Initial observations~kinda assumed they were gold anodized aluminium,pleased to discover they're brass as brass wears better.
Had to dissassemble one.
Worth noting the adjuster bolt is non metric...well they're meant for a Harley after all. So you'll need an imperial allen wrench, though i found a torx t20 did the job ok.
03-10-13, 10:43 AM (This post was last modified: 03-10-13, 11:52 AM by kebab19.)
Emulators posted this morning to both Robbus & Fazerider, apologies for delay!
Now all sets have been posted out, I decided to turn this thread into the installation thread for everyone to post their experiences, issues, queries etc
The Burgman thread has a 'what others are using' section which lists the specifics of all riders who installed Racetech emus in their forks. I might do the same & compile a table if everyone wants to post their details up to further improve their catridge-emulator fork setup.
03-10-13, 09:16 PM (This post was last modified: 03-10-13, 09:28 PM by kebab19.)
You're welcome, fellas
I should be around most of the weekend to answer to help out with queries, I can even provide my phone number through PM if anyone is desperate enough.
However, if you follow the instructions you should have a better handling Fazer right away, although remember that these emus won't change your forks into 50mm Upside-down gold-nitrided Ohlins (sadly).
One big factor I've barely mentioned is fork oil height, as changing it can make a huge difference to how the forks react, but the amount is down to individual preference. Obviously I can't predict in advance how the forks will feel but bear in mind that a bit of alteration *may* be needed for your ideal setup, and if you have to adjust the emulators you'll have to fish them out of the forks in order to do so Hmmm, where do you buy that wee metal grabber claw thingy on the end of a stick? I might have to supply them with these kits :lol
04-10-13, 12:00 PM (This post was last modified: 04-10-13, 02:34 PM by Robbus.)
Mine have arrived! Thanks Jeff, great service! Alas won't be fiddling this weekend but hopefully the following, can't wait to have non-utterly-crap suspension :lol
Been reading the various threads and having a think about the hole sizes needed to be drilled in the damper rod. Having got the emus now it strikes me that we just need to match the area of the drilled holes to the 3 elliptical holes on the bottom of the emu, no point going larger than them as they won't flow any more oil, unless my brain isn't working right.
Anyway they're not easy to measure as they're not proper ellipses but I guesstimated at them being about 12.5x8mm then got an area of 78.54mm2 from here: http://www.calculateme.com/cArea/AreaOfEllipse.htm
So total area of 235.62mm2
4 x 10mm holes gives 314.16mm2 4 x 9.5mm holes gives 283.53mm2
4 x 9mm holes gives 254.47mm2
4 x 8.5mm holes gives 226.98mm2
If anybody can measure the emu holes more accurately that would be handy otherwise I might just plump for 9.5mm holes, if I've got a 9.5mm drill that is
(04-10-13, 12:00 PM)Robbus link Wrote: Mine have arrived! Thanks Jeff, great service! Alas won't be fiddling this weekend but hopefully the following, can't wait to have non-utterly-crap suspension :lol
Been reading the various threads and having a think about the hole sizes needed to be drilled in the damper rod. Having got the emus now it strikes me that we just need to match the area of the drilled holes to the 3 elliptical holes on the bottom of the emu, no point going larger than them as they won't flow any more oil, unless my brain isn't working right.
Anyway they're not easy to measure as they're not proper ellipses but I guesstimated at them being about 12.5x8mm then got an area of 78.54mm2 from here: http://www.calculateme.com/cArea/AreaOfEllipse.htm
So total area of 235.62mm2
4 x 10mm holes gives 314.16mm24 x 9.5mm holes gives 283.53mm2
4 x 9mm holes gives 254.47mm2
4 x 8.5mm holes gives 226.98mm2
If anybody can measure the emu holes more accurately that would be handy otherwise I might just plump for 9.5mm holes, if I've got a 9.5mm drill that is
Cheers,
Rob
Good work, racetech recommend 6 x 8mm holes, which gives 301.44mm
04-10-13, 02:36 PM (This post was last modified: 04-10-13, 05:08 PM by kebab19.)
Good to see the old gray matter taking hold regarding drill hole diameters
Although you guys are the first to get the emus, a gentleman in OZ previously contacted me via PMs about the mod (didn't know they sold the Fzs600 there). I am reproducing part of 'someonehappy' s correspondence with me, hopefully he won't object !
"Hi Kebab,
...I got the emulators installed.
it's a perfect fit to the damping rod.
I didn't get the chance to find a proper table drill so I ended up with just drilled two wholes, 10mm diameter.
I used 15wt castrol fork oil with about 120mm oil level.
The emulator preload spring is about 2 turns.
I didn't change anything else.
The initial feeling is quite strange. The low speed compression is quite high, which is not bad. But the small bumps on the road is hardly to be noticed which makes me feel a little bit lack of feeling. And it's a little bit too harsh when encountering real big bumps.
Then I did some change, I replace about half the oil to 10wt castrol fork oil to make it approximately 12.5 wt.
And I change the emulator preload spring to about 2.75 turns.
After these changes, the low speed compression is smaller, and still acceptable.
The feeling for small bumps is improved, but I felt the damping for big bumps is a little bit too small.
Then I did the another change.
I added about 10mm 10wt oil for each leg.
This improved the damping when hitting big bumps, seems no longer that easy to bottom up.
So my setup till now is roughly 12.5wt fork oil with 130mm oil level, and emulator preload spring is 2.75 turns.
I'm going to keep trying different settings to improve the feeling. It seems change oil level is really make some difference that you can feel, and it's quite easy to do. I'm going to withdraw about 5mm oil next time.
And I probably will change the rear shock and front spring later. I think stiffer spring could help to make it better.
In short, I think the improvement is very good, worth the money and effort.
Regards"
Looking at this report, I'm thinking that for Somonehappy, the 2 x 10mm holes he drilled just weren't quite enough, although with a lot of perseverance he still got what he felt was a decent result. I suspect that here the original compression circuit was still restricting the emulators from functioning fully.
If I was doing the mod again (and I am) I would consider starting either with four x 9mm holes, or the two lowest holes 10mm & the upper two either 9 or 9.5mm.
Regarding fork oil, apparently a lot of stuff is rounded up (or down) weight-wise. So oil that is 8w or 12w can be sold on as 10w. I *think* I remember reading somewhere that Yamalube oil weight values were quite close to what was on the label, although if your local dealer doesn't have any I guess you can go for other brands.
UPDATE: I have added a lot of updated pics to the Racetech / Debrix thread showing rods with lowest holes 10mm and upper holes 9.5mm
05-10-13, 11:48 AM (This post was last modified: 05-10-13, 01:11 PM by wezdavo.)
The mod is underway!
All has gone well so far apart from undoing the damper rods... Someone in the past had used blue locktite :eek
Eventually got them out but had to make a tool using tube and studding to expand inside the rod to hold it still while using and impact wrench to undo the bolt
Anyway, one curious thing so far... In Kebabs pictures his damper rod measures around 200mm where as my 2003 damper rod only measures 181mm..
I have drilled 4 x 10mm holes in the rods and they are ready to fit back in.
Just checked with aj Sutton and the rods are different part numbers, they changed to the shorter rod in 2000 so that explains the difference in length..
Nice work!
My high-tech damper rod holder was a wooden broom handle
Didn't know the rods changed length as my two Fazers have been 1998 & 1999 bikes. Another update to instructions, then, and all the more reason to drill only four holes to keep them over 120mm away from upper lip.
06-10-13, 11:35 AM (This post was last modified: 06-10-13, 02:19 PM by wezdavo.)
All done
Emulators set at 2.75 turns
4 x 10mm holes..
Putoline 15w oil
135mm air gap..
5 rings showing on preload adjusters..
As I have wilbers springs that require 25-40mm of installed preload I had to cut 10mm from the spacers..
Just measured sag and its bang on first time! 22mm free sag and 35mm rider sag..
I am 95kg geared up..
I will go for a spin and report back....
Been for a 2 hour ride, The bike feels great! Sweeping bends felt a lot safer, one in particular that I ride @ 120ish has always felt on the edge as its a little uneven and used to unsettle the bike which isn't confidence inspiring. But today same bend same speed felt much more stable.
Dive is much less also, which seems to be making braking distances shorter..
All in all, its great, and a big thank you to Kebab for all his effort in this..
Next for me is to replace my thou shock with a r6 one I have just bought... Looks like I will be tapping up kebab again for more info on the spacer needed :lol
That's excellent news, Wez.
The differences don't feel drastic at first, a bit subtle really until you realise you're going effortlessly over roads that previously battered your arms & shoulders. You can retain your lines through corners with a lot more precision...and usually nearly 10mph faster too.
The R6 rear shock will make a superb addition to your setup, PM Fuzzy if you want to know what he makes of it. Happy to sort out spacer / top bushing etc as I did with his.
(06-10-13, 05:47 PM)kebab19 link Wrote: The R6 rear shock will make a superb addition to your setup, PM Fuzzy if you want to know what he makes of it. Happy to sort out spacer / top bushing etc as I did with his.
Yes, do feel free to get in touch - in short the R6 shock mod is flippin fantastic! I don't think I'm alone when I say Mr Kebab is our resident suspension genius, the shock mod has had excellent results and was great value, by the sounds of it the forks/emulators is no different :thumbup
While I've got my thinking hat on, i.e. I'm skiving at work, could someone let me know the relevant torque settings for the job at hand? Calliper bolts, joke bolts, axle stuff etc.? I'm lacking a Haynes manual in my life at the mo'.
Oh, and mega dumb question, how do you measure the air gap, is it with the fork extended or not? I expect it'll become obvious when I look in the them but best to ask!
Hmmm, where do you buy that wee metal grabber claw thingy on the end of a stick? I might have to supply them with these kits :lol
![[Image: 242673.png]](http://badges.fuelly.com/images/smallsig-uk/242673.png)
![[Image: 174802.png]](http://badges.fuelly.com/images/smallsig-uk/174802.png)
