XR fork questions
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Road Master
Joined: Jul 2006
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From: MO
XR fork questions
Who makes them?
Diameter?
Swapability with stock 39mm forks?
Price?
Do they NEED springs like the non-inverted forks ALL do?
Considering them for my Nightster and wondered what all is involved like triple trees, brake line routing, single or double rotor setup, etc.
Diameter?
Swapability with stock 39mm forks?
Price?
Do they NEED springs like the non-inverted forks ALL do?
Considering them for my Nightster and wondered what all is involved like triple trees, brake line routing, single or double rotor setup, etc.
XR forks are made by Showa. They are the Big Piston Forks or BPF system. You can look up the design with google, as it will likely explain it better than I could.
You can put them on your sportster very easily. Diameter is 43mm instead of 39mm.
You can put them on your sportster very easily. Diameter is 43mm instead of 39mm.
Last edited by UFOtestpilot; Feb 28, 2012 at 08:35 AM. Reason: Addendum
They are longer, I just don't know for sure how much. I want to say near 2" at rest, but I can't say I'd be right.
I considered doing the full XR1200X suspension/brake swap on my XL before I found the components I'll be going with.
Oh yeah, the front/rear setup with brakes and all parts needed to swap right would be about 2k new. I didn't find a used setup that hadn't already been sold when I was searching.
I considered doing the full XR1200X suspension/brake swap on my XL before I found the components I'll be going with.
Oh yeah, the front/rear setup with brakes and all parts needed to swap right would be about 2k new. I didn't find a used setup that hadn't already been sold when I was searching.
Last edited by UFOtestpilot; Feb 28, 2012 at 08:51 AM.
Front forks, rear shocks. You can buy the XR1200X suspension (front/rear) for about $1500 new, and you can also upgrade to the dual disc and master cylinder up front.
As you noticed there aren't as many folks on this forum that reply to posts involving performance related questions as there are when you are talking about exhaust/paint/tanklift/fenderchop/bobber/chopper/whatnot. I'm not passing judgment so much as just stating what I've witnessed. So, if you are looking for more input on suspension or general performance related questions I can tell you there are a lot more folks at the XL forum who are into these things, or at least there are a lot more threads regarding them.
As you noticed there aren't as many folks on this forum that reply to posts involving performance related questions as there are when you are talking about exhaust/paint/tanklift/fenderchop/bobber/chopper/whatnot. I'm not passing judgment so much as just stating what I've witnessed. So, if you are looking for more input on suspension or general performance related questions I can tell you there are a lot more folks at the XL forum who are into these things, or at least there are a lot more threads regarding them.
Last edited by UFOtestpilot; Feb 29, 2012 at 07:39 AM. Reason: Addendum
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Front forks, rear shocks. You can buy the XR1200X suspension (front/rear) for about $1500 new, and you can also upgrade to the dual disc and master cylinder up front.
As you noticed there aren't as many folks on this forum that reply to posts involving performance related questions as there are when you are talking about exhaust/paint/tanklift/fenderchop/bobber/chopper/whatnot. I'm not passing judgment so much as just stating what I've witnessed. So, if you are looking for more input on suspension or general performance related questions I can tell you there are a lot more folks at the XL forum who are into these things, or at least there are a lot more threads regarding them.
As you noticed there aren't as many folks on this forum that reply to posts involving performance related questions as there are when you are talking about exhaust/paint/tanklift/fenderchop/bobber/chopper/whatnot. I'm not passing judgment so much as just stating what I've witnessed. So, if you are looking for more input on suspension or general performance related questions I can tell you there are a lot more folks at the XL forum who are into these things, or at least there are a lot more threads regarding them.
Fork tube diameter is 43mm but that is not how you clamp the triple trees. The 2009 LA model (old style) has a single crap cartridge and just a spring on the other side. The BP has pistons in the top of the tubes and the damper rod is held in place with a sort of nut. The BP forks have a nylon spring pre-load adjuster on the bottom of the fork and has both compression and rebound adjusters. The ride control is better than the earlier model LA. Due the the poor fitting pistons inside of the fork tubes the system does not work well due to the liability of the pistons sticking inside of the fork tubes while the fork tubes deflect during braking and such. There is no inner cartridge tube because the pistons ride inside of the fork tubes.
We change well over 4/week BP systems to Ohlins 30mm cartridges as some of the sportbike manufactures use the Showa/Honda system. I have around 100 of these internals that I have removed. The pistons are thin in thickness and have a small piston ring in place of a real thicker ring/piston with a Teflon ring to prevent leakage. The shocks in the upgrade kit are only good as a boat anchor and can be had cheep with very low mileage on them.
No one here has mentioned the fact that new triple trees must be purchased as well as calipers. Your wheel hub flange width must be 5.010" so your Sportster wheel hub will not work. Pictured is a LA V/S a 30mm Ohlins.
Last edited by FastHarley; Feb 29, 2012 at 09:52 AM.
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Thread Starter
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Road Master
Joined: Jul 2006
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From: MO
Thanks man! I was going to dig into it myself after getting the basic info, but you answered most of my questions already! Man, that's a big ol difference.
Do the Ohlins internals get stuffed in the stock forks or are they completely separate units?
What a shame, always been a Honda / Showa fan in the offroad world, till time to service them that is, then I prefer the KYB's.
Thanks again!
Do the Ohlins internals get stuffed in the stock forks or are they completely separate units?
What a shame, always been a Honda / Showa fan in the offroad world, till time to service them that is, then I prefer the KYB's.
Thanks again!
i was really interested at one point to do this same thing and there was a guy that chimed right in (UFO) and was very knowledgeable about it. that was until i saw what it was gonna cost me, whew! 1cerberus4u is the guy i spoke to and he had this to say....
As sporties and xr's are both sporty frames, the headset bearings and od/Id of the TTT are the same. 'course you have to figure out the head angle and trail/rake, but its all doable (we did it). The xr lowers call for a different spacing for the calipers and I found that the newer Harley touring stuff bolted on. I did have to machine some adaptors to space out the calipers for the 13.5 rotors, as stock Harley is 10.5 If I also remember some newer jap stuff does too
As sporties and xr's are both sporty frames, the headset bearings and od/Id of the TTT are the same. 'course you have to figure out the head angle and trail/rake, but its all doable (we did it). The xr lowers call for a different spacing for the calipers and I found that the newer Harley touring stuff bolted on. I did have to machine some adaptors to space out the calipers for the 13.5 rotors, as stock Harley is 10.5 If I also remember some newer jap stuff does too