Mike's XS front fork cartridge emulators

[garyS-NJ]

I recently read on the SOHC4.net that Mikes XS (a Yamaha site) sells front fork cartridge emulators not unlike the race tech emulators, and they will fit our old GS front ends. I have a '79 gs1000e which I'm doing fork seals and sonic springs.. Anyone have the skinny on this??

[mmattockx]

The Mike's XS emulators don't fit in our forks as is, they need an adapter. salty_monk has a drawing for one around here somewhere and may even sell them if you have no way of making your own. Once you are done with making adapters much of the cost difference to the RT emulators is gone, but whether saving a few $$ is worth the effort or not is up to you. I expect they work fine but they are smaller in diameter than the RT ones and will not likely flow as much oil. I doubt if that matters much on a heavy, flexible, skinny tired machine like our GS's.


Mark

[hannibal]

Thought I read that Z1 bought Mike's XS. Almost relevant to this thread...

[steve murdoch]

One of the old threads with some info on the emulators.
4 years ago? Seems like it was last week.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?203832-35mm-cartridge-emulators-from-MikesXS-(RaceTech-copies)-35mm-vs-37mm-fork-tubes

[garyS-NJ]

thanks Steve, Hannibal, Matt... I messaged Salty monk about the adapters and was wondering if I could fab them from plastic on a 3D printer/// And looked at Z1, they are not selling cartridge emulators and seems Mike's XS site is operational.. I sent them an email yesterday.. they have no telephone for tech support or ordering!

[Jonathan]

Gary, I've fitted Mikes XS emulators to my xs650 and racetech emulators to my gs1100gk. You need to get the right size to fit the fork internals, yes you could make up spacers to go above and below each emulator to fit the damper rod and the spring but do you want a fit and forget install or do you want to be dismantling the forks half a dozen times to get things right? Spend the extra dolleros and save the headaches. By the way they do make quite a difference to the point of ceasing to be noticeable as the forks simply do their job in a smooth progressive way rather than banging and crashing through road irregularities.

[garyS-NJ]

I'm right with you Jonathan, and not planning to design and fab my own adapters. I'm still waiting to hear back from salty monk about his adapters. mike's XS was no help.

Gary, I've fitted Mikes XS emulators to my xs650 and racetech emulators to my gs1100gk. You need to get the right size to fit the fork internals, yes you could make up spacers to go above and below each emulator to fit the damper rod and the spring but do you want a fit and forget install or do you want to be dismantling the forks half a dozen times to get things right? Spend the extra dolleros and save the headaches. By the way they do make quite a difference to the point of ceasing to be noticeable as the forks simply do their job in a smooth progressive way rather than banging and crashing through road irregularities.

[greg78gs750]

fwiw, when i got my racetech emulators they were available on amazon for 20% less than from racetech directly....

[mmattockx]

I'm right with you Jonathan, and not planning to design and fab my own adapters. I'm still waiting to hear back from salty monk about his adapters. mike's XS was no help.

fwiw, when i got my racetech emulators they were available on amazon for 20% less than from racetech directly....

I bought mine from a fleabay seller for way less than full retail. If OP needs the FEGV3301, this is the place I bought from:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Race-Tech-Gold-Valve-Cartridge-Fork-Emulators-Damping-Rod-Forks-FEGV-3301-/261661763087?hash=item3cec41a60f

Mark

[bobtail84]

I bought mine from a fleabay seller for way less than full retail. If OP needs the FEGV3301, this is the place I bought from:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Race-Tech-Gold-Valve-Cartridge-Fork-Emulators-Damping-Rod-Forks-FEGV-3301-/261661763087?hash=item3cec41a60f

Mark

I have bought the FEGV-3301 from this seller and saved over 50 UK pounds on the price I would have to pay at home and as I'm in the states for a few weeks also saved on shipping to the UK as well.

[salty_monk]

The Mike's XS emulators can be run at approx the same settings as the Racetech ones. They feel the same in practice to me. The difference in oil flow is negligiable.

I wouldn't recommend 3D printing an adapter, it's a very thin wall and it's somewhat structural. I had some machined in an engineering Nylon - there are some out with members on test but no results back yet - I guess they go busy.

Mine are machined from Brass but Aluminium would work well too.