What are front fork emulators?
Simply put: Emulators make damping rod forks perform like well tuned cartridge forks. Emulators are tunable valves that sit on top of the damping rods and are held in place by the main springs. This make them both simple to install and completely tunable for all rider conditions and rider preferences.
How do I fit fork Emulator?
SELECT THE EMULATOR SIZE TO FIT INTO THE FORK TUBE – The outer diameter of the Emulator must be smaller than the inner diameter of the fork tube by at least 0.75mm (0.030″). It can be as much as 4mm (0.160″) smaller.
What do damper rods do?
A damping-rod fork is fairly simple: all that happens is oil is shoved through fixed orifices. This type of damping is call “velocity-squared” damping. The faster the wheel moves vertically, the more oil is shoved through the holes. This is an important point.
What is a fork cartridge?
Cartridge motorcycle fork legs carry a small cylinder that is, basically, a little shock absorber. This little cylinder inside the leg is the “cartridge”. It sits in the fork oil. A piston slides through the cartridge and performs the damping effect.
What do cartridge emulators do?
Enter Race Tech Emulators. They mimic the action of cartridge forks, which replace the holes in damper rods with valves that provide damping at low fork speeds, and open up to let oil through at high speeds, preventing hydraulic lock.
What do fork valves do?
Fitted at the top of the damping rods and held in place with the main springs, PD fork valves control the way the oil is distributed, so that the forks emulate cartridge forks, thus increasing their performance. They offer better control with a progressive feeling, better steering response and a more comfortable ride.
What is fork damping?
Rebound damping regulates the speed at which your fork or shock recovers, or bounces back, from an impact and returns to its full travel. Much like a compression circuit, rebound damping relies on oil moving through a circuit to regulate the speed at which the suspension extends after being compressed.
Are pitted Forks an MOT failure?
Not only are damaged and underperforming forks dangerous on the road, they are also an MOT failure. The conditions of the MOT test require that: There should be no oil visible on the fork tube or leaking down the slider around the fork oil seal areas. The forks must be adequately dampened.
Why upside down forks are better?
By design, inverted forks have shorter and thinner walled fork tubes. This results in less steering inertia and more responsive handling feel. One more benefit, inverted front ends deliver better compression and rebound dampening than conventional designs.
What is Gold Valve Emulator?
GOLD VALVE CARTRIDGE EMULATORS® Damping Rod style forks are notorious for being both too harsh, too mushy and too easy to bottom. Gold Valve Cartridge Emulators remedy this problem by controlling the damping with a tuneable valve that sits on top of the damping rod and is held in place by the main spring.
How do closed cartridge forks work?
A tube (cartridge) is sealed at both ends and when the fork compresses, a rod is plunged in the oil-filled tube, displacing oil. A valve assembly at the base of the cartridge meters the oil coming out of the cartridge when the fork is compressing.
What are cartridge forks on a motorcycle?
The technology that has superseded the damping-rod fork in sportbikes and a few cruisers is called a cartridge fork. One or both fork legs carry a small cylinder inside the lower section that is, basically, an open-chamber shock absorber. A piston slides through this cartridge, which is submerged in the fork oil.
How do gold valve Cartridge emulators work?
Gold Valve Cartridge Emulators remedy this problem by controlling the damping with a tuneable valve that sits on top of the damping rod and is held in place by the main spring. Simply put; Emulators make damping rod forks perform like well-tuned cartridge forks. Installation and tuning for any condition or rider preference is very straight-forward.
Can you change the shape of a cartridge fork damping curve?
Fortunately for damping rod fork owners, there is an elegant way to change the shape of the damping curve with the addition of Race Tech Gold Valve Cartridge Emulators. I invented Emulators back in the early 1990s to provide the compression damping curve of a cartridge fork, make it tunable, and offer it at a very reasonable cost.
What is a piston ring on a fork?
The piston ring keeps suspension oil from passing between the damping rod and the inner fork tube. On some older model vintage bikes (1960s and 70s) many forks did not come with a piston ring.
Where does the compression damping take place in the emulator?
It is certainly still there, but the effect is so small it is no longer significant. Instead, all the compression damping takes place in the Emulator. With the Emulator installed on top of the damping rod, low-speed damping is controlled by low-speed bleed hole (s) in the valve piston (see figure 3.15).