91 Vfr Fork Swap

Hi all, i've only recently found out that the 92 93 models of the 3rd gen VFR have preload on the front forks, i would really really like to have preload on my 91 but am wondering if i would have to swap out the whole fork or just the internals? anyone have experience doing this?

You only need the preload adjuster and very likely a new (custom) spacer as the spring length differs between the 90-91 and 92-93.

sound man sounds like a cheaper option than buying a whole set of new forks. Thanks for that.

You need to buy pos. : 13, 18 and 33

Good luck :)

[image: uploadfromtaptalk1352055896480.jpg]

Jesus fair play to ya that's great. cmsnl.com the place to go

You'd probably be better off buying a new pair of springs... OEM ones will be quite weak.

Ciao,

You'd probably be better off buying a new pair of springs... OEM ones will be quite weak.

Ciao,

Good idea :)

I bought a pair of Wilbers and some 15W oil.
Quite heavy oil but very good on twisted, bumpy roads :D

Unfortunately, you can't really "tune" cartridge forks with oil weight. Heavier oil just makes them harsh. Ideally, you would adjust the shim stack to alter the damping characteristics of the cartridge. In the USA, companies like Race-Tech sell replacement valve bodies (Gold Valves) which come with a set of shims that you can use to tailor the damping to suit. In theory, you can do the same thing just using extra shims, but the Race Tech kit eliminates the trial and error. I believe Ohlins fork kits do essentially the same thing, but I've never seen one up close!

Ciao,

Ha i've put this off for a few days, i'm in Ireland and don't have a massive budget. buying just the new parts required to change to preload will cost near 200 euro, to buy a set of 92 forks second hand off ebay will cost the same amount but has the whole set up. however they could be bent buckled or fucked in a lot of ways. In the States you seem to have a lot of choice open to you, in Ireland it all costs a lot more as i've to pay for shipping, i'd say to do it all properly it's cost me up to 500 Euro, the bike itself cost me 1200 euro and i'm trying to buy a track bike at the moment too so 500 is too much i might be putting it on the long finger for a while. thanks though for all the input, your all great

Get 1994 CBR600 F2 of F3 forks and you will have preload adjustment and rebound damping.

Just pre-load your existing forks with some spacers on top of the springs (I've used 2 pence pieces on older bikes before now - as for cost, around 8p a side!). I imagine lots of people will slate this cheap-skate idea - lol

Just pre-load your existing forks with some spacers on top of the springs (I've used 2 pence pieces on older bikes before now - as for cost, around 8p a side!). I imagine lots of people will slate this cheap-skate idea - lol

That's just what I did combined with a lot of experimenting with oil thickness :)

Get 1994 CBR600 F2 of F3 forks and you will have preload adjustment and rebound damping.

Would i not also have to change brakes and wheels to do this or would it just be the forks? and are they not slightly shorter than the OEM VFR forks? I was reading up on the interweb somewhere about this and it said something like this but it was a while ago and i can't really remember.

Just pre-load your existing forks with some spacers on top of the springs (I've used 2 pence pieces on older bikes before now - as for cost, around 8p a side!). I imagine lots of people will slate this cheap-skate idea - lol

That's just what I did combined with a lot of experimenting with oil thickness :)

The cheaper the better but as i said the only place i've found new parts is CMSNL and they charge a fortune. have been trawling the bay for second hand parts but they're all whole forks and unwilling to break em to sell me what i want. in terms of fork oil, when i changed the really rotten seals i said i'd stick with stock oil 10W as i wanted to see what it'd be like stock but i am considering 15W on next change.

Just pre-load your existing forks with some spacers on top of the springs (I've used 2 pence pieces on older bikes before now - as for cost, around 8p a side!). I imagine lots of people will slate this cheap-skate idea - lol

Ah sorry i see what you mean now, forget the adjusters all together and do it internally. I would do this only i tried it on cb-1 forks and blew the aluminium head off goin round a round about, that was not fun and something i do not wish to happen again. :rolleyes:

Get 1994 CBR600 F2 of F3 forks and you will have preload adjustment and rebound damping.

There is a 1994 CBR600 F2 for sale here with a blown motor, I'm toying with getting. Seeing as I would have the whole bike I could use the wheel and brakes ect. How much shorter are the forks though? I know about dropping the forks 10mm on the VFR anyway, but are they even shorter than that? Thanks

First of all ask the seller if the 1994 CBR does indeed have the rebound adjustment as the year on the title may not correspond to the year of manufacturing. Only the last year F2 (and all F3) have the rebound adjustment.
By mix and matching parts with the VFR forks you end up with a fork that has the same length and suspension travel as a stock VFR fork.

http://www.vfrdiscus...in-gen-3-forks/

Firestorm forks (what I used on my FP) are slightly shorter, but ISTR that F3 forks were actually longer than VFR forks?

Ciao,

[image: Posted Image]
Top VFR750FP, bottom CBR600 F3

I haven't measured them accurately, maybe because by eyeballing I thought they were the same length. I did take the above pic of both fork legs.
I still have a pair of F3 stanchions and they measure 633mm in length, maybe you have notes on RC36 stanchions?

Would i not also have to change brakes and wheels to do this or would it just be the forks? and are they not slightly shorter than the OEM VFR forks? I was reading up on the interweb somewhere about this and it said something like this but it was a while ago and i can't really remember.

As you can see in the above pic the CBR & VFR fork lowers are the same so you can keep the VFR wheel, brakes and fender.

It's funny...I think one of my first RC36 "modding" goals way back in the mid '90s was to retrofit pre-load adjusters to my FL's OEM forks, too. My modding goals have since moved on--to another planet! :smile:

This discussion of the "F3 fork swap" brought be back to the heady days of the "Big List" and all that went on then in the dark days before VFRD.

Anyway, IIRC, before I ended up doing the VTR fork swap, I looked into the other popular swap at the time, which was to use F3 forks. As partially memorialised on that Web page, my understanding at the time was that the F3 forks were slightly longer (not a big problem--you just allow the forks to slide up through the triples) and that the OEM front fender could be used, but two of the mounting holes did not line up (easily fixed with some small brackets--or the use of the F3 mudguard). Found an old page on the swap, here. He says the OEM fender can be used so long as you open up the mounting holes with a file.

My data, gleaned from replacement fork tube manufacturers' fitment charts on the Web, says that the VFR750F fork tubes are 628mm long and the F3 tubes are 633mm long (agreeing with yours). Of course, the same data also says the VTR forks are 5mm longer as well... :huh: I suppose the difference I measured could have been due to (much) shorter lowers. Measuring assembled forks is a bit of an art, due to the different lengths you can measure, depending on how they're adjusted when you do it.

Ciao,

This thread is very informative :)

So, if one decides to do the VTR fork swap including the calipers. What about the discs

Thanks for your post above V4Rosso. Have thought about it and buying a whole bike for a set of forks may be a bit extravagant. I may just look around for a set of 600 forks.

I am now looking for F3 forks as there are going to be a lot more of them and my front fender is manky anyway so i wouldn't mind changing that out. if it was a thing that i wanted to keep OEM as much as possible i wouldn't just for value on the bike but as i plan to keep it for the rest of my life i don't think that'll be a problem could always just hang onto all oem parts anyway.

I am now looking for F3 forks as there are going to be a lot more of them and my front fender is manky anyway so i wouldn't mind changing that out. if it was a thing that i wanted to keep OEM as much as possible i wouldn't just for value on the bike but as i plan to keep it for the rest of my life i don't think that'll be a problem could always just hang onto all oem parts anyway.

It would be great, if you describe the process with pics :)

Btw, the CBR600F3 (in US-spec terminology) is a CBR600FS-W (in ROW-spec terminology).

I used a VFR750FR-V front wheel on my VTR fork conversion, and could have used the rotors/discs as well, but ended up using CBR900RRR-V discs (which are the same size). VTR1000F discs are the same size as well.

Ciao,

Btw, the CBR600F3 (in US-spec terminology) is a CBR600FS-W (in ROW-spec terminology).

I used a VFR750FR-V front wheel on my VTR fork conversion, and could have used the rotors/discs as well, but ended up using CBR900RRR-V discs (which are the same size). VTR1000F discs are the same size as well.

Ciao,

Thanks :)

First generation Kawasaki ZX-12R front is a direct swap! You get preload,compression and rebound adjustibility and 320mm brake discs with 6 pot brake calibers for a bonus.

First generation Kawasaki ZX-12R front is a direct swap! You get preload,compression and rebound adjustibility and 320mm brake discs with 6 pot brake calibers for a bonus.

Wow, that sounds great!

Do you happen to know, where to find som docs or pics of a ZX-12R / RC36 swap? :)

Just pre-load your existing forks with some spacers on top of the springs (I've used 2 pence pieces on older bikes before now - as for cost, around 8p a side!). I imagine lots of people will slate this cheap-skate idea - lol

This statement was brushed aside but I wouldn't discount it. It's pretty darn easy to unscrew the top of the fork tube and add / remove a spacer. PVC pipe is plenty strong and can be cut to size. If ALL you're after is pre-load adjustment as your original post suggested you could accomplish this for less than $5.00 (or pounds sterling or whatever...).

That being said, there are lots of great reasons to do a fork swap. I just don't think pre-load is one of them.

First generation Kawasaki ZX-12R front is a direct swap! You get preload,compression and rebound adjustibility and 320mm brake discs with 6 pot brake calibers for a bonus.

How are 43U (upside-down) forks a direct swap?