taygold (Rookie)

Fri Oct 28, 2011 8:08 am

Ninja 250 front end swap (fork stiffness question)

I'm building a Virago 750 "cafe racer" and it just so happens the 250 ninja forks/ wheel slide right up in the triple! This is great because I cut the 19" monster front wheel down to a 16" which matches the rear. Anyway I'm trying to beef up my fork stiffness to support the extra weight of the virago (it weighs almost 200 lbs over the ninja) plus my own 150 lb (with gear) bum. I've read tons of threads and want to just throw out what I'm thinking of doing before actually cutting my springs.

the idea I'm getting is to cut down the stock springs by a few mm, say 10? and then make a PVC spacer that is 10mm longer than stock in order to keep my overall spring+ spacer length the same. Then probably add some 15W oil...Or would 20W maybe work better for this application? And I'm not too sure about the amount I'll want to cut?

This could also be looked at as though I were asking what I should do to my forks to support a 350 lb rider. And I'd like a rather stiff ride as I always hated how soft my old ninja was compared to the bigger sport bike I've owned.

thanks in advance for any advice!

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• Ninja 250 front end swap (fork stiffness question) — taygold, Fri Oct 28, 2011 8:08 am

  • Multi-prong question there... — BrianM, Fri Oct 28, 2011 8:38 am

    • FINISHED! CHECK IT OUT! — taygold, Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:09 pm

      • THIS IS SIIICK — carsnwomen91, Mon Feb 06, 2012 11:11 am

        • thanks! — taygold, Mon Feb 06, 2012 1:29 pm

      • Question about your headlights! — Greenhorn, Sun Feb 05, 2012 8:21 pm

        • about the headlight — taygold, Sun Feb 05, 2012 9:23 pm

          • Thank you! — Greenhorn, Sun Feb 05, 2012 9:28 pm

            • what I would do — taygold, Mon Feb 06, 2012 1:26 pm

            • Have you read this? — Bokonon, Sun Feb 05, 2012 9:40 pm

      • More pics — taygold, Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:11 pm

        • since the pics... — taygold, Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:17 pm

          • spring rate — carsnwomen91, Mon Feb 06, 2012 11:18 am

            • exactly right — taygold, Mon Feb 06, 2012 1:32 pm

              • Those are progressive springs — Bokonon, Mon Feb 06, 2012 5:19 pm

                • perfect! — taygold, Mon Feb 06, 2012 8:22 pm

                  • one more thing — taygold, Mon Feb 06, 2012 8:26 pm

                    • +1 on Sonic Springs — jkv45, Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:05 am

                      • good to hear — taygold, Wed Feb 08, 2012 3:36 pm

                    • People here use Sonic all the time.; Good quality, service and value. (n/t) — Bokonon, Mon Feb 06, 2012 11:22 pm

                      • update on springs! — taygold, Fri Feb 10, 2012 10:47 am

                        • There was some discussion about this a year ago — nate7723, Sat Feb 11, 2012 6:04 am

                        • Start a new thread in the Classic forum. Someone might know. (n/t) — Bokonon, Fri Feb 10, 2012 7:34 pm

    • interesting points! — taygold, Fri Oct 28, 2011 1:00 pm

      • upping preload is a great way to get awful results. — BrianM, Fri Oct 28, 2011 1:33 pm

        • finally some answers — taygold, Fri Oct 28, 2011 5:52 pm

          • You've confused some things. — BrianM, Fri Oct 28, 2011 5:59 pm

            • here's an idea... — taygold, Fri Oct 28, 2011 11:54 pm

            • been there done that...haha — taygold, Fri Oct 28, 2011 11:44 pm