Rear Shock

[670cc]

As I mentioned on another thread, the RaceTech emulators are only about $120 and a reasonably mechanical person can install them.

Remove brake caliper, wheel and fender.
Remove forks.
Remove fork cap.
Pull out springs.
Invert forks to drain oil.
Remove single bolt on bottom of each fork.
Dump out damper rods.
Drill out original damper holes per instructions.
Reinstall dampers with bolts and new crush washer.
Preadjust emulator valves.
Drop valve on top of damper.
Refill with fork oil to proper level.
Drop in stock springs (or new RaceTech springs).
For stock spring, shorten spring spacers by thickness of emulator.
Install spacers and fork caps.
Install forks, wheel, brake caliper, and fender.

Greg

 

[ray]

Which is the part number to use for RT as our model isn't listed? TIA

 

[670cc]

which is the part number to use for rt as our model isn't listed? Tia

fegv s4101

 

[duk2n]

Greg, please could you confirm what numbers are in the following picture the parts "damper" and "crush washer" that you are refering to? Are they the #11 (damper) and #21 (crush washer)?:

2012 Honda NC700X AC FRONT FORK | CyclePartsNation

As I mentioned on another thread, the RaceTech emulators are only about $120 and a reasonably mechanical person can install them.

Remove brake caliper, wheel and fender.
Remove forks.
Remove fork cap.
Pull out springs.
Invert forks to drain oil.
Remove single bolt on bottom of each fork.
Dump out damper rods.
Drill out original damper holes per instructions.
Reinstall dampers with bolts and new crush washer.
Preadjust emulator valves.
Drop valve on top of damper.
Refill with fork oil to proper level.
Drop in stock springs (or new RaceTech springs).
For stock spring, shorten spring spacers by thickness of emulator.
Install spacers and fork caps.
Install forks, wheel, wheel caliper, and fender.

Greg

 

[670cc]

Greg, please could you confirm what numbers are in the following picture the parts "damper" and "crush washer" that you are refering to? Are they the #11 (damper) and #21 (crush washer)?:

2012 Honda NC700X AC FRONT FORK | CyclePartsNation

The damper rod is actually #13, called a PIPE, SEAT . The washer is #21, as you guessed. I forgot to have 2 washers on hand so I re-used the old ones. Fine if it doesn't leak, very inconvenient if it does and you need to rework it later. You will want to have a long 3/8 drive 6mm (or was it a 5?, I can't recall) hex bit if you want to properly torque the damper rod bolt.

The spring spacer I mentioned in the prior post is #3, COLLAR, SPRING.

The drilling involves drilling six 5/16" holes in the PIPE, SEAT. A drill press makes the drilling more accurate, but it's not terribly critical because all you are trying to do is open it up so the original compression damping holes are rendered ineffective.

If you ever wanted to revert the fork to stock, you would just replace both damper rods for about $25 each (or whatever the price is in your country), remove the emulators, and toss the spacer cut-offs back on top of the springs.

Greg

 

[duk2n]

Much appreciated, Greg.

Unfortunatelly my RaceTech local dealer wants US$ 250 for the Emulators. Those men in the middle make my crazy, I must look for some french, italian or british dealer

The drilling involves drilling six 5/16" holes in the PIPE, SEAT

I guess the holes must be drilled transversal to the "pipe, seat" axle. Am I right?

 

[670cc]

Much appreciated, Greg.

Unfortunatelly my RaceTech local dealer wants US$ 250 for the Emulators. Those men in the middle make my crazy, I must look for some french, italian or british dealer



I guess the holes must be drilled transversal to the "pipe, seat" axle. Am I right?

Don't feel bad. Some of the fancy aftermarket bits for the NC from Europe are like unobtainium to us in the USA.

If I recall correctly, the stock PIPE, SEAT (damper rod) has four 4 holes drilled, 2 on each side. You are to drill those four out larger, and add two more 90* from the originals. The instructions guide you so follow them, not me, if I've got it wrong from memory.

Greg

 

[duk2n]

Thanks again, Greg

Don't feel bad. Some of the fancy aftermarket bits for the NC from Europe are like unobtainium to us in the USA.

If I recall correctly, the stock PIPE, SEAT (damper rod) has four 4 holes drilled, 2 on each side. You are to drill those four out larger, and add two more 90* from the originals. The instructions guide you so follow them, not me, if I've got it wrong from memory.

Greg

 

[ray]

I would like to try the racetech gold valve emulators. As my bike is still new and under warranty, I would like to do minimal dismantling and replacements. Can I just jack up the front, unbolt the fork top covers to do the mod, and then put back? It will mean reusing the fork oil, seals, dust covers, etc, since those will not be touched. Any space clearance issues or parts that will require me to take out the forks?

 

[670cc]

I would like to try the racetech gold valve emulators. As my bike is still new and under warranty, I would like to do minimal dismantling and replacements. Can I just jack up the front, unbolt the fork top covers to do the mod, and then put back? It will mean reusing the fork oil, seals, dust covers, etc, since those will not be touched. Any space clearance issues or parts that will require me to take out the forks?

No.

In order for the Emulators to take control of compression damping, the stock damping holes in the damper rod must be drilled out to render them ineffective. To do this you must partially disassemble the fork, but you will need to remove them from the bike to do so.

My bike is under warranty but I don't give a hoot about that. I sincerely expect nothing will fail and the bike will never see the dealer for warranty service anyway. Plus, the chances of a fork being the failure are near zero, and once the emulator is installed there is absolutely no way to detect it from an external inspection.

BTW, the fork seals, slider bushings, and dust caps are never touched during the modification process. Review post #21. And, you could reuse the fork oil but you might as well change it.

Greg

 

[yticolev]

OK, here is a real dumbass question for you. I'd like to have someone else do the fork mod for me. While I can't find the NC on RT's site, I drilled down to another model and saw a gold valve kit for $170 and installation for another $100. Sounds reasonable to me, but there are no RT service centers near me (closest is 270 miles). Is there some reasonable way to search for someone competent to do this nearer to me?

 

[Beemerphile]

...And, you could reuse the fork oil but you might as well change it.

Greg

RaceTech spec'ed mine with a different weight oil. The weight of the oil is one mechanism for damping adjustment.

 

[670cc]

RaceTech spec'ed mine with a different weight oil. The weight of the oil is one mechanism for damping adjustment.

Right. Good point. The oil weight is used to set the rebound damping. So you may or may not retain the same oil weight after the mod. I chose to leave mine the same as stock at 10 wt. for now.

Greg

 

[dog]

The instructions guide you so follow them, not me, if I've got it wrong from memory.

Greg

Considering doing this myself. So the only parts you need other than the emulators are the crush washers and new fork oil? It this the instruction guide you used:

 

[StratTuner]

the location is near where I live... if that helps any...

 

[dog]

the location is near where I live... if that helps any...

If that were true for me I might actually take the bike there and have them do it!

 

[Spaceteach]

The big brown truck came today and dropped off a set of FEGV S4101 Gold Valve Cartridge Emulators and S3534 .85 kg springs. Looks like tomorrow's activities could include some wrenching and drilling.

FWIW I just called tech support at Racetech and they recommended using blue emulator springs with two turns of preload, and a fork oil level of 120mm with 15 wt fork oil. I was a little surprised at the oil level recommendation since their web site called out only 90mm. These numbers were based on a 170 pound rider.

Bob

 

[dduelin]

The NC700X is a long chalk from a VF700 or VF1100 but the fork is 41 mm. Maybe that is all that matters?

 

[Spaceteach]

The NC700X is a long chalk from a VF700 or VF1100 but the fork is 41 mm. Maybe that is all that matters?

Dave, the instructions that came with my emulators were a little different than the ones Dog posted, but there isn't much difference. The sheet I got was IP FEGV S.doc instead of IP FEGV S4101V4.doc

Bob

 

[dog]

Dave, the instructions that came with my emulators were a little different than the ones Dog posted, but there isn't much difference. The sheet I got was IP FEGV S.doc instead of IP FEGV S4101V4.doc

Bob

Cool, at least I kinda know what I would getting into. I do hate those jarring bumps and Houston seems to have a lot of them. I noticed pretty much all roads have gotten worse with the introduction of the SUV -- at least that's the way it seems to me in my little Subaru wagon, and now on my NC. I think doing the front will give me the biggest bang for the buck.