You guys have scared the crap out of me and my steamer

[abruzzi]

I am going to add 1" spacers and put heavier wt oil in my forks.  From what I gathered this pretty much does the same as the progressive forks for less $$$.. I think Mustang compared these alterations between his stable of bikes, paging Mustang...

Spacer are basically static preload adjuster, right?  If so, it's not quite progressives, but technically, progressives are kind of the opposite of what you want.  Google cartridge forks and damping rod forks.  

We have damping rod, which simply pushes oil through a fixed orifice.  Their problem is that forks move slowly (gradual changes, slow speed) the oil flows freely, and the suspension feels soft.  When the forks move fast (shark bump, rocks, potholes, high speeds) the forks try to move just as much fluid through the same opening, but at a much higher speed.  Common sense says it provides more resistance at a higher speed, hence it feels hard or harsh.

This is exactly the opposite of what you generally want, it creates a soft boatlike float during mostly smooth riding, and harshness on bumpy roads, except when at low speeds.  This matches up exactly with my impression of the steamer suspension.  Progressive only exacerbates this: soft at first, harder later in the travel.

Cartridge forks do the best job byt essentially having a variable sized orifice that increases at high flow rates.  Hard at slow speeds and soft with harsh bumps.  Racetech makes cartridge inserts for the steamer.  I haven't done it yet, but that and a better rear should make the steamer a dream to handle.

When I jump back and forth between my steamer and my KTM 950, the thing I notice most is the suspension quality.

Geof

BTW: they sell for $170 here:

http://www.racetech.com/evalving/englis ... me=english

[Mustang]

three steamers three different set ups for the forks .

She -who-must-be-obeyed bike is a 95 with Kayaba forks , give a real nice mushy comfy ride , they have the triumph progressive wound springs that USED to be an available option for the steamer .
Don't really notice any differance over  the stock springs . The front end still dived like a kamikaze jap zero when you hit the front brake . So I went up to 15 weight oil in them with the progressive springs , doesn't dive as much now and the cushy glide over potholes ride at any speed is still there . SWMBO bike still has the shitty kayaba rear shock and if you push it in the corners tigger will weave and bobble ,kinda like the old 650 yamaha twins did , but it only happens when you are really spankin the ol girl in the turns , SWMBO doesn't ride like that so she is quite content having the marshmallow ride .

Tigger #2

This ones a 98 with Showa forks (which by the way are almost Identical to the Kayabas) stock springs , 1 inch of preload spacer and 15 or maybe I used 20 wt. can't remember  , anyway they have heavier oil than triumph calls out (10 wt.)
The forks are pulled up in the trees about a half inch and the dive is still there under HARD front brake . but WOOHOO she is on a rail going thru turns , stable at speed above 100 mph too , unless you have panniers on . Tigger 2 also has a OHLINS rear shock instead of the shitty stock Showa . The Ohlins is so nice  it is a match made in heaven for the steamer , it wasn't cheap though and they are no longer available for the steamer .
She'll carve corners with the best of them and still gives a decent pothole rutted dirt road ride .

Tigger #3
Bought this one this past summer and it has Showa stuff front and rear but has been reworked by Traxxion , have never had any decent rubber on her yet and she does like twistys and the front doesn't dive .........but
unless you are looking for a sportbike type of ride , I don't like it . Too friggin stiff , doesn't soak up the real world shit we have for roads in NH ,
frost heaves and potholes and town budgets that can't afford to repair the roads . This suspension is working out real well though for what I am using tigger 3 for . Hack duty , she can tug the side car without a lot of suspension movement that will upset the sidecar .
Tigger 3 I think has lost it's dual sport capability because of the cartridge emulators .

Tigger #2 gets my vote for the most bang for the buck .
It's a Tiger it is not supposed to be perfect at any one thing........... but capable of doing it all !


Moral of the story : Don't fuss over the forks , spend your money on the rear shock ! That's where the improvement for a steamer is .
YMMV

But if I had a steamer that needed suspension help I would send that POS rear shock to Sasquatch pronto !

[John Stenhouse]

+1 to that Mustang, best money I spent was a white power rear shock for my Girly, 10-15mph faster over any given road and no fuss at all, excellent.

[abruzzi]

I don't know, my steamer's front is pretty harsh on bumpy paved roads at 40+ mph.  Compared to the katooms cartridge forks which float beautifully over washboarded dirt roads at 70+.  Not disagreeing that the back needs work, but the front does too, IMO.

Geof

[John Stenhouse]

No that's also true Geoff, my front forks have heavier weight oil in them

[Mustang]

I don't know, my steamer's front is pretty harsh on bumpy paved roads at 40+ mph.  Compared to the katooms cartridge forks which float beautifully over washboarded dirt roads at 70+.  Not disagreeing that the back needs work, but the front does too, IMO.

Geof

My CRF Honda has a front fork to die for if it was good for a heavier bike it would be on the steamer in a heartbeat .  Short of doing a complete replacement though there really isn't anything that you do to a steamer forks that can match a set of forks that are "right"
your katoom , my honda .....we're talking dirt bikes , the katoom may be a little more road friendly but it's still a dirt bike and compared to a tiger it's like night and day

If your steamer is harsh on bumpy roads perhaps someone has already added some very heavy oil to them ?
or maybe the springs are 'sagged out' from age , it happens
just my .02 cents which aint worth shit anyway ................

[abruzzi]

If your steamer is harsh on bumpy roads perhaps someone has already added some very heavy oil to them ?
or maybe the springs are 'sagged out' from age , it happens

Which brings up the next question, short of stock replacement parts, where can one go to get springs for the steamer?  Ideally I'd like the option of going with a different spring rate if necessary.

Geof

[Mustang]

Try sending an email off to these guys http://www.cannonracecraft.com/

I did a showa USD conversion for the wife's crf150 , the slug one not the new 'r'' ,
I used a set of forks from a cr80 and these guys had the springs to match the weight of the little piggy I put the forks on .

They claim if you can dream it race it or invent it they can spring it !
I was very happy with the way they worked out in the fork conversion I did !

I'm betting they can hook up your steamer to do what you want

[JetdocX]

Traxxion Dynamics did my front forks with cartridge emulators.  I can loose sportbikes easily in the twisities, but the ride is pretty harsh so I'll probably lighten the oil for a bit of give.

Ohlins can be had for the rear but it will take around 90 days lead time for them to build you one.

I went for the Penske Racing rear shock custom built to my specs. from Traxxion.

The rear shock made my dirt road riding much more enjoyable by a factor of about 4, no shit.  The front fork, I can use in the dirty washboardy roads, but I'm tough and I can adjust to the harshness.  I LOVE the front forks on twisty paved stuff.

Unfortunately, suspension upgrades are EXPENSIVE and hard to undo, so make sure your Steamer is a keeper before you do this.  Or buy someone else's bike who has done this already and is ready to ditch his Steamer for the first 990 ADV available (maybe me soon...stay tuned).