Forks - different number of clicks
 

Just bought a 916SPS that has had a "Maxton Fork Conversion"........
Setting up the forks I find that the damping adjusters at the bottom of the forks (compression) have different number of clicks on LHS/RHS.
LHS has 16
RHS has 10

Not happy here as I rekon the forks are not a matched pair.

Any comments chaps?

Richard

They're not those ultra trick forks where one leg sets the low speed compression and the other the high speed compression are they? That might explain a difference.

If they ain't find out what the standard settings are and start from there.

Maybe the previous owner just didn't know, and hadn't set them up the same?

Sometimes they come from the factory with wild setting like that!!

"officially" there should be 17 clicks, although no. 1 can be counted??
What you may have is some dirt or such like on the valve seat. The screw is on the end of the metering valve and if something's on the valve seat then you'll lose some clicks. ie you'll never bottom it and so rather than starting from "1", you'll be on "6". Counting out you'll then get an odd number.........
I doubt you've got mismatched forks.

I screwed both adjusters fully "in" (clockwise turn of screw), then turned the adjuster anticlockwise until it would go no further - whilst counting the "clicks".
I didn't want to force the adjuster due to risk of breaking something!
When you sy there may be some dirt on the valvle seat, do you mean externally or internal to the fork?
The forks have polished bottoms and anodised stanchions and appear to have been refinished at the same time. I will do a bit more investigation later.

Richard

[Edited on 23-9-2004 by RickyX]

I've heard, and had a new Ducati where the standard settings as listed in the manual were way off on the bike, and similar to you each fork leg was set differently, and that's from new

I doubt Maxton et all would be responsible for such a thing, probably the previous owner, but I could be wrong

The dirt, if there is any, will be internal. When you screwed the screws in, if something is on the seat then you won't get the screw fully in.
Counting out from there, you will get a different number of clicks.

may sound really stupid (my thoughts usually are) but I had the same probelm until I bought a smaller screw driver. Seems the blade was catching the side wall of the screw on 1 leg, but not the other. Only on sps tho, not the 748 before. When I got a long, thin driver it miraculously sorted itself - 16 clicks each side.

Bradders: Got a "long thin one" - that's what I always used on the 748.

JPM: It's not the settings, it's the actual full number of clicks available that are different. I was checking the full range prior to setting the forks to the baseline settings.

Nelly: rechecked last night. Definitely 10 on RHS, 16/17 on LHS. When the RHS is screwed "fully in" the feeling when it "bottoms" does not feel vague as if a non-regular bit of dirt was preventing it from being screwed fully in. It feels the same as LHS i.e. it bottoms on a "seat".
Wha kind of "dirt" could be in there?

Anything that could've crept in when they were stripped??? Just one potential cause though?
The "dirt" could be one reason........maybe the thread on the adjuster is damaged?? The cartridge could've been assembled incorrectly??
Maybe a call to Maxton is worth a try?