Hi guys. It's Saturday and Racetech is closed so I thought I'd come on here to try to get a question answered because I'd like to get this done tonight if I can.

The bike is a 2007 Softail Custom w/41mm forks.

I'm swapping out my stock springs for Racetech springs. I have everything apart, forks are off the bike (changed fork seals too), and now it's time to install the springs. Here are Racetechs instructions for measuring the PVC spacer.....alsoI verified this with a call to Racetech when the springs came in.

-fork tube fully extended.
-Drop spring and both washers into fork tube
-FIRST MEASUREMENT - use a tape measure to record the distance from the top of the fork tube down to the top of the spring washer.
-SECOND MEASUREMENT - measure fork cap from the bottom of the sealing lip (the point that touches the top of the tube when the cap is tightened) to the point on the bottom of the cap where the spring touches. Take this measurement and subtract it from the First Measurement.
-PRELOAD - add the amount of preload required to determine PVC spacer length. (Racetech said 25mm)

So here are my numbers, and after this I'll get to my question.

First measurement - 196mm (7.7")
Second measurement - 29mm (1.14")
Preload - 25mm (.98")

196 - 29 = 167
167+ 25 = 192 mm (7.5")

So according to Racetechs instructions the spacer should be cut to 192mm

Here's my question/concern. When I install the springs, washers and PVC spacer with forks fully extended it sits about 3mm below the top of the fork tube. But the stock springs it sit 10mm above the fork tube. Is this normal? Anything to worry about before I put everything back together? Thanks for any helpful info in advance.

NOTE: I'm not installing Racetechs Emulators, the forks are put together properly and measurements are very accurate.

 

Was the kit also supposed to give you any drop in height? When I put Progressive springs in my Night Train, it was designed and measured out to give me 1.5” of drop to level the bike out some.

There was a separate measurement for keeping the stock ride height. I don’t have experience with the Racetech kits.

 

Thanks for replying. No drop in height. Keeping it stock height. This all might be normal but I just wanted to make sure before I put the front end back together. Thought maybe someone on here may have experienced the same thing.

 

If this thread was about what oil to use, or whether someone should wear a helmet or not, it would have 500 replies already. LOL Bumping it up so maybe I can get an answer and get this done today.

 

Disclaimer
I have not dealt with these springs but I do lots of mechanical disassembly/assembly for a living (machine tools).

You say the measurements are good and the math is straight forward so I would assemble it. As long as there is minimal compression on the spring, enough so it doesn't move around when the tube is fully extended you should be good.

The 13mm difference could simply be the new springs don't need as much preload as the factory ones to achieve the the designed result. At the worst you end up cutting a longer spacer in the future

 

Definitely not lying there! I'm curious to see how this is going for you. I want to get Racetech springs for my 39mm forks. So I'll learn from you!

 

I'll post on here after I talk to Racetech tomorrow. Maybe I'm being a little overly cautious but I'd hate to put everything back together only to find out I have to take it apart again. That would suck *****. lol

 

yes it would! Smart move

 

Ok so I talked to Racetech. I was told the springs being about 3mm lower from the top of the fork tube is not an issue. Put it all back together last night with no issues. Pretty easy to do, just have to be organized, take your time, think things through, and follow the steps.

The one thing I'll tell you if you ever do this is that the 6mm bolt that bolts into the bottom of the lower fork tube (the bolt that holds the damping rod in place) is hard to torque down because the damping rod spins inside the lower fork (even when I stuck a wooden dowel to compress the springs a bit). So what I did was tighten it up as much as I could before I installed the forks. After I installed the forks onto the bike I took I took a ratchet tie down to compress the forks enough to keep the damper rod from spinning (make sure you have the pinch bolts and fork cap screw torqued down before you do this). Couldn't find the torque specs in the service manual but after a search online I found someone on these forums that said it was 132 - 216 in-lbs for the Fork Damper Tube screw. I went with 200 in-lbs.

If you swap out your springs you might as well do your fork seals too. I got the rebuild kit that includes, o-rings, the damper tube ring (if your bike requires it), retaining ring, fork seal, slider washer, slider tube bushing, slider bushing, damper tube screw w/copper washer, and rubber dust shield.

Last piece of advise. Use the service manual. Before you start taking thing apart, take photos and notes of everything, and how they were installed (even the tiniest of things). Then put disassembled parts away in an organized manner. . Example: After I installed my front wheel I noticed small gap between the right spacer and the lower fork tube (something I never noticed before). Didn't seem right. took it apart and back together 3 times hoping the gap would go away. Drove me nuts. lol I wasted an hour looking **** up online and in the manual. I was even looking at old photos of my bike to see if I had something that would give me a glimpse of that spacer. Finally I reluctantly decided it was normal. This morning a buddy of mine came by and he happen to have a photo of my bike from a ride we went on with the perfect angle showing that there was a small gap. That confirmed it was normal. lol

Haven't had the chance to test the new springs because it's pouring rain out today. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a chance to head out for a ride. I'll let you now how it rides.

 

Thanks for the helpful info. I have some RT springs on order for my 2019 Softail Low Rider that I plan on installing this weekend. I’m doing it while the forks are in place, as they are only 2000 miles old. No need to replace anything at this point. I’ll pop the cap, lift out the stock springs and spacers and replace.

All I need to figure out is what diameter PVC pipe I’ll need to cut the spacers from, and also whether a set of Burly Brand preload adjuster caps originally bought for a Dyna will work, or are even worth bothering with. I’m thinking not as the load won’t change once set...