I want new fork springs/front suspension tune... Who's done it???????????????

[tomatocity]

I am considering selling my KLR so I can justify finishing the Super Tenere ;D I want a new rear shock ::001::

 

[Rasher]

The new Penske rear shock and Nick's Penske valving, new springs, etc. to my forks have been the very best thing I have done for my S-10. I simply didn't realize how much the stock springs had *sacked* out over time. Now the bike not only rides better, is more compliant (yet firm) and comfortable, pitches less fore and aft, etc., but it also handles like a road racer, too! ::008:: ::008:: ::008::

I feel the same, but must admit my credit card reflex is twitching over the valve kit

Penske are not very common in the UK, Ohlins and K-Tech tend to be the ones for fork internals.

For shocks Wilburs are getting more and more popular, there are loads of other small outfits who make their own shocks from off-the-shelf components (Maxton / Nitron / Hagon + more) but Wilburs have been around a while, very popular with the GS fraternity (but as a German outfit that would make sense) but I have been very impressed with both the GS kit and the Tenere shock, and MCT would not recommend them if they were not good.

Will probably wait a year or so and then get the forks re-fitted with new internals and shock serviced all at the same time, plus still gotta get the ECU mapping done as well, £9.5k on the bike £2.5k on extra's (and still climbing rapidly ???)

 

[Dallara]

I feel the same, but must admit my credit card reflex is twitching over the valve kit

Penske are not very common in the UK, Ohlins and K-Tech tend to be the ones for fork internals.

For shocks Wilburs are getting more and more popular, there are loads of other small outfits who make their own shocks from off-the-shelf components (Maxton / Nitron / Hagon + more) but Wilburs have been around a while, very popular with the GS fraternity (but as a German outfit that would make sense) but I have been very impressed with both the GS kit and the Tenere shock, and MCT would not recommend them if they were not good.

Will probably wait a year or so and then get the forks re-fitted with new internals and shock serviced all at the same time, plus still gotta get the ECU mapping done as well, £9.5k on the bike £2.5k on extra's (and still climbing rapidly ??? )

I had a custom-built Wilbers done by Klaus Huenecke at EPM (was Wilbers USA then) for my '03 KLR650 about 6 years ago. Wonderful piece of kit. Gave that bike to my son, and the shock still works fantastic. Was the best money I ever spent on the KLR... Of course, the KLR came with a truly POS rear shock - and I do mean pure sh*t! The Wilbers on it was a revelation. Only problem was it quickly pointed out just how bad the forks were then. After front fork springs and some RaceTech revalving those began to work in concert well with the Wilbers. Doing both ends truly transformed the KLR. ::008::

I love the Wilbers product. They're just harder to get done custom-built over here in the States these days since Klaus and Wilbers parted ways. Klaus does do YSS shocks now, and I have a set of his custom-built YSS piggybacks on my H-D XR1200.

Just for the record, the Super Ténéré stock suspension is much, much better out-of-the-box than the glorified door spring dampers that the KLR came with!

Dallara



~

 

[Longboard]

Just an FYI.

http://www.racetech.com

I talked to them a few months back and they had a Tenere in their shop that they were using to develop front and rear suspension option for. I believe they now have options for both available.

 

[~TABASCO~]

Just an FYI.

http://www.racetech.com

I talked to them a few months back and they had a Tenere in their shop that they were using to develop front and rear suspension option for. I believe they now have options for both available.

Hey bud,
Do you know if this equipment is really ready to go ?

 

[avc8130]

Hey bud,
Do you know if this equipment is really ready to go ?

They show stuff on their website:

http://racetech.com/ProductSearch/2/Yamaha/XTZ1200%20Super%20Tenere/2012

ac

 

[Bill310]

I had Traxxion Dynamics replace my front springs with their AK 20 cartridge kit sprung and valved for my weight before I ever rode my bike. I also installed an Ohlins to the same time.

The Traxxion kit is about $1,000 and well worth the expense. I already had an AK 20 kit on my KTM 990 so knew what I was getting. The Traxxion set-up really transforms any motorcycle

http://www.traxxion.com

Initially I had Superplsuh work on my KTM and I was never satisfied with the work. The bike finally performed as expected with the Traxxion front end and a Penske Rear Shock

I also have experience with RAce Tech as Paul Theade the owner used my bike to build the first gold-valved set up for the 'wing, it was quite nice and MCN ranked it good value for the cost.

 

[avc8130]

You certainly can't go wrong with AK-20s in the forks. They are about the best available anywhere at any cost for an OIL damped, coil spring solution. Only thing "better" are their gas charged offerings.

However, I have ridden Triumph Speed Triples back to back with AK-20s and Nick's Penske kit. I rode Nick's personal S3 with the AK-20s and my wife's S3 that Nick did his magic on back to back on the same road, same day. Nick did the same. We both agreed that the AK-20s MIGHT have felt better, but the difference was very tough to feel. The Penske revalve was every bit of 95% the solution for less than 50% the cost. I am not convinced the average rider could ever know the difference.

I am 90% sure Nick can get the Traxxion AK-20s if someone wants a deal. Don't forget to tell him you are from this forum and I sent you.

ac

 

[fredz43]

They show stuff on their website:

http://racetech.com/ProductSearch/2/Yamaha/XTZ1200%20Super%20Tenere/2012

ac

I called them over a month ago, since the dealer I work for handles Race Tech products. Notice where it says to call about fork springs? After about a week of calling, I finally got a human. He said, I'll check and call you back. Surprisingly, he called the shop in a few days about the springs. he said that evidently, when they were developing the Super Tenere fork kit, they forgot to record the spring data. he asked me if I could send them the length and OD of the springs. Thanks to this forum, I had that info and emailed that to them. I have heard nothing from them since. :-\

 

[YamaPA]

I called them over a month ago, since the dealer I work for handles Race Tech products. Notice where it says to call about fork springs? After about a week of calling, I finally got a human. He said, I'll check and call you back. Surprisingly, he called the shop in a few days about the springs. he said that evidently, when they were developing the Super Tenere fork kit, they forgot to record the spring data. he asked me if I could send them the length and OD of the springs. Thanks to this forum, I had that info and emailed that to them. I have heard nothing from them since. :-\

LAST YEAR around October thru November Race Tech completed their "work" on the Super Tenere...or so they said. I was told everything was selected, but the "package" wasnt ready and it should be ready in short oder. I pestered them all early this year for something for the forks....and always got the same response...."soon". Well, apparently, it still has not materialized. Doesnt surprise me anymore.

I can honestly and factually say, that after doing fork revalves on numerous non-main stream bikes using Race Tech products, and BTW the Tenere would be considered non main stream, I dont expect great results or answers anymore from Race Tech. They seem slow to the party, often their data is wrong/incomplete, and it always seems you get a different answer depending on who you talk to at Race Tech. Personally, I think they have a communication problem among themselves. It wasnt always that way, but IMO it has gotten worse over the recent years.

 

[fredz43]

LAST YEAR around October thru November Race Tech completed their "work" on the Super Tenere...or so they said. I was told everything was selected, but the "package" wasnt ready and it should be ready in short oder. I pestered them all early this year for something for the forks....and always got the same response...."soon". Well, apparently, it still has not materialized. Doesnt surprise me anymore.

I also talked to them in Feb of this year at the Indy Dealer Show and they said, about May, 2012. I see that they do have part numbers and prices on the valves, but no info on the springs, except "call" and when I did they didn't have any info.

 

[Dallara]

~


Funny how what is a relatively big outfit like RaceTech, with so much *fame* in the motorcycle suspension world, located in the so-called *Hot Bed* of the motorcycling world there in California, can fiddle about for nearly a year coming up with a fork solution for a bike like the Super Ténéré and have it ready... :

Whereas a one-man show up in Pennsylvania can adapt some Penske fork valves from another Yamaha model, figure out appropriate valving stacks and the like, source proper springs, and have it all up and running, installed on folks bikes and offering group buys... All in less than just a handful of months.

Just goes to show ya'...

BTW, I'm a huge fan of the folks at Traxxion Dynamics, and they do wonderful work... I thought long and hard about their AK-20 cartridge set-up for my S-10, but in the end - as has already been mentioned - Stoltec's solution is *SUBSTANTIALLY* less expensive. I've ridden with Traxxion's AK-20's before, and they're great, but honestly I can't imagine them being any better than the set-up Nick at Stoltec came up with for me. I'm really happy with the Penske pieces and Nick's work. The fork set-up is less than Traxxion's (and no doubt RaceTech's if you have them do the work), and the shock is less expensive than an Ohlins - and IMHO works as well if not better. I even think the material quality of the Penske is superior than the Ohlins.

Just my two centavos... OMMV.

Dallara



~

 

[JaimeV]

I mounted a set of front fork springs and oil from the Belgium manufacturer BM Suspension and here in Spain they are represented by Mambatec. http://www.mambatec.com/

The kit was a new set of front fork springs and oil and it came with a sheet that informed about the air chamber volume needed in each front fork tube.

I am very pleased with them and I can highly recommend the result. Apart from riding on tarmac I also use the bike in hard terrain and it performs very well. I ask them to be harder than the stock ones.

I also mounted an advanced 4 way absorber with length adjuster (30mm longer than the OEM) and hydraulic pre-load adjuster and I am very pleased with the performance and I can highly recommend it!. The length adjuster improves the handling and I don’t need change the suspension links.


They manufacture the absorbers on demand and specific to every user and in some cases they also can re-calculate the front fork stuff to fit to the users needs - do to obvious differences the calibration for high speed cornering on asphalt is not the same as when using the bike for trail.

 

[3putt]

Finished my penske shock and valves install with .90 springs. Happy camper. Setup to 57mm rider sag front and rear was easy.

 

[Rasher]

I also mounted an advanced 4 way absorber with length adjuster (30mm longer than the OEM) and hydraulic pre-load adjuster and I am very pleased with the performance and I can highly recommend it!. The length adjuster improves the handling and I don’t need change the suspension links.

That looks almost identical to my Wilburs, I suspect using a lot of the same components. Only Wilburs said they could not fit the ride height adjuster on mine, dunno why as it seemed to fit on yours fine. Had it made a few mm longer instead - and may drop my forks 5mm as well at some point - especially as the ground clearance has been massively improved with the better shock / fork setup.

 

[JaimeV]

That looks almost identical to my Wilburs, I suspect using a lot of the same components. Only Wilburs said they could not fit the ride height adjuster on mine, dunno why as it seemed to fit on yours fine. Had it made a few mm longer instead - and may drop my forks 5mm as well at some point - especially as the ground clearance has been massively improved with the better shock / fork setup.

I don't know about Wilburs.
I had some Technoflex (TFX) in my GSA who where very good and keep with no troubles all the hard life I gave them. The BM looks quite similar to them.
Mine is a first prototype for a ST and I asked them to enlarge this 30mm. This offers the possibility to improve the ground clearance and the handling. Now my bike is 20mm higher than stock and if one day I can fix a 21” front wheel I can reach 10mm more to equilibrate the bike.

 

[Ebone]

Hi,
Anyone tried the progressive springs kit by HyperPro on this bike?
I had this kit on my F800GS (sold) with very positive results.
Now think, maybe is it a good idea on the Super Tenere too? Say as a less expensive option, for long distance ride over all kind of roads.

 

[Firefight911]

Progressive springs have their place but they are very difficult to get set up without significant compromise. The S10 already has a two stage spring in it. You would be much better served, IMO, to just go with the proper linear rate spring and avoid the wallow on the top end and the harshness on compression at the bottom end.

 

[Rasher]

I had some Technoflex (TFX) in my GSA who where very good and keep with no troubles all the hard life I gave them. The BM looks quite similar to them.

Technoflex do use Wilburs parts (Or Wilburs and Technoflex build from the same components), I was told this by my suspension chaps when I was looking for a shock for my ZZR, Ohlins was just a bit pricey and I was considering a Technoflex instead and they said they are basically the same as Wilburs.

In the UK Wilburs are well supported so it is easy to get them serviced and obtain spares if necessary.

 

[Ebone]

Progressive springs have their place but they are very difficult to get set up without significant compromise. The S10 already has a two stage spring in it. You would be much better served, IMO, to just go with the proper linear rate spring and avoid the wallow on the top end and the harshness on compression at the bottom end.

Thanks for the input, Phil

I have to say I did not know that this bike comes with two stage springs. Nice to know.
As I ride the 8GS whit progressisve springs, I know what you mean when say compression end harshness.
But at the other side of the coin, whit the bike loaded in bump roads was almost impossible to have bottom impact due to end of travel, and minus diving under strong brakening.
More stable too, turns or straight road, bike was just better.
But each bike is a different animal so what works here may work there.
Sorry if my english is not that good.