Anyone has tested the fork enhancement ?

[georgesgiralt]

Hello !
A French Forum pointed me to this :
http://racetech.com/html_files/EMULATORGVBMW.HTML
I do not know what to think about and what value/use I could get from this ?
Opinions, please....

[Barry]

Georges,

It might be that very few if any members here have fitted the emulators.  If that turns out to be the case you should to talk to Chasbmw on one of the other forums. He's on several but certainly Boxerworks and I recall he had a very mixed experience with racetech emulators.  

The theory of operation is sound in the way they mimic cartridge forks.  Basically the valve opens when high velocity bumps are encountered. That's not bumps taken at high speed but sharp edged bumps that cause a high velocity action in the forks and that would otherwise result in levels of compression damping that are too high for comfort.   They should give good results if properly set up and if used with the correct springs but it sounds like they are not a simple bolt on mod that works straight out of the box. You will need new springs as the extra height of the emulators above the damper piston means shorter springs are needed. Also the damper rods have to be modified in a way that prevents you easily going back to the basic design.

Emulators have no direct affect on rebound damping other than allowing some change in the relative levels of compression and rebound damping though changes in oil viscosity. In other words you set the desired rebound damping by choice of oil and then use the emulator adjustment to make compression damping work with that chosen oil.

[montmil]

Those extremely pricey Racetech emulators and required springs still will not turn a Cow into a Race Horse. For some bikes, it's usually required that you must ship off your fork legs for the install.

Just sayin'...

[georgesgiralt]

Got the message !
Thank you all !

[Barry]

Those extremely pricey Racetech emulators...  

I could never figure why so pricey as it's just a spring loaded valve.

I guess your paying for R&D in which case they ought to work brilliantly so if they don't that would make them poor value.

[montmil]

Those extremely pricey Racetech emulators...  

I could never figure why so pricey as it's just a spring loaded valve.

I guess your paying for R&D in which case they ought to work brilliantly so if they don't that would make them poor value.

My little brother mistakenly flies with a theory that, "If it costs a lot, it must be good."

I can assure you that he has been burned numerous time yet still keeps making the same error of judging a products worth and value by its cost. Plumbers, electricians, HVAC techs and car salesman love him.  

[Ed Miller]

I need to go through my R65 front forks again, I must have some stiction going on.  It's weird how different my Triumph and my R65 front forks are.  I have my Triumph ones apart now for their first ever rebuild.  Maybe the Triumph has a better design, but since it's 11 years older than my R65 I don't see why it's suspension should be so much better than the R65's.  There's a bumpy (from slumping) paved road on my commute, and I can't take it very fast on the BMW without risking going off the road.  

[Barry]

Compared to what BMW had already produced for many years in the 70's it's generally accepted that our forks and the same basic forks used on the early 80's type 247's were a backward step . There were several mods to the damper valves in the first few years after introduction which seemed to indicate a lack of proper development.