There were some 98-01 R1 fork springs going cheap on trademe.co.nz, and since that year R1's forks are 41mm, I thought I'd take a chance and get them.
The spring OD was about 35.9mm, about half a mm larger than the standard bandit springs, but there still seems to be enough clearance for them to slide in the forks. Hopefully they won't bind when they compress, I've done some heavy braking and havent noticed any problems yet.
From my measurements, they're about 0.77kg/mm. My original bandit springs are about 0.63kg/mm for the low rate and 0.94kg/mm for high rate, but for the most part the springs operate in the low rate, so the new springs are siffer where it matters.
The new springs are quite an improvement. They are more balanced with the gsxr1100 rear shock than the original springs. The front end doesn't dive anywhere near as much going round corners now. I've noticed this even going slow around a roundabout, nowhere near as much dive, and I'm having to change my cornering habits to suit. It feels more stable.
Anyway, just thought I'd post it up that these springs seem to fit and be a suitable rate.
I've also tried kawasaki z750 (2005 I think) fork springs, they were the exact same diameter as the original springs, but where about 1.03kg/mm and felt too stiff.
edit, 2 and a half years later...
I actually think the R1 springs are too large a diameter and were dragging too much in the fork tubes, causing friction making the suspension not absorb small bumps. I put some 0.85kg/mm springs I got from Sonic Springs for my SV650S in the bandit for an upcoming track day and it's much better. With the R1 springs, I think the front end was kind of juddering/shaking sometimes when going over bumps because of the friction from the springs and frame flex.
Topic: 98-01 R1 fork springs (Read 2236 times)