Been doing a lot of work on my '06 over the past month or so. Here's some photos and a question towards the end for those of you who have re-sprung the front forks, particularly with Race Tech springs.

First - when you take the forks and head stem out to grease it up, the idea is to NOT let your bike fall off the stand and sprawl all across the shop floor. Just a hint in case you didn't already know that...



There's a rod that'll fall down into the shock that will need pulled back up. This was our tool of choice:




After some research, I found that there's supposed to be a 1-inch spacer inserted here somewhere:


I put it here, under the threaded cap, and above the washer and spring.


The spacer is a 1" PVC coupler cut in half and cleaned up for a cost of $0.41. Half went on the right and other half on the left. I'm just checking with ya'll to see if this looks correct.
Thanks much.
Scott

 

do you have race tech springs in there now?

 

Hello RP:
Yes, the race tech springs have replaced the stockers. And I noticed they were better even before putting the spacer in on just a few short rides. Haven't got to ride since the spacer, but I can certainly feel the difference just bouncing around on it in the shop.

 

I have an '06 also. I did the Gold Valve full revalve on my fork with a 300 kit and got the fork springs for the 300. Here's the weird thing, and I don't have some of these exact numbers at hand and am too lazy to dig them up for your pleasure. It's fairly well known the 300 USD springs are slightly shorter than the '06-'07 250S springs...maybe 15mm...but the 300 springs are designed for the same travel. OK, no problem...I'll make an appropriate spacer that will address the 15mm and apply the proper preload.

I got Race Tech .44 springs and started installation. After reading the extensive instructions from RT, I noticed there was a wide latittude for preload depending on the bike weight, rider weight, and just plain preference...as long as there was at least 5mm but no more than 20mm. There's also a different measuring method for USD forks as compared to conventional right-side-up forks. Surprisingly I didn't have to use any large spacer, and in fact only used one washer to separate the spring from the bottom of the aluminum cap. I ended up with 15mm of preload which has long since proven to be just right for me as to sag, ride height, etc. As RT recommends, there's no magic number for preload as long as you have enough...about 5mm...and not too much...over 20mm. Stay within those parameters, and you should be fine as long as the weight rate is correct for you. And of course, remember that oil level is an important tuning tool also.