I just didn't feel comfortable with the PVC spacer, so I went a different route. My older brother was a shrimper and had a length on 1 1/2 OD stainless pipe. I read and studied Reginald's write up on his spacer and washer process and how he had to take the forks off three times. I made some adjustments (estimated) for my weight and riding style. I used a 1KG Race Tech spring, 10 wt Bel Ray fork oil(62mm), and I took his final measurements and cut my spacer to match his. Deburring and rounding off all cuts made with a metal chop saw. BINGO! I put it all together and had 34MM of sag. 1st try. I took a little test ride before today's rain hit and all I can say is OOOOHHH YEEEEESSS!!!! I started with 56mm of sag with the stock set up. I thought Big Red 2 handled pretty well before, but this mod makes the stock set up feel...sloppy, for lack of a better description. Straight line riding was way more stable, no problem holding my line in curves, and just better over bumps. One tight curve that I usually dive into carrying about 40 mph, was easy at 45+. The labor part was a regular Mean 13 adventure. After the spring swap, I installed the right fork, and saw the dust deflector sitting next to my tools. DOH! Took it back off and proceeded to do the same thing on the left fork. Double DOH! I put thread lock on all the bolts during install. During the install of the MCL fork brace, I realized the I missed one bolt with the thread lock, so I pulled it back out. Naturally I dropped it and it went behind the brake lines and tubes on the right side. (Bolts go in but they don't come out) Had to pull the fork brace and all the lines on the right fork leg to retrieve the bolt. I almost pulled the tail light off because I figured I'd end up there anyways the way it was going. After all that, It was still worth every second and every penny spent on this mod. I'll be in North Carolina mountains in about 3 weeks, and I am so looking forward to this ride. Very grateful to have a forum like this to glean wisdom from. Without reading all the posts and studying, this could have been a lot less fun.
:tb1: