Have been busy in the garage over the last few weeks and finally today went out to test my MK 2 version.
In the end I had to go for some longer springs to get my target travel of 180mm at the front and so bought these from K Tech in the UK, they are 335mm long and .85kg/mm with new shorter spacers.
While the forks were off and apart I checked the standard travel and came up with 143mm, somewhat short of the Kawasaki spec, is this just on my bike?
However this could go to explain why when the mudguard(fender) is moved up for bigger tyres it does not touch the bottom yoke on full compression.
So to get my 180mm of travel I added A 37mm spacer as before and then sleeved it and brazed it to the cartridge. A groove was machined in the spacer to take the standard retaining clip. New holes were made as well for the oil flow.
I think if I did this again I would have a one piece turned extension sleeve made and maybe tack weld it in place to give a neater and more precise finish.
Am running a 17, 15,14,13 shim stack with 10w oil and now the bike feels much more balanced with the R1 shock fitted and it still looks near stock and has twin discs.
The test run today was done with the 17" front wheel (sorry no photos) with the forks moved up through the yokes to compensate for the additional front ride height. When the 19" goes on they will be dropped down the yokes sothat the mudguard will clear the bottom yoke and to give more ground clearence for dual sport riding
It would be so easy for Kawasaki to do this to the V and would only cost then a few pence for the extra metal, I think this method could be used on other bikes too...!!!
Hopefully this will all continue to work well but if it does not it can be reversed back to stock but keeping the new springs.
Bart