Day 7: Sept 13th
*Fork seals replaced, along with crush washers on the damper rod bolts. The bushings looked new, so those stayed.
*General fork internals inspection/clean-out since I'm pretty sure it was 15w in there before.
*Spears "Race Model" Intiminators in, along with 5w fork oil.
*Oil height set at 135mm instead of the recommended 140 to help make up for the weak springs and oil loss when I get around to replacing them.
*Preload spacers left alone for now. Presuming my fat butt probably needed more than stock anyway.
*Front end completely reassembled.
*Front brake wired.
*Front and rear axles torqued.
*Heavy duty safety pins used in place of cotters, with the pins wired to the fork/swingarm.
*Did a few laps around the storage facility with some stoppie attempts to bed in the brakes and cool off a bit.
No place to hang the bike, so I wedged my ramp between the garage door and back wall and lifted from the top rung. I have a fork lift in the mail from SVRacingParts along with warmers and a lap timer.
Whoever came up with that retaining ring for the fork cap is one sadistic bastard. Threaded fork caps are always a pain, but muscling that plug down with one hand and then trying to get that little ring into the slot is insane. I understand it's probably cheaper and most Ninja 300 owners will never touch it, but still...
I'm suitably impressed with the Intiminators based on parking lot braking. I left a fairly small air gap to help with the low spring rate, but I can still tell it isn't right. I e-mailed Sonic a couple days ago and still haven't heard from him. I may just bite the bullet and pay extra for Racetech. That said, the front and rear feel fairly well balanced with the stock shock ratcheted up to the highest preload slot. I haven't had any luck with muffler shops, so I'm going to do some searching and see if I can open up the stock muffler a bit by drilling from one end or the other to bypass baffles for the first weekend. I have to remember to drill/wire the muffler mounting bolts. Messaged the guy I'm getting my used bodywork from, plan on doing that weekend after next in the paddock. I also need to find a number for the Dunlop guy and pre-order a set of Alpha 13s.