# anyone running a slammed pike?



## fiddy_ryder (Jun 15, 2005)

i just cut the stock regular spring, pulled the uturn deal and slapped it back together.. took about 30 mins. im guessin i got about 65mm or travel now. I just wanted to hack that one instead of my x firm.. 

just wondering if anyone has had any problems. if i like the lower/steeper front end, ill do up my x firm in the next day or so...


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## XSL_WiLL (Nov 2, 2004)

Pictures. How did you cut it? The bottom of the spring is attached to the base, and the top has the u-turn/top cal deal.


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## fiddy_ryder (Jun 15, 2005)

i wound up the uturn, or actually dropped the travel, then cut the very bottom 2 coils off so i could unwind the plastic uturn assembley off of the spring and top cap. Then i cut off the compressed section of the spring as low as possible that would let me thread the plastic uturn assemble and rod back in to the shortened top half of the spring.


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## fiddy_ryder (Jun 15, 2005)

measured it, 65mm of travel it is.. took it for a spin last night too.. steering does feel a wee bit quicker.


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## .WestCoastHucker. (Jan 14, 2004)

i love the responsive feel of my slammed 65mm Z1. also, without the extra travel for the fork to wallow in, tight steep dj's become more effortless....


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## XSL_WiLL (Nov 2, 2004)

Gotcha. That's probably safer than heating up the coils anyways. So your U-turn should retain it's functionality, just without stops now, right?


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## snaky69 (Mar 8, 2005)

Smoking is bad, but modding a fork is nice.


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## fiddy_ryder (Jun 15, 2005)

XSL_WiLL said:


> Gotcha. That's probably safer than heating up the coils anyways. So your U-turn should retain it's functionality, just without stops now, right?


essentially yes. but the longest travel setting would be the 65mm (since i lopped off the bottom half of the spring).. i could slam it more, but that really makes no sense. my only concern is the damn thing possibly backing out when riding. but when i did assmeble it back, it took a good amount of force to get the uturn plastic thingy screwed back into the spring. im thinking of slapping some jb weld on the bottom of the spring and uturn so it will not back out and is somewhat permanent. or possibly some way to safety wire it so it doesnt come apart. hell some heat shrink tubing might even be enough to keep it tight. ill be doing some more tinkering tonight and post up findings..


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## Nagaredama (Aug 2, 2004)

I think JJ lowered his Pike sometime ago. You should PM him.


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## R1D3R (Jun 4, 2005)

I kinda want to try that but I would wreck somthing


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## XSL_WiLL (Nov 2, 2004)

fiddy_ryder said:


> essentially yes. but the longest travel setting would be the 65mm (since i lopped off the bottom half of the spring).. i could slam it more, but that really makes no sense. my only concern is the damn thing possibly backing out when riding. but when i did assmeble it back, it took a good amount of force to get the uturn plastic thingy screwed back into the spring. im thinking of slapping some jb weld on the bottom of the spring and uturn so it will not back out and is somewhat permanent. or possibly some way to safety wire it so it doesnt come apart. hell some heat shrink tubing might even be enough to keep it tight. ill be doing some more tinkering tonight and post up findings..


I was just about to recommend a glob of JB Weld.

I've slammed a Pike by stretching out the coil before. It's a very slow and tedious process, and I don't know if the heat vastly affected the spring properties or not.


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## fiddy_ryder (Jun 15, 2005)

heres the finished cut and install of the uturn assembly. i made that the cut above the compressed section of coils was still ever so slightly compressed. I did this to ensure a tight fit against the plastic uturn screw thing. One thing i noticed on the X firm spring is the coils above the compressed section are space further apart than the bottom section where the uturn is supposed to be. Making the very bottom just a bit tighter in spacing made it tough to get the the uturn back on so i just had to grind a **** hair off the inside of a coil to finally get it going. it took some good twisting to get that sh1t together, more than a few minutes fighting with it. 

and since the coil spacing is a bit more, the coil is acutally wedged up against the top end of the uturn screw. my close cut at the bottom helps to do the same at the bottom. Im not going to JB it up, or anything. that summab1tch was a pain to get all the way on. I figure with the uturn knob up top keeping the spring from spinning, along with the foot nut keeping the rod in place, itll be fine. I never had probelms with my uturn creeping up or down in the past so fyck it. Ill pull it after a ride or 2 and check it out. But I am more than confident in my hack job that there wont be any problems.


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## JMH (Feb 23, 2005)

That's clean. Nice job.

JMH



fiddy_ryder said:


> heres the finished cut and install of the uturn assembly. i made that the cut above the compressed section of coils was still ever so slightly compressed. I did this to ensure a tight fit against the plastic uturn screw thing. One thing i noticed on the X firm spring is the coils above the compressed section are space further apart than the bottom section where the uturn is supposed to be. Making the very bottom just a bit tighter in spacing made it tough to get the the uturn back on so i just had to grind a **** hair off the inside of a coil to finally get it going. it took some good twisting to get that sh1t together, more than a few minutes fighting with it.
> 
> and since the coil spacing is a bit more, the coil is acutally wedged up against the top end of the uturn screw. my close cut at the bottom helps to do the same at the bottom. Im not going to JB it up, or anything. that summab1tch was a pain to get all the way on. I figure with the uturn knob up top keeping the spring from spinning, along with the foot nut keeping the rod in place, itll be fine. I never had probelms with my uturn creeping up or down in the past so fyck it. Ill pull it after a ride or 2 and check it out. But I am more than confident in my hack job that there wont be any problems.


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## Cru Jones (Aug 10, 2006)

Good work Fiddy... bring that bad boy up to The Whoops tonight...


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## Merkyworks (Jun 11, 2006)

XSL_WiLL said:


> and I don't know if the heat vastly affected the spring properties or not.


oh i can tell u for a fact that heating spring steel changes the spring K (constant) rate because u are changing the elastic properties of the steel. but all you do is make it softer so its not a big deal but none the less you do change the physical propertis of the steel


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## ibanezrg520kid (Oct 27, 2005)

you smoke some lame cigarettes!

nice mod on the pike btw


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## fiddy_ryder (Jun 15, 2005)

Cru Jones said:


> Good work Fiddy... bring that bad boy up to The Whoops tonight...


gotta see what time i get off work. sucks that its damn near pitch black right after 6:00.. if not today, im planning to go up tomo morning.


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## fiddy_ryder (Jun 15, 2005)

ibanezrg520kid said:


> you smoke some lame cigarettes!
> 
> nice mod on the pike btw


im tryin to cut back :madman: long gone are the days of reds and ports... :thumbsup:

as for the fork. it is now supre sick.. feels a bit stiffer now. front end is over 1" lower.(obviously). i can definitely feel that the HT angle is steeper, my guess is about 70-71* so far so good...


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## XSL_WiLL (Nov 2, 2004)

Merkyworks said:


> oh i can tell u for a fact that heating spring steel changes the spring K (constant) rate because u are changing the elastic properties of the steel. but all you do is make it softer so its not a big deal but none the less you do change the physical propertis of the steel


Oh, I know it changed the K, but I don't know exactly how much it changed. And I don't know exactly how it's affecting the elasticity of the metal. Will it continue to hold it's shape and length? Or will it slowly compress over time? That's what I don't know.


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## specialized one (Oct 29, 2006)

just wondering how the fork is holdin up and the ride? I just got a pike, thinking about doing the same thing. thanks


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## fiddy_ryder (Jun 15, 2005)

only one jump session so far. held up fine nothing weird. im confident there wont be any catastrophic failures. the system functions just how it was designed to, just in shorter travel now.


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## snaky69 (Mar 8, 2005)

Does the u-turn retain it's functions? Can you still wind the travel up?


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## fiddy_ryder (Jun 15, 2005)

nope.. 65mm is the longest travel i get now.. theoretically i could drop it more but thats pointless...


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## deoreo (Aug 26, 2005)

fiddy - How is this set up working for you? Any weird issues in the last month or so?

I'm a complete noob to pikes, is this mod done only to the spring, ie: could I get a replacement x-firm spring, perform the mod , and keep the normal spring, or would I need to replace the whole u-turn assembly?

Is the mod reversable, if you replace the u-turn assembly with a new one, there is no other mod. or damage to the fork?

Sorry for all the questions, but I'm thinking of getting a pike and doing this mod for park riding in the winter, and if possible, returning it to full length, for summer riding (even if I need new parts.)


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## XSL_WiLL (Nov 2, 2004)

The U-turn is part of the spring. All it is is a cut to the spring.


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## fiddy_ryder (Jun 15, 2005)

pm sent.


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## deoreo (Aug 26, 2005)

XSL_WiLL said:


> The U-turn is part of the spring. All it is is a cut to the spring.


So then this would be reversable?

I could get an extra firm spring and do this mod, then be able to swap it out for a medium spring for normal riding?

Spring kits here:
http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/FK409Z11-Rockshox+Pike+Spring+Kit.aspx


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## fiddy_ryder (Jun 15, 2005)

yup..........


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## cholo (Nov 25, 2006)

Looks cool. 

Keep in mind, when you cut coils off a spring you increase the spring rate. You significantly shortened the spring, so it's safe to say your fork is significantly stiffer. You'll also need to increase the rebound damping and compression damping to keep the fork from being bouncy and topping out when you launch.


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## deoreo (Aug 26, 2005)

cholo said:


> Looks cool.
> 
> Keep in mind, when you cut coils off a spring you increase the spring rate. You significantly shortened the spring, so it's safe to say your fork is significantly stiffer. You'll also need to increase the rebound damping and compression damping to keep the fork from being bouncy and topping out when you launch.


I was wondering about this too, is the pikes rebound and compression damping adjustable enough, to keep it from pogo-ing too much? Like I said earlier, I have zero experience with pikes.


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## deoreo (Aug 26, 2005)

fiddy - How did the ride compare with the cut regular spring, and the cut extra-firm one?


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## fiddy_ryder (Jun 15, 2005)

yeah it is.. i run it real stiff on the comp, and theres more than enough rebound to control topping.


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