Front Fork Products and Upgrades Essential Solutions For Better Bump Absorption and Handling
Reactive Suspension offer a wide range of motorcycle front fork products and services. Fork servicing, fork re-valving and fork cartridge kit installation are all carried out at our workshop.
Re-engineered forks have superior bump absorption, increased front tyre grip and better stability under braking.
AK20 Cartridge Kit
The AK-20 Cartridge Kit is a complete drop-in upgrade that replaces the stock mass produced, poorly performing components with a pair of extremely high-tolerance cartridges. We don't believe that quality suspension components should be the sole preserve of racers, they ride on billiard table smooth racetracks for 75 miles on a Sunday, they don't have to contend with pot holes, speed humps and poorly surfaced roads.
The cartridge is designed to bring damper rod forks such as those fitted to SV650's, ER6's and F800,s into the 21st century and upgrade budget cartridge forks such as those fitted to SV1000's, FZ1's, Blackbirds etc. to offer full, compression, rebound and spring preload adjustment.
Modular in construction they can be swapped from bike to bike where only a small number of parts may need to be changed rather than the whole cartridge. The AK20 kit is available for a vast number of bikes from supersport and superstock bikes to Goldwings and Harley Davidsons.
Fork Piston Kits
We are able to choose from a wide range of different piston kits to develop the correct damping action for your requirements. Bikes such as Yamaha R1, R6, Suzuki GSXR 1000, Kawasaki ZX10, ZX6, ZX9, have very restrictive standard pistons giving a really harsh damping action.
For riders who want a smooth ride on the road, free from jarring and chatter we have a digressive kit that will iron out the bumps giving a far more compliant ride.
For riders who race or do track days we have a kit suitable for those who push their suspension harder and want better performance on the track.
Fork Re-valve
A very cost effective tuning option for Ducati 916, 748, Aprilia Falco, Tuono, and Mille's fitted with Showa forks. These forks have a spring rate that's suitable for a wide range riders and a decent piston design straight from the factory, by re-valving them to give better damping characteristics the forks can be transformed.
Fork Re-valve and Springs
A good tuning option for Suzuki GSXR 600, 750, and most Honda's. These forks are fitted with forks that are under sprung and have a poor damping action, by changing the springs and re-valving them the performance can be improved significantly, this is a good option for road riders and occasional trackday use.
25mm Piston Kits
Piston upgrade kits for Ohlins R&T forks, Ohlins and K-tech 25mm cartridge kits, Suzuki Tl1000’s and early Fireblades. We are able to select from a wide choice of components to give damping characteristics that suit your use.
Racetech Cartridge Emulators For Damper Rod Forks
Damper rod forks are notorious for being both too harsh and too easy to bottom. Emulators make damper rod forks perform like cartridge forks. Emulators are tunable valves that sit on top of the damper rods and are held in place with the main springs. They are simple to install and tunable for all conditions and rider preferences.
Select your bike from the drop down list below, if your bike is not listed contact us as it may be possible to manufacture a custom application. Contact Us for details.
To see why you need emulators and how they work, click here.
Traxxion Damper Rod Kit
The kit contains CNC machined damper rods and cartridge emulators designed as a complete replacement kit for the stock units. Manufactured to improve the performance of damper rod forks vastly improving the compression and rebound action. Essential for ER6 forks that suffer from a massively under damped rebound action.
Typically standard damper rods have 2 pairs of damping orifices at the bottom and are manufactured from thin walled extruded steel. When installing emulators the instructions suggest adding extra holes above the standard orifices. On some forks adding the extra holes delays the point at which the rebound can start to work, this coincides with full spring compression when maximum rebound damping is needed to control the extension of the spring resulting in a bounce in that part of the stroke.
The Traxxion Dynamics Damper rods have thicker walls allowing them to be manufactured with larger holes negating the need for extra holes without compromising strength. The smooth CNC machined finish of the Traxxion rod allows the check valve inside the fork to seal better minimising leakage.
When fitting emulators to standard rods some models benefit from having the rebound holes changed, with a standard rod this means brazing up the hole and re-drilling it, the Traxxion Rod already has the correct sized hole.
Put simply the Traxxion rod takes all the hard work, drilling, brazing etc. out of fitting emulators with the bonus of improved performance.
Fork Compression Adjusters
Upgraded compression adjusters allowing a wider and more accurate range of adjustment to optimise suspension set up.
Fork Seals
We use N.O.K. brand oil and dust seals whenever possible. N.O.K. seals are the choice of every major manufacturer as their OEM spec equipment. We polish all fork stanchions prior to fitting new seals to remove any damage and reduce stiction to a minimum.
Fork Bushes
Fork bushes have a significant role to play in the action of the forks, not only are they the bearings that allow the forks to move smoothly up and down, they also have to withstand significant loads. Braking puts a massive load through the forks causing them to flex backwards, cornering puts lateral loads through the forks causing them to flex sideways. Wear in the bushes can lead to a stick-slip action making the forks feel harsh.
Our bushes are high performance composite bearings with a very low friction coefficient and high load bearing capability.