Honda ST1100 Section > Suspension ST1100
Melbourne Suspension Revalve
Garry_Coates:
Piet,
a good reference for all models is at: http://www.st-1100.com/st1100-parts.html. Put in your police model and go to the relevant parts fiche. I am betting you find that police model bikes have same suspension parts as ABS bikes of that year.
Regards
Garry
Garry_Coates:
Hi All,
I have been doing further research on using existing showa fork cartridges. The best two options are VTR1000f and CBR600f3 as the both have 41mm fork caps and 8mm cartridge bolts. I have dispensed with other brands as Honda has by far the best part searches and available information.
I am concentrating on the VTR as the F3 has been used by just about everybody in fork conversions. Certainly none in Australia I get get for the right price.
One point of concern is the VTR has much shorter fork springs (310mm) than the ST ABS version (470mm) which I am investigating. This leads me to my questions.
Does anybody have an ST1100 1995 or later fork cartridge accessible they can measure?
I would like to confirm the cartridge length and maximum travel of the piston.
Please note that the 1995 ABS model has the same spring as earlier ABS models but different cartridge so not sure what the difference is.
Regards
Garry
ps: I have already bought VTR cartridges from eBay so I can measure them directly
Garry_Coates:
I have just got back from my first ride with the VTR fork internals fitted to ST which has been successful. I ended taking them to Krooz Tune in Melbourne as I could see it was not a simple installation. David there has done a number damper rod to fork cartridge conversions for a variety of bikes.
He had to make a fitting for the LHS fork tube to work with the VTR rebound spring and other internal changes to fit them. All up about three hours work to revalve the VTR cartidges and fit them to the ST. He used my existing WP springs and retained 146mm of fork travel which easily enough (120mm was my minimum requirement).
Open cartridge forks get air trapped in them when you bring them home in the car on their sides. I need to do a little more riding before making any tuning changes. Then I will refit the handlebar cover which still fits with the VTR fork caps.
Regards
Garry
Piet:
Hi Garry,
Looking forward to hearing how you went.
Obviously the external hardware like brake calipers and guard still fit as per original.
So is it now a case where one side has adjustable compression and the other rebound? It sounds like both fork tubes are now identical unlike the original ST11.
Regards, Piet.
Garry_Coates:
Hi Piet,
I just used the VTR fork internals not the external bits. Both sides are the same with only pre-load and rebound externally adjustable. But from experience changing rebound on Saturday also changes compression probably 80/20 or 70/30. Forks where re-valved to suit ST and run 5wt oil. TRAC left in place but does not affect the cartridges.
I discussed the rebound adjustable one side / compression the other with David. While it can be done he did not recommend it as it compromises the cartridge dampening to some degree.
From my experience if compression and rebound a close to right the external adjustment will probably be sufficient. Worse case is go to slightly heavier oil for compression and adjust rebound to compensate.
This will do me. If I am prepared to spend $2k on suspension I would graft late model USD forks and wheel from a CBR.
One consequence of not using TRAC is a much better feel when hard braking.
Regards
Garry
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