Sonicsprings for gs450e

[Cdnpt1]

Howdy, I have been in touch with Rich at Sonicsprings looking in to upgraded fork springs for my 81 450. Od on those is 0.93 inches, that is if my caliper skills can be relied on. Rich doesn't currently have springs listed for the bike so he asked for that measurement. Hopefuly he will have something we can use. I asked for a .95 kg/mm rate as calculated by the calculator on the sonicsprings website. I will post his response.

 

[Guest]

Cool, thanks for posting. I just got Ikon progressives for mine which should suit what I want, but good to know what Sonic has to suit as I know some guys prefer straight rate to progressives.

 

[Cdnpt1]

Well they have been great to work with so far, they have gs750 springs at .945 od and .90kg, and 1.0kg rate, i ordered a set at .90 so we will see if the .015 is a deal breaker on the od. They ship tuesday. Total with shipping of 12$ is 90.95$

 

[Guest]

Cool, let us know how you go!

 

[apopleptic]

I hope they work. keep us posted.
You must be a light weight to only need the .90kg/mm

 

[Cdnpt1]

I hope they work. keep us posted.
You must be a light weight to only need the .90kg/mm

I used the rate calculator on their site inputting my weight with gear(250, no not a lightweight, but it's all muscle ; ), bike weight fueled up (401lb give or take) and selecting standard bike for aggressive street riding and it came back .95, the GS750 springs only come in .9 or 1.0 so went with the lower rate to be conservative. We shall see how it feels

 

[apopleptic]

Keep me posted as I need to replace my springs shortly. I was thinking of the 1.0's

I just ordered these rear shocks off ebay. I don't think my shocks are beat, just needed a bit fresher of s spring.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...19&item=360381351682&viewitem=&category=35598
I weigh about 220 and it's not all muscle, but that won't really matter to the shocks
I'll let you know how they turn out.

 

[Cdnpt1]

Well if my garage isn't flooded.... Those shocks look good, they should lower you about half an inch by my calculations? I replaced mine with some "better" condition stock units, still don't like the spongy feel but I am not sure if that's because I am used to the super stiff Aprilia or if they are just shot as well. For sure let me know how you feel on those. This bike is probably going to end up being my girlfriend's ride once she gets her license so I am not overworried about .90kg/mm rate. I will make due til I get the Aprilia sold and find an 82/83 GS1100E for myself.

 

[Cdnpt1]

Still waiting on the springs, so I went out and pulled the caliper. Piston moves well, no leaks, but no front brake pressure. So i pulled the master cylinder. No pressure at all from the master. So now i have a rebuild kit ordered. One question though, isn't there supposed to be a small return hole in the reservoir? I see one under the little white tab but there is no corresponding hole inside the piston bore. I can see now why the back brakes were gone.

 

[Guest]

I believe there is but I couldn't actually tell you. My master cylinder is so far gone I couldn't tell...

Are you getting an OEM piston and cup set? I've heard some of the aftermarket ones are crap and I know the OEM set is cheap...

 

[Cdnpt1]

After reading through everone's experience here I figured safest to stick to oem when i can so i ordered from boulevard here.

 

[apopleptic]

I think there was a litteral pinhole there on mine after I stuck a pin into it.
like a sewing needle.

 

[Cdnpt1]

So i guess i should pull the reservoir and have a better look. I hate pulling things apart, then they tend not to want to seal again... Oh well, better go take care of it

 

[apopleptic]

honestly, as long as the piston/cup in the master cylinder isn't rusted you should be fine.
on mine just the ring clip and screws were rusted. and also the messed up fluid underneath.
Before:

After:

The place you don't want rust:

The parts that rust with what I needed to use to get them out:

What the end result is:

If you want an easy way to get leverage to remove the reservoir use a long thin screw driver or allen key and wiggle it until it becomes unstuck:

 

[Cdnpt1]

Great pics, once again, thanks. I seethe second hole there but it doesnt look like it actually goes through to the bore? I had read on another thread that a fellow drilled his out. I wouldnt think thats needed is it? Is that hole just an afterthought or something? No rust in mine at all so lucky there but piston was coated i some grey crap, ,like old bearing grease

 

[apopleptic]

If I were to hazard a guess it would be that on a dual caliper situation it might be drilled to allow the spiral on the piston there to move more fluid. I wouldn't drill it. I just pressed a sewing needle there and assumed that would be sufficient. Was able to build enough pressure without it to eject the piston from the caliper.
Hate to hijack the thread, but is there something holding this rubber boot in there?

 

[Cdnpt1]

There shouldn't be. It may have a pretty deep groove to seat in though, like the piston ring. I know the boot on the master cylinder piston took some doing, it's seat was pretty deep too. I use a fine point punch to get in beside then behind the ring to pry it out, they can be kind of glued in with dried fluid too.

And thanks for the info on the mystery hole, makes sense. Thank god i don't have to pry that reservoir off, it looks mint.

 

[Guest]

Glad to hear you're going the OEM route

As for the dust boot on the caliper, it's just sitting in a recess there to hold it in place.

Being that it's old rubber it may have somewhat fused itself in place, so just rip it out, clean the recess, and you should be good to go again with a new dust boot.

 

[SgtRauksauff]

Howdy, I have been in touch with Rich at Sonicsprings looking in to upgraded fork springs for my 81 450. Od on those is 0.93 inches, that is if my caliper skills can be relied on. Rich doesn't currently have springs listed for the bike so he asked for that measurement. Hopefuly he will have something we can use. I asked for a .95 kg/mm rate as calculated by the calculator on the sonicsprings website. I will post his response.

Not to derail the post from the currentbrake discussion, but do you know if the L has the same diameter springs as the E? I've already talked to Rich and will be getting some Sonics for my SV, but I may just order some for my GS as well while I'm at it, since the fork oil needs to be changed anyways.

-sarge

 

[Cdnpt1]

Hey, how did we get back to springs? Lol. Thats a good question, i looked them up for e and l on the alpha sports fiches and they have a diff number but not sure that mean anything. My springs came in today so i will head out and check fit and get back to you.