Honda ST1100 Section > Suspension ST1100
Melbourne Suspension Revalve
Garry_Coates:
Some more useful information for early models (<=95):
1. 41 mm Fork tubes for Police and ABS models are 614 mm in length while the standard is 633 mm.
633 mm seems to be what a lot of honda sports bikes use so swapping with them is possible eg CBR600F.
2. Fork spring length for police and ABS models is 474 mm while the standard is 416 mm.
3. 95 model 41 mm fork seems to have the same internals as the 96 43mm fork
So a 95 ABS model has shorter tubes, longer springs and different internals to standard 94 or earlier models!?
4. Just about every Honda conventional showa fork in the the 41/43 mm size can use the same Racetech 20mm compression and rebound valving options. Therefore must be similar.
Lots of fork cartridge options for the 96 and later models with 43 mm forks. Not so much for the 41mm earlier models unless either use cartridges with other adjuster fork caps or modify 43 mm adjuster caps to fit.
Well, I thought it was interesting.
Regards
Garry
Piet:
Garry, where did you find the info on the lengths of the forks? I was in touch with a guy in Germany who sells new fork tubes and he said that the left and right sides were different. This seems unlikely to me. But who knows. Thats what made me ask the question. I need to fix a fork seal soon. I must have damaged it on install when I did my winter maintenance. When I do the install I might get a chance to check it. However knowing where to find info like that is gold sometimes.
I am saving up for the Traxxion deal. It sounds just perfect. To be honest as I am not happy with the Progressive 465 rear I might purchase the Penske rear first. My front end with Sonic fixed rate springs feel so much better than previous, so the Traxxion might be pushed out a bit.
Garry_Coates:
Hi Piet,
I found it doing some long searches on "Honda ST1100 Fork tube length". I cannot remember the website(s).
I confirmed it by calculating the fork tube volumes for each length and taking a ratio of them (0.96998)
and comparing it against ratios of:
a) recommended oil volumes (L&R)
b) recommended oil levels (L&R)
They are close to this ratio. I do not understand why the recommended oil level is different (13ml) for each side though and anything is possible with the ST as it seems to have a unique front end.
Remember that the left and right fork tubes are not interchangeable anyway - different part numbers with probably different fittings at the bottom to cater for either cartridge or oil damper oil lock pieces..
If you are buying fork tubes then I would disassemble and measure to be certain. If you have a slight fork tube ding then that can be lightly sanded to remove sharp edges.
My main reason for this research is to compare with other bikes with showa forks for likely cartridge use.
Hell, I maybe wrong have a look at what I found at racetech:-
http://racetech.com/download/FORK_TUBE_TNK_RTweb_revised.xls
Only two part numbers shown are for the non-ABS ST1100s 41mm fork (MT3 part numbers) which would suggest that one tube is longer than the other! No reference to ABS part numbers (MY3)?!
I will need to look at this again some other time
Regards
Garry
Piet:
Hi Garry, When I installed the Sonic springs (not so long back) I can definitely confirm that the fork legs are different. The RH fork (sitting on the bike) has the cartridge in it and there is a captive piece in the bottom of the fork tube that is not there in the LH tube. What I did not do was check the lengths. I wish I had. Because I still have my original springs I went down stairs half an hour ago and measured the original spring at 470mm, So it had sagged 4 mm from new. I know for a fact mine is ex police (Qld Police) but was completely returned to original look with the exception of the switches on the handlebars and the forks (not so obvious).
The guy in Germany said the fork lengths were different LH to RH and his dimensions were 633 and 613. This matches the spreadsheet you sent from RaceTech. Thats a great spreadsheet by the way. Top marks on spotting it and thank you for sending it on. I have added it to my file of useful info I have been collecting.
I am going to try and fix the leaking fork seals on Thursday-Friday so when I have them apart again I will measure them. I did not have a proper seal driver first time round and I must have wrecked the seals. I have that sorted now. I also ordered some fork gaiters (won't arrive in time) and some new brake pads because they got some fork oil onto the pads.
The Police models do have different part numbers for the forks don't they? So if its not a case of 613mm for Police and 633mm for std production, then it makes one wonder what the difference is?
I was hoping to hear back from the guy in Germany but so far no further response. I will keep in touch.
Garry_Coates:
Hi Piet,
I am glad you found the info of use. The best information I have found is using:
1. Racetech spring rate search
2. Racetech gold valve options: http://racetech.com/download/FMGV-ForkGoldValves.xls
Using 1 to confirm the details of the fork: showa, conventional, 41 mm gold valve options
And then using 2. to confirm details of valves: 20mm, compression, rebound etc make it easy to compare front ends. Just missing fork travel and dimensions.
Just got home from a 800 km ride with an ABS problem I need to diagnose.
Merry Christmas
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