Triumphrat

Thrux-ton-up · 12-19-2004

Great idea to see a forum for cafe bikes! I finally got a long ride in the twisties this weekend on my converted forks- F3 cartridge forks with race tech springs and gold valves. What a huge difference this mod makes. The bikes handling is much improved in the corners, even with the over sprung and under damped thruxton shocks. Now to go shock shopping - maybe my wife will "spring" for some this Christmas.

:razz: JCW-photos of the conversion are in my album located in volume II bottom right of front page.

cafetbird · 12-19-2004

I thought the Thruxton already had cartridge forks?

The Race Tech bits definitely make a huge difference...

Thrux-ton-up · 12-19-2004

Unfortunately the thruxton comes with simple damper rod forks which proved to be harsh under rough conditions and tended to wallow in corners. The cartridge forks made a huge difference.

JCW

TravThrux · 12-20-2004

Yo Ton-up!
I have really been thinking about the first mods on my Thrux when I get back and I think the F3 conversion is 1st on the list. I have a few questions for you though...
Did you put the Honda innards in yourself or have someone else do it?
Where in the world did you find the fork internals from the Honda F3 (I have looked on ebay for the last 2 months and have come up short)
What year(s) of F3 fork guts will I need? I think Thruxtonone said a while back they were from 1997 or 1998?
Most important- How much did it run you ($$$) to get them to "fully adjustable" status???!!!
I contacted Mike at Traxxion and I think he quoted me around $700 for the parts and labor to have the race tech springs and valves installed...but that didn't include the F3 fork "guts"....
I am trying to get a ballpark figure on how much "playmoney" I am going to have to spend to get my front end up to speed!
Thanks for everything!
Trav :razz:

Thrux-ton-up · 12-20-2004

Hey Travthrux

I found the f3 forks complete on ebay for 192.00- I missed out on 4-5 pair because I refused to pay more than 200.00 for those units. Shop around and you can find the race tech springs for 80.00, the gold valves for 135.00. I spent 16.00 on honda lower bushings, and about 40.00 on triumph seals and upper bushings, 22.00 for fork oil, 30.00 on fork gaiters, and 1.42 for the homemade fork seal driver, and .99 cents for the homemade "turkey baster" fork oil measuring tool. I assembled myself- no special tools needed and if you are fairly competent with the wrench's it is not hard at all. I had no manuals- triumph or honda - only the directions from race tech and I encountered no problems. I believe all years of the f3 forks will work - but the 97-98 had the latest valving from honda- not relevant if you switch to gold valves or similar. In all I spent a little over 500.00. The fork polishing I did myself - probably 50.00 for a chrome shop to polish them.
I have never done any fork work before- but once everything is apart it seemed quite simple and straight forward. Don't be afraid to try it yourself - worst that can happen is someone has to finish for you. Mike at traxxion ( I live a couple miles from there) quoted me 200.00 to assemble all my parts- no disassembly, no other parts. You can save even more using the honda springs and valving- they are very good right out of the box. Do the right shopping and you could do it yourself for about 300.00 using all the honda guts. You will love the transition it makes in the bikes ride and handling. Keep safe and arrive home soon.

JCW

TravThrux · 12-20-2004

Thrux ton up,
You are the MAN! I have never been afraid to tackle a project meself (well, there was that red-head back in college..but that is another story!)
I have put in a few requests with some online motorcycle parts places but haven't heard anything as of yet.
If I can come up with the parts, I will probably stick with stock Honda springs and cartridges for my budget. Did you use the Honda upper tubes or the Triumph tubes?
Thanks for all the input. I plan on getting back to the States soon (with all my body parts intact!) and I can't wait to get started on it.
Trav

Thrux-ton-up · 12-20-2004

Hey Travthrux,

The only triumph parts needed are the lower fork sliders, fork seals, seal spacers, seal retainers, upper bushings, and dust seals. All other parts are Honda. See T1's photo album for pics of all the parts and new combos. I have close up photos of Honda cartridge and gold valve in my album.

Happy Holidays JCW

TravThrux · 12-21-2004

Well I found a set of forks from a scrapyard online. He would not sell just the parts I needed and wanted $300 + shipping. So...my search goes on (online).
I found the parts I needed from another source but he only had the left side. The price was right at $25 but I have 2 forks! DAM!
Trav

thruxtonone · 12-25-2004

Travis, I also have all the disassembled parts in my album. I think you will find the stock honda parts to be very good. You can always upgrade to goldvalves later. In this case 97-98 had latest valving. As previously stated if you do gold valves 95-98 will work. Just save money for the rear shocks to finish the package. Hope you head for home soon. vol 1-page 6-thruxtonone

thruxtonone · 12-25-2004

Travis, I also have all the disassembled parts in my album. I think you will find the stock honda parts to be very good. You can always upgrade to goldvalves later. In this case 97-98 had latest valving. As previously stated if you do gold valves 95-98 will work. Just save money for the rear shocks to finish the package. Hope you head for home soon. vol 1-page 6-thruxtonone