Official way of measuring air gap?? - Ducati.ms

tkl999 · Jul 17th, 2011, 1:13 am

Im in the middle of installing my Race Tech springs. It seems that the springs Race tech created for me was about 3/4" longer than the stock, so I'm planning on cutting my spacer 3/4" to match the total length of spring and spacer. So my question is what is the correct way to measure the air gap? I found lots of conflicting information when I was searching. Do I measure the air gap with the springs and spacer out, springs out spacer in, or spring and spacer in? THANKS!

el tardo · Jul 17th, 2011, 2:27 am

always with springs and spacers out. and i wouldnt cut your spacers til you try them out with the longer springs first.you can always cut them later.

tkl999 · Jul 17th, 2011, 9:46 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by el tardo

always with springs and spacers out. and i wouldnt cut your spacers til you try them out with the longer springs first.you can always cut them later.

Thanks for the tip! I had a hard time compressing the spring just to get the cap back on, any tip on how to push the spring down while keeping the rod up to spin the cap back in? The racetech .85 springs are a lot stiffer than the wimpy stock .66.

Nginear · Jul 17th, 2011, 10:28 am

So this is from another forum but maybe will help you out.

Fork Oil Change... - ADVrider

Quote:

Now for the fun part. When you pull the damping rod up and drop the spring around it, the damping rod immediately starts to fall back into the fork, and you can't grab it because the spring is surrounding it. Here's my trick- slide an open end that has a smaller size than the nut on the end (but bigger than the rod, obviously) through the spring and then turn the spring while holding the open end still to pull the damping rod up. A few thousand words on the subject:

Once the damping rod is poking out the top, drop any washers on and then spin the topcap down onto the damping rod until it contacts the damping rod nut. Compress the spring, fit the wrench again, and tighten:

Pull the slider up, tighten the topcap onto it, and you're done

tkl999 · Jul 17th, 2011, 10:57 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nginear

So this is from another forum but maybe will help you out.

Fork Oil Change... - ADVrider

Awesome....I'll try this way today. Worse case I'll have to invest in one of these.....

Amazon.com: RACE TECH FORK SPRING COMPRESSOR TFSC 01: Automotive

08hyper · Jul 17th, 2011, 12:47 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by tkl999

Im in the middle of installing my Race Tech springs. It seems that the springs Race tech created for me was about 3/4" longer than the stock, so I'm planning on cutting my spacer 3/4" to match the total length of spring and spacer. So my question is what is the correct way to measure the air gap? I found lots of conflicting information when I was searching. Do I measure the air gap with the springs and spacer out, springs out spacer in, or spring and spacer in? THANKS!

I would not cut the stock spacers, the RT springs should have come with spacers, I would call them to be sure, the air gap is from 100mm to 140mm, 120mm is a good place to start, springs out, forks collapsed, 7.5w fork oil. Aloha Alex

freezer16801 · Jul 17th, 2011, 1:16 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by tkl999

Awesome....I'll try this way today. Worse case I'll have to invest in one of these..... Amazon.com: RACE TECH FORK SPRING COMPRESSOR TFSC 01: Automotive

before you buy that, check out the whole kit to service you forks...Fork Service Tool Kit This kit has had most special tools that we've needed so far to upgrade many forks.

The fork compressor isn't the easiest to use. It also helps to have a nice bench vice.

tkl999 · Jul 17th, 2011, 2:42 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by 08hyper

I would not cut the stock spacers, the RT springs should have come with spacers, I would call them to be sure, the air gap is from 100mm to 140mm, 120mm is a good place to start, springs out, forks collapsed, 7.5w fork oil. Aloha Alex

When I ordered the springs, the rep at race tech told me the kit only comes with springs only and I would have to cut my stock spacers or use PVC pipes. The wrench way to install the cap back worked perfectly. Only problem is that after I put everything back in, the forks seems pretty stiff. I haven't measured the sag yet, but just looking at the static sag, the fork tube is barely moving down when I move the bike from side stand to upright . I used 120mm of air gap with spacer and springs out. 7.5w fork oil.

08hyper · Jul 17th, 2011, 6:08 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by tkl999

When I ordered the springs, the rep at race tech told me the kit only comes with springs only and I would have to cut my stock spacers or use PVC pipes. The wrench way to install the cap back worked perfectly. Only problem is that after I put everything back in, the forks seems pretty stiff. I haven't measured the sag yet, but just looking at the static sag, the fork tube is barely moving down when I move the bike from side stand to upright . I used 120mm of air gap with spacer and springs out. 7.5w fork oil.

That is why I had custom fork springs made to the stock spec, perfect "drop ins" but in a 0.85 rate, which worked out fine for my 225+lbs

, hopefully yours will work out too, Aloha Alex

el tardo · Jul 17th, 2011, 11:32 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by tkl999

When I ordered the springs, the rep at race tech told me the kit only comes with springs only and I would have to cut my stock spacers or use PVC pipes. The wrench way to install the cap back worked perfectly. Only problem is that after I put everything back in, the forks seems pretty stiff. I haven't measured the sag yet, but just looking at the static sag, the fork tube is barely moving down when I move the bike from side stand to upright . I used 120mm of air gap with spacer and springs out. 7.5w fork oil.

what spring rate did you order? and what do you weight?