Front suspension upgrade

[Oyabun]

Absolutely helps! The 15W Ipone I purchased is 60.2 at 40C so it's going back for another brand. No preload caps will be installed.
Am I still opening up the larger holes in the damper rod to 8MM on the valving?
Thank you!!!

Worst case you can mix two oils from the same product line to land at a decent viscosity.

Sure, damping rod enlargement is needed anyway.
Recheck the installation note of the PD valves - 8mm seems too big for me. In case my memory does not fail me, the original holes are 5mm, and I went like 6.5 or so. Honestly can't remember. The damping rods are tiny in diameter.

[ScottDR]

YSS guide says if damping rod is 175MM, Then 4 - 6MM holes. At least that's how I read it. Thanks again! Sunday project

[Oyabun]

Yup, The stock damping rods have four smaller holes at the bottom, all you have to do is to enlarge them to 6mm. I believe I went 6.5, but that's an overkill for really heavy oils.
You want to make sure that the hole edges are really clean when you have finished, and everything is very clean when you put it together. If you have compressed air available use it to clean everything before assembly. Be prepared with lots of shop rags, as everything will get a bit messy.
Loosening the bottom bolt of the damping rod is a bit tricky - an electric impact gun can be very useful.
Otherwise just take your time. It will strengthen the bond with your scooter. :-)

[tomtomclub2005]

I think it was you giving me the tip of unscrewing the bottom bolt on forks half a turn in the first place while wheel and fork are still on- worked fine twice!

[ScottDR]

Thanks! I am in an underground parking garage with no electricity available. No worries, I will be very thorough in deburring and will loosen the Allen screws before disassembly. Thanks again, I would not have attempted this on my own. Cheers!

[ScottDR]

LOL, that's timing Tom! I thought it was oyabun as well

[Oyabun]

I think it was you giving me the tip of unscrewing the bottom bolt on forks half a turn in the first place while wheel and fork are still on- worked fine twice!

Indeed it was me. It still holds much easier to loosen them wgike still mounted to the bike, and there's weight on them.
But since I've bought one of those 20V battery operated nice impact guns, and find them very giid for these apolications. It is reted to 200Nm, so not enough for the real hardcore automovie stuff on my cages, but worked every time on the motorcycles.

[Oyabun]

@Scott, hope you had a great program bondi g with the PCX during the weekend and wenf fine. Any progress to report?

[ScottDR]

Hi, thanks for asking. I completed one side. I found out my hands are not nearly as strong as they used to be! I couldn't get the C clip out of the second one. So I am hoping to complete it tonight. Working on the ground is a challenge.

So far I can report that the PD valve fit fine on the first one. I will check in again when completed.

Thanks again for your help!

[Oyabun]

Hope all went well, and the only reason you don't report back is that you're still out riding with an ear to ear smile on your face.

[k2apache6.0]

Interestingly the NCY fork I got is behaving very much like my PCX fork with the uprated springs and the PDD valves installed. Can't find anything on the net regarding how they build them, just good reviews from peeps who've fitted them to other scoots. So I dont think I'll need to transfer the uprated springs and valves at all. Oyo I changed them out because the Trusty lowers (Remember them) without the bushings were blowing seals, and its the bushing or lack of it that was the issue, hell the stanchions even had Aluminum that had sloughed off the sliders on them so the trusty's are a no no. Shame, they looked so cool. Anyways, sounds like you have another convert with Scott there. Hopefully he finds them as good as we did. Once again thanks for an excellent tutorial that leaves no stone unturned.

[ScottDR]

Ok, checking in. I did the second one last night. Put it all together and gave it a quick little ride in the parking lot.

First thing I noticed was no static sag and no sag with me on. Zero give had me a tad worried. I noticed under braking was zero dive but it seemed a bit much. I will ride it to work today and try it on a real commute on my normal, sometimes quite rough roads and will report back.

My initial gut feeling is the PD valves need to be dialed down to 1 turn or less. But the spring rate may be too hard. My ride will help!

So I stuck with the 15W oil I had, drilled out the holes to 6.5MM and filled to 80MM from top extended and PD valves in but springs out.

[ScottDR]

Ok. Hmm. Did I screw something up? At extremely low speeds ~5-10km/h the front seems to hop on bumps about 25MM high. Not sure if it's airborne but definitely close. My commute was only around 60km/h. Speed humps hit with a bang that transmits to my wrists. So, drop back to OEM springs and leave the PD valves at 1.5?

[tomtomclub2005]

Hi Scott I'm struggling to understand, do you mean front wheel bounces like crazy on small bumps but when you hit that speed bump the fork bottomed ?

[tomtomclub2005]

filled to 80MM from top extended and PD valves in but springs out.

Is that a Typo? From memory, Oil has to be measured with the fork collapsed not extended...

[Oyabun]

Yup, filling the forks 80 mm from extended causes the forks essentially become a very stiff stick...

[ScottDR]

Eep! No wonder they are rock hard! And Tom, no bottoming possible due to my error. Time to remove some fluid!

[tomtomclub2005]

Slightly OT but still somehow suspension related: I discovered something This AM.
I went to change my rear Michelin tyre which had only about >1,5 mm deep grooves in the central part. New michelin fitted and the comfort improvement at rear was immediately noticeable! Tyre pressure is not the matter, i check it every week. I'm puzzled- i've been pestering about the rear YSS shock for the past two years and now this has gone from *really* irritating me to something a bit too stiff.

Maybe the compound had gone too rigid with age, i don't know. Bike is from 2014, don't know when previous owner had fitted them.

[ScottDR]

Ok, second time was much faster at about 1.5 hours. Removed the excess fluid. Put it back together and took it for a short spin as a thunderstorm was just starting. Wow! The huge grin is definitely on my face! Oyabun was spot on. I love it! I now see how the rear spring rates on the preload only YSS rears are too high. But what a new bike!

One extremely satisfied person here! This forum is such a terrific resource.

Looking forward to leaving extra early for work tomorrow!

[Oyabun]

Scott: Glad to help, great to hear that you're satisfied with the results.
Enjoy your ride.