Hi All

I am new to the forum and hoping someone may have the answer to this question. I recently bought a crash damaged 2003 RC51 (in the UK known as SP2). The forks were kind of working but there was obvious damage on the outer (gold) sliders and on taking them to Maxton it was confirmed that they are damaged inside and are scrap.

Strangely though the stantchions are OK. My question is would the SP1 outer sliders fit with my SP2 stanchions?

Maxton believe that although they look the same they may well be a different structure inside but really aren't sure.

Also are there any other decent forks that would fit e.g. RSVR, Fireblade?

The only reason I ask is that second hand forks do not come up very often and OEM outer sliders are coming in at £450.

Cheers
Matt

The outer tube (that is held by the steering stem and top bridge) is the same for SP1 and SP2.
The fork caps and preload adjusters are different between SP1 and SP2
So be careful when disassembling the SP2 fork cap or you'll damage the damper rod in the cartridge.

Thanks SubSailor - that's the answer I was hoping for. Any thoughts on other forks that might fit?

Most of the aftermarket forks (Ohlins) are configured for the correct dimensions to replace the OEM forks.
To adapt different forks from a different model or brand will require some careful measuring and no doubt some fabrication.
It may be easier to find someone parting out their bike and grad a set of forks.
There were ads such these just a short time ago for a set of SP2 forks for $200 USD.
It happened once, it can happen again.