Okay. Now that my relatively slow workweek of designing mounts using solid models created by someone who does a VERY poor job of following modelling standards, here I am. Watching the Yankees edge out a 3-2 lead against the Mets, drinking a beer.
Spent some quality time with the berg in the garage. With my trusty WP manuals printed from the downloads section, conveniently provided by our fellow members, I got to work.
Pulled the caps off the shocks with a 24mm socket, after relieving the pressure via the bleed screw. Wow, what's this stuff? Compressed the inner tube into the outer tube, removed the spring retainers, springs slid out off the plunger. Did the same thing to the other side. Checked inside to see if there was oil, tried to measure it using the WP manual, but didn't quite understand where to measure from (my first question for this post).
Looked at the shims. I said, "Hmm, the rebound side has more shims in it. AND, more by about the amount that the shock is longer." Okay, I continue.
Both springs out. Inspect. I said, "Self, something REALLY doesn't look right here. One spring is longer than the other. To make life a tad bit more baffling, the longer spring goes into the shorter shock (compression)."
Longer shock-shorter spring-thicker spacers
Shorter shock-longer spring-thinner spacers
Not too much of a surprise, spring rate might have something to do with this. BUT, I am now convinced, these shocks are not the same. So, being an engineer, what do I do. Yup, you got it, I take some measurements, and they look something like this:
Compression side (with brake caliper)
Shorter shock
Longer Spring
Spring Free length=540mm
Spacer Height= 4.45mm
Overall fork length=980mm
Rebound side
Longer shock
Shorter spring
Spring free length=525mm
Spacer Height=19.7mm
Overall fork length=989mm
I also noticed that the inner tube, without the spring installed, was able to extend further out of the outer tube. Alluding me to believe that there is a stop that the retainers use to determine overall free length of the fork. And this must be the issue.
My request to fellow UHE members:
Could someone with an older style berg (pre '00), with inverted forks (probalbly pre '97), please measure the overall length of the forks and reply to this thread, please include your model and motor size?
I measured from the top of the 24mm nut at the top of the fork (not including the damping adjustment brass screw), to the bottom of the aluminum hub at the bottom.
What I finally did was offset one shock from the other in the triple clamps so the axle lined up in both. Picture can be found here:
Picture of shock offset
Luckily, I had a few dutch friends to help me with the job in the form of delicious Bavaria beer.
I have to say, I am a tad bit upset. Not enough to punch stuff, but enough to tell you all about. For, I paid good money for these forks, and they seem to be wrong. To make things worse, I bought them from HMS. I thought this was a place to trust, but this isn't the only time I have been burned by them. I also bought, what I
thought was a new rocker, only to find that the spot where the decompressor would engage had been ground down (so as to hide a worn spot where the decompressor had been engaging in the bike it was previously installed in). The only reason I bought the rocker was because my existed one had said decompressor wear on it! I am not sure if either of these are directly their fault, but that is 2 for 2 with bad stuff, and enough hundred bucks out of my pocket. Okay, I'll leave that there, and not say anymore. Sorry.
Some other pictures I took tonight:
Picture of the front of the bike
Picture showing the shims
Picture of springs of different length
Well, the yankees won, I've drank yet another beer, and I don't want to type this novel anymore.
-Parsko
