Another fork thread

[sailfish]

Without going into a lot of detail, I had a low speed "incident" that did a job on my Sprint Exec. upper fork legs. The replacement parts aren't outrageous (each leg is $221, seals are $32 ea) but it still turns into a pile of cash spent on an old bike.

What I am looking for is: A. Good used original parts, or B. An interesting upgrade to an adjustable fork, either Triumph legs or Japanese parts that are compatible. I know that Semus did something like this with Frankinsprint.

One problem with a retro fit is that it appears that most cartridge fork legs are shorter than what is on the Sprint.

[KitNYC]

Sorry to hear about your incident.

I will have a working pair of forks available soon, but they do have some pitting & maybe a rust spot or 2. Their major appeal is that I could let 'em go cheap.

I'm not aware of any forks that are a direct swap. The ZRX forks are definitely shorter & Seumas rotated his eccentrics 180* to drop the rear to match. (His thread is here.)

Cheers,
-Kit

[seumas]

sailfish, I still have my original fork tubes out in the garage. The right one needs a new seal. pm me if you're interested and I'll make you a deal.

[KitNYC]

Seals not withstanding, I would be willing to bet that Seumas's forks are in better shape than mine.

Cheers,
-Kit

[BadMiker]

A bit of data mining at
http://www.bcparts.co.uk/html/fork_tubes_2.php
will let you know what forks are interchangeable but that's maybe not a lot of use.

Try calling some of the fork re-manufacturers and see if they will give you a list of fork lengths. (I have vague memories of there being a 'Motorbike's specification' book in the trade which lists fork lengths. Befriend a bike shop.)

On the S3 the forks are about 19mm pround of the top yoke; so there's always the option of fitting forks up to 19mm shorter than standard.

Fitting new forks is a doddle; use the new fork's yokes and either change the bearings to suit or change the stem. You will probably need to mess around with shims for the brakes and on either side of the wheel.

[sailfish]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Seumas is sending me his surplus suspension tomorrow and I'll be ordering seals an maybe bushings tomorrow also.

If anyone is interested in a set of Race Tech .95kg springs, it might motivate me to get something that I like better. I went through the Race Tech selection process which said to order what I have, but .95kg is too stiff for my 170 lb frame. I'm thinking maybe something progressive...

[KitNYC]

Originally Posted by sailfish

<...>
If anyone is interested in a set of Race Tech .95kg springs, it might motivate me to get something that I like better. I went through the Race Tech selection process which said to order what I have, but .95kg is too stiff for my 170 lb frame. I'm thinking maybe something progressive...

Something progressive? Have you thought about stock?

Cheers,
-Kit

[sailfish]

Oh, I've done stock. I like to complain about Race Tech recommending too high of a spring rate for a 100% street bike, but they are still a big improvement compared to stock. The stockers at .59kg were always riding low, expecially under braking. I've been eyeing Hyper Pros progressive springs but they can't seem to provide any spring rate values since they are "contiuous". At this point in time I'm a bit ahead of myself, I have to get steed back on the road.

[seumas]

How'd it go? Are ya back on the road yet?

[sailfish]

I've been kinda busy but I did get new seals in the fork legs. Reassembling everything I discovered that I also need a lower yoke (triple tree.) Anybody have one?

This opens up a whole new area of cross model compatability. You'd immediately think, as I, a Trophy part. Well, the numbers don't cross. I've been pouring over the Bike Bandit schematics trying to figure out what is different. There's quite a bit and you can't tell what the difference is by a part number. Across some models even the steering head bearings are different.

The dealer did confirm that Trident, Sprint Sport, Sprint Exec. were the same P/N.

The bottom line, I have found 2 used Trophy yokes. One is a 1997, the other is a 1999. Both are 3 Cylinder. There appears to be 3 fork combinations used on the Trophy and they are identified by VIN.

Does anyone know of a table or list showing Model Year vs. VIN?