What is the difference between an Intiminator and a cartridge emulator?

The only similarity between the Intiminator and a cartridge emulator is where it fits in the fork. Unfortunately, the unmodified damper rod front fork barely qualifies as a shock absorber. The Emulator improves it by giving a blow off style damping response. Low speed resistance is increased to reduce brake dive and the high speed impacts are lessened to prevent hydraulic spiking. With conventional shock systems, there's always a compromise between stability and comfort.

The Intiminator uses a patented inertia valve. The inertia valve is designed to 'read' the road surface and move between the stability circuit and the comfort circuit within milliseconds, seamlessly. Because the inertia valve can sense any bump and cause the shock to go soft instantly, the stability circuit is valved a few times stiffer than a conventional shock could get away with without being too harsh. The inertia valve does not open for chassis inputs regardless of the psi. The inertia valve is very sensitive to the wheel inputs only. The Intiminator equipped front fork can follow rough surfaces much better and traction is improved.

The bottom line is brake dive can be reduced along with better comfort, stability and traction compared to convention force/velocity shocks. The damper rod fork structure works well with the Intiminator insert because the piston surface area is much larger than cartridge forks.

How does your product differ from other products on the market?

There are other products on the market that are similar in that they also meter the oil at the top of the damper rod. Other products on the market use a small bleed then a coil spring blow off. Their system is adjustable by either changing the spring or the spring preload on the blow off valve.

The Ricor system has no bleeds and uses shims for the low speed compression, the same shims you find in most high end cartridge systems. Where the magic happens, is with the inertia valve. The Ricor system is the only system on the market that can tell if the tire is trying to move or the chassis is trying to move. So we can valve for an optimum wheel response independent of the chassis response and also at the same time valve for the optimum chassis response independent of the wheel response.

Is Intiminator installation difficult?

No, it’s as easy as changing the fork springs. Unscrew the fork caps, pull the spacers, pull the springs, drain your oil, fill with new oil, drop in the Intiminators, replace the springs, replace the spacers and install the fork caps and you're done. Some people also cut the spring spacer the same length as the Intiminator takes up to keep the same fork sag.

Do I need to drill my damper rods?

No, we use light weight oil so the standard damper rod hole size has no effect.

I’ve already drilled my damper rod for a different product, is that ok?

Yes, the Intiminator controls the dampening, not the damper rod.

Will Intiminators work equally well with drilled damper rods, or will heavier oil have to be used to compensate?

If you made the holes smaller, that would be a problem. We don't believe in using holes for metering the fluid. That should be done by the shim stack. By dropping the viscosity, we get the restrictive hole 'out of the loop'. The other benefits of using a spring/shim to meter the fluid is that it responds to psi more than viscosity. Temperature changes viscosity, not psi. That makes the shock fade less relative to temperature.

Do I need to change my fork springs with Intiminators?

For 90% of bike owners, the answer is no. Try your standard springs with the Intiminators first, if you still feel you need different springs, then by all means give it a try.

I have already changed my springs, will Intiminators still work?

Yes they will. We've had many owners change back to stock springs, but also many stay with their aftermarket springs.

Why is light weight fork oil used?

By using light weight fork oil the customer doesn't have to go through complete fork disassembly to increase the hole sizes in the damper rods. The damper rod can stay as they were manufactured and there is no restriction of the flow on compression. Using unforgiving orifices to limit flow on compression is heresy. The goal is to make the square edge bumps feel like they are made out of rubber. That's exactly how it feels after the installation of Intiminators. You can only get that if you eliminate hydraulic spiking/orficing that cause the sharp jolts. The rebound works great with the light weight fork oil because the compression response is so much better.

The Intiminators look to be adjustable, are there adjustment recommendations for different rider weights and riding styles?

The Intiminators can be adjusted by changing the shim stack. We can supply different thickness of the shims. You will find when the compromises of the conventional shock are eliminated, you won't be tempted to change it. You will have the benefits of a race tune that provides a firm platform for stability and a plush Gold Wing type response the millisecond the wheel reacts to a bump. It's seamless and not like anything you've felt before. Inertia valve shocks are like bringing a gun to a knife fight.

If I opted to change back to stock springs in my forks after installing the Intiminators. How can this product compensate for a lower spring rate?

It's always best to use the softest spring you can get away with. Take into consideration the static load needs, riding double, luggage, external preload adjuster and how it affects ride height. You can make the shock switch circuits in a dynamic event, you can't do that with a spring. In other words, it's best to get the firm, stable ride with the shock, not the spring. You can get all the brake dive resistance you need with the high shock resistance at low shock velocity. With a softer spring and a shock that switches between circuits, the 'tire force variation' is lower and the traction is higher over rough surfaces. Our off road race shocks provide many times the 'transition resistance' compared to other shock mfg's. The cars respond well to dropping the spring rate when the shock controls the 'roll rate'.