From RGGAMMA@aol.com Thu Apr 18 19:39 MET 1996

Rob,

The emulator valves with progressive springs will make the stock forks
reborn.....better than GSXR UD forks.

Cheers

Randy

From: "Charles Moss, 
Subject: Race Tech, BDK and pipes

Race Tech Gold Valve Emulators :

      ABSOLUTELY   STUNNINGLY   BRILIANT    !!!!!!!!!

Unless you ride on very smooth surfaces, in which case you won't notice much
difference over well set-up and serviced stockers.  I tried them on a Gamma 
out in SoCal courtesey of the ever-helpful and accomodating Rick Lance (yes,
I'm biased, he's a good friend) and they were good, but not _that_ good.  
However, i rode a couple of choppy surfaces and they did seem to make a
difference, so I sprung for a set.  Part of teh problem is Rick and I are
diametrically opposed on our suspension setups - I go super-soft at the front
and fairly stiff at the rear, Rick's preferred setup is stiff in the front 
and soft at the rear.  Once I had mine together and started dialling it in, it
just got more and more stunning.  I am running the stock springs, and this 
year, will be running the oil level 5 or 10mm higher with the GVE preload 
backed out a quarter turn, both from Rick's baseline settings.  The original
settings from Rick made my Fox shock seem like rubbish - all I could feel was
the back end screwing up all the time !  The Fox had always seemed pretty good
before.  So I had the Fox revalved - removing some hi-speed compression - and
now the back end is starting to feel "ok".  It needs a stiffer spring than Fox
recommend, and less HSC again.  The front end put right on the tail of a 
hard-ridden CBR900, with _ease_.  The same CBR and rider that demolished me 
with contempt 3 months earlier, on the _same_ roads.  Boy did I grin !!!
These gadgets are *_GREAT_*  If you ride on choppy tarmac - standard issue New
England roads, you will be totally, utterly completely gob-smacked by the
transformation.  No more stutter/chatter under braking - smooth as glass, 
right up to howling your CompK deep into a corner, frost-heaved tarmac 
included.  You just won't believe it.


From: Glen Gehlke 
Subject:  Re: [RG500] Racetech emulator  -Reply

   The latest RaceTech instructions acknowledge
the oil lock 'collar' and clarify that the "anti_dive"
will not function with this modification. Not having
the instructions available at this moment, I'll try to
describe the latest version of dampener rod
mods required:
   Total holes*, 3 sets of two (six holes total)
starting 10mm from the bottom (first set of two
holes will be shrouded by the oil lock) with the
remaining sets (2) of holes drilled perpendicular
to the previous at a specific measurement on
center...   
   Again, do not quote me on the measurements
or dimensions... TOTAL holes (at new size) = 6;
This includes 2 holes (stock) being drilled to new
size. 

   If you can't verify with someone @ RaceTech
and you'd like to persue, I'd be glad to reference
the instructions I rec'd with the emulators
(purchased approx 5 months ago).


Glen


From: ScanRan@aol.com

Here's an oversimplified explanation....

The older style of forks use a damper-rod assembly. Basically it's a plunger
with holes in it that squooshes the oil thru it to control damping.  The fork
spring is totally separate and comes out by itself.  Damper rods have become
pretty tricky, with different passages to control compression and rebound,
check balls, position sensitive damping, etc.  The problem is that the oil
passages are just fixed holes... and provide increasing resistance as the
fork tries to move faster. Thus, you can have a nice soft compression at slow
fork speeds (gentle bumps) yet still have arm-jarring harshness when the fork
tries to respond to a sharp-edged bump.  Some damper forks have "blow-off"
valves to pop open another passage when sharp bumps are encountered.

Now comes the cartrige fork:  the oil passage is metered NOT by a fixed hole,
but by a series of thin, flexible washers which are stacked on top of one
another. (the oil passage is blocked at one end by the washers, sort of like
a hat)

Think of it like this... It's like a reed valve for your damping oil.

The washers come in varying stiffness.  At low fork speeds, they open a
little bit and provide slow fork response. Over sharper bumps, the washers
flex open more, allowing faster response without harshness.  There is a
separate stack for control of compression and rebound, so they are
independantly adjustable.  The washers can also be mixed and matched (by
someone who knows what's up) to vary the forks' damping characteristics.
 This setup is far superior to the old damper rod.

For some reason, the fork spring is part of this entire assembly... the
damping ass'y and fork spring come out in one part: the "cartridge"

Now we get the emulator.  Race Tech drills out the (fixed) compression
damping passage in your fork and installs an "emulator" to control
compression damping. As you might have guessed, the emulator is a flat,
flexible washer that lets compression oil blow past it. The Emulator is ONE
washer, and is adjustable for preload by turning a preloading screw/spring on
top of the unit. Thus, you can now adjust your compression damping and
recieve some of the benefits of a washer stack.  Rebound damping is still
fixed, so you alter rebound damping by playing with oil weight, then dial the
screw on the emulator to get the compression damping you want.  You have to
open up the top of the fork and remove the spring to get to the emulator, so
it's not something you'll be doing on the roadside.

I had emulators installed in mine (the first RG500 set!- they gave me the
prototype discount) by Race tech.  I used to race my RG and had to run fairly
heavy oil to control chatter under braking, so I was used to a jarring ride
over sharp bumps.  With the Emulators installed it rode great and worked on
the track, too. Amazing.

I highly recommend this mod, if you're keeping the stock front end it's $130
well spent.

Since then I've switched to 90 GSXR forks because I like to fool with the
knobs on the outside, but I had no complaints about the 38mm-emulator front
end.  Of course, I had to get the GSXR forks revalved to match the RG's
weight, and that was 200 bucks on top of the cost of the forks...    I
haven't ridden it yet so I can't make any comparison.

Sorry if this was kinda long!

Randy Norian



From: Glen Gehlke 
Subject:  Re: [RG500] Racetech emulator (long) -Reply

I too am using the emulators and was  wondering
what "settings" you had found to work best.
Currently I am using 4 turns on the 'valve preload
spring', 15wt oil and the std size 'blow-off hole'.
This is in conjunction with the recommended
add'l holes at the specified size in the orig
dampening rods.

Glen


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Subject: Re: [RG500] Racetech emulator
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Status: RO

I am using Racetech emulator too. Using this valve with six 8mm holes on
dumper rod and taking off standard PDF valve.  Maybe all you can not
bereave the effects with this kind of easy modify.  
I highly recommend this products for all standard fork user.  But be
careful to drilled out on dumper rod. because part number 51146-20A00 is
already discontinued in SUZUKI Japan. 
I also using EMC Dymanic's Race Shock.  I guess it is necessary to modify
std rear suspension first.  It can get much better result. Std rear shock
had very poor dumping ability so it do not able to stay tire on a road.

>Question - who's running what for wheels and tires, and what are the general
>impression of the setup ?

Now I am using front 4.5x17 with 120/70-17 Pirelli Dragon Corsa and 5.5x17
with 160/60-17 Dragon Corsa.  And I used to use Michelin TX11/TX23.  I
think there is not much difference there ability between these tires.  Both
Dragon Corsa and Hi-Sport Radial have enough performance for Gamma. 
Michelin had little bit quick handling I guess.
Before I decided to use these sizes of wheels and tires I tried many other
combination of size.  But maybe these sizes are better.  To use these sizes
tires, you have to adjust ride height.  It is very important for handling. 
Basically, to adjust ride height same as normal or little bit increase rear
ride height.

Tadashi K.

==============================================
Tadashi Kashihara : かしはらただし
e-mail:  candy@kyoto-inet.or.jp
tel.:    075-491-4498 / fax.:    075-491-4498
==============================================

Rob Koopman ( Rob.Koopman@inter.NL.net ) ^{RG500 Index}