NPX 25/30 spring swap tutorial

JHTmcrider said:

Yea, I'm gonna speak with the guys at Stillwell Suspension in Scottsdale and see if they can get a set ordered. I guess finding a shop to repair-replace the anodizing would be difficult as it looks as though the fork caps and the electrical connections are bonded/ glued in?

The springs I had installed last year from Dan Kyle are still not appropriate for my fatness.

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This is what I was using and seemed to correlate with what Kyle Racing was suggesting

Interesting find on Ebay that I hadn't seen from WRS previously:

JHTmcrider said:

Interesting find on Ebay that I hadn't seen from WRS previously:

MANUAL ADJUSTMENT MODIFICATION KIT FOR ELECTRONIC OHLINS FORK FOR?PANIGALE V4 S | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for MANUAL ADJUSTMENT MODIFICATION KIT FOR ELECTRONIC OHLINS FORK FOR?PANIGALE V4 S at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

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Interesting. Though the 22 seems to have sorted out the previous gens DES quirks. Ran dynamic at the track and felt great. I’ve previously had NIX30 and TTX on my previous bike and never got to grips with it.

If I was going to go non-DES, either pick up a base model or go down Steven’s route and upgrade to better carts and TTX. Though I’d think you’d be hard pressed to have a better setup than the 22 DES for street/track combo duties.

We need to get @RickD996 to do back-to-back of his 22 base vs a 22 V4S and get a comparison. That’d be a great video!

^ Good points there about the 2022 forks and electronics. I have also considered the Mupo Cartridges as well but they are a bit more expensive than the Ohlins stuff. After reading some of the comments here it would seem the Mupo stuff is worth the money.

Now that I have a suspension repair and upgrade shop close by in Scottsdale, and Stillwell is an Ohlins dealer as well, I might be inclined to experiment a bit more on the forks especially since I would like to get in a track day or two this coming year.

Stillwell is replacing the fork seals in my Husqvarna 901 Norden with SKF seals as the OEM Apex seals blew out on an off-road weekend on the C-Route no less last month.

Done and done. Definitely a 2 person job when you do it your first time but maybe able to be done singlehanded once you get the process down. Managed to further mar the preload adjusters despite best efforts to prevent. Whatever…

1. Place bike on rear stand
2. Support the front of the bike from the head stock
3. Remove the front wheel and fender
4. Disconnect EC cables using a plastic pick
5. Turn the preload adjuster counterclockwise until it stops
6. Loosen handlebar pinch bolts
7. Loosen top triple clamp bolts
8. Loosen the fork top caps
9. Completely loosen and removed fork top caps from the outer tubes
10. Push the fork lower up to expose the top cap assembly. Secure it to with a strap to the fork stand
11. Secure the nut underneath the top cap assembly with a 19 mm open ended wrench. Unscrew the preload adjuster until the top cap assembly is removed.
12. Remove upper spring seat by unscrewing the 19 mm nut with a long socket
13. Remove spring making sure to let excess oil drip into forks.
14. Repeat on other side
15. Put in new springs with markings up
16. Install the upper spring seat and hand tighten locknut until it the seat contacts the damper rod. Put pressure on the upper spring seat to ensure it’s seated properly on the spring
17. Hand tighten the top cap by holding the flats of the damper rod with 14 mm cone wrench and tighten the preload adjuster (I snugged it up with ratchet. Didn’t feel comfortable putting full 19 Nm on the preload adjuster)
18. Lightly grease o-ring on top cap
19. Lower fork lowers
20. Tighten top caps to outer tubes to a little more than hand tight
21. Torque handlebar and top triple clamp bolts to 22 Nm

Spring rate recs from @roadracerx were spot on. 68 kg suited up and 8.5/9 combo got me to the recommended 30 mm static/42 mm rider sags with 3 turns on preload.

If you do one leg at a time, you can leave the front wheel in, and just let the bike's weight push the fork down, raising/exposing the internals.

RickD996 said:

If you do one leg at a time, you can leave the front wheel in, and just let the bike's weight push the fork down, raising/exposing the internals.

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Good point

SuperDomestique said:

Good point

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It's still a bit awkward tightening the top cap back on, but doable! All depends on the amount of time you have. If you're at the track, and trying to swap springs between sessions, I'd only change one spring at a time anyway, and then doing one leg at a time is your friend.

SuperDomestique said:

This is what I was using and seemed to correlate with what Kyle Racing was suggesting

View attachment 46480

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This is a great graph, and really shows the effect of the air gap, and how it helps support the bike at the end of the stroke. ie when fork bottoming out occurs. It's an interesting balance between spring rate, and air gap. And, probably where data, or rider feel, really helps you out.
My understanding would be, if I'm bottoming the fork travel everywhere, I would increase the spring rate. If I'm just bottoming the fork at one point, I would decrease the air gap.
Without using potentiometers, there are two ways of detecting fork bottoming:
Zip tie on the fork leg - will show maximum travel.
Feel. If, the rear end starts feeling loose, or moving side to side, under hard braking, chances are, you've bottomed the fork, and the bike is now pivoting around the front axle.

Negatives to too small fork air gap:
The bike will not use the full stroke, and will 'bottom' before using full stroke of the fork.

Measuring the air gap:
Undo both fork caps, allowing the bike to fully drop to the floor - two people recommended.
Remove fork springs, and fully depress the damping rod.
Measure from edge of the outer fork tube, to fork oil level.

Did my first ride on the new front spring rates. Went from 9.5/9.5 to 8.5/9 with 3 mm preload to get to the proper sag (68 kg suited up). Wow it made big difference. I was finally able to get into the stroke of the fork. There’s maybe 20 mm travel left after coming to hard stop from about 70 mph that was starting to activate ABS (street mode so softer compression/brake support). With the old springs, I wasn’t able to get close to this into turn 1 of Thunderhill West. Bump compliance and control seem much improved as well. Will be interesting to see how this translates to the track.

Will probably have to drop down to an 8 Nm rear spring since now it feels like the rear is a little too harsh. Any special tools needed to remove the rear shock spring?

SuperDomestique said:

Did my first ride on the new front spring rates. Went from 9.5/9.5 to 8.5/9 with 3 mm preload to get to the proper sag (68 kg suited up). Wow it made big difference. I was finally able to get into the stroke of the fork. There’s maybe 20 mm travel left after coming to hard stop from about 70 mph that was starting to activate ABS (street mode so softer compression/brake support). With the old springs, I wasn’t able to get close to this into turn 1 of Thunderhill West. Bump compliance and control seem much improved as well. Will be interesting to see how this translates to the track.

Will probably have to drop down to an 8 Nm rear spring since now it feels like the rear is a little too harsh. Any special tools needed to remove the rear shock spring?

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You'll need a spring compressor. Usually easier to take your shock and replacement spring to a shop, or suspension guy.

Go to 19 minutes:

RickD996 said:

Go to 19 minutes:

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You’re a scholar and a gentleman. Thanks man!

Who makes your compressor tool? I’m finding that the right tools are worth their weight in gold

SuperDomestique said:

You’re a scholar and a gentleman. Thanks man!

Who makes your compressor tool? I’m finding that the right tools are worth their weight in gold

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No wuzzas xx

That is made by Lazer.
Laser Tools 5209 Motorcycle Coil Spring Compressor Aluminium

Put these springs in 2021. They ostensibly seemed to work well however I have gained some weight and was wondering if there is another set or higher spring rate I can go to?

JHTmcrider said:

Put these springs in 2021. They ostensibly seemed to work well however I have gained some weight and was wondering if there is another set or higher spring rate I can go to?

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Yep, you can go to 11.0, 11.5 and 12.0.

And you can mix the springs, to give .25 increments:
11.0 left fork. 11.5 right fork = 11.25