders sag.

__________________
Attitude is the difference between an Ordeal and an ADVENTURE

I too did not get the collars in my package a while ago. I remember Nick from Teknik explained they are not part of the kit (bike weight etc specific), and it appears they sometimes forget to mention it (most of the time they do the fitting in the shop so it's not an issue).
Nick quickly sent collars free of charge to me, so I'm an happy buyer though.

Btw Nick suggested to weld one of the two rebound damping holes up.

I'm happy with the result on the forks, and even more happy when i consider the price. I don't remember exactly how much preload i set on the valve but also went more on the soft/quick valve opening side of the adjustment range.

I went with a bit heavier ohlins springs at the same time, and the combination of collar height, v4s valve heigh and stiffer springs leaded to the fact that i did not need spacers for preload at all. I simply had to screw the stock adjuster a fair bit in, with still room for adjustment if needed.