New Penske 8987 & Traxxion springs with Penske valves

[Fpalbrecht]

Just got my 2016 non ES back from Trackside Suspension & Engineering(TSE). http://www.tracksidesuspension.com
What a great experience. If you're in Southern Wisconsin/Northern Illinois and want a full service suspension shop, I can recommend TSE.
This was their first Tenere. I drove down and talked with them and after that meeting they recommended the Penske 8987 rear(900#) and Penske valves with Traxxion springs up front(.975 kg). I'm about 210lbs without gear. I really could tell the stock rear was very under sprung especially when loaded with gear. Max preload and still the geometry of the bike was front high. That's why I wanted the upgrade. What I wasn't expecting was how much improvement I would get unloaded. I'm blown away! The bike is so much faster in turns now. A lot of the little stuff I don't feel anymore. Haven't loaded it up or been off road yet. I'm lucky enough, with this bike, be able to do things the way I want. I have several bikes(tools) and wasn't out to make this a sport bike. But am very impressed with how it handles now in the turns. If anyone is thinking about changing the suspension. I'm 150% satisfied. Before even getting off-road or loaded. I'm planning a camping trip and some off road woods riding in a few weeks and will report back after that.

 

[magic]

Thanks for report. That's maybe 150 miles away for me, not bad. I have to ask a couple questions. Did you have to leave the bike or did you just take the forks in? Also, how much for shock? and how much for the fork work? Thanks

 

[Fpalbrecht]

They gave me the option to do either. I gave them the bike. They called about 48hrs later. For servicing I will take them the parts. It was about $2200 for both. A little less than have for the front a little more for the rear. There are a few options front and rear. That's where having a suspension shop is nice. You ask questions, they ask questions. They are always there to help/service what they do. You might be able to do things cheaper on your own but this time I wanted the full service treatment. I live in Lake Mills if you want to see it in person.

 

[magic]

Thanks for the info. It's good to know that we have a shop like this nearby.

 

[blitz11]

I was in Minneapolis at the time, and Trackside took care of me, too. Penske Shock, Traxxion compression valving, and sonic springs. Had to go with Racetech rebound valving, but that worked out great. Transformed the bike.

 

[greg the pole]

A mechanic friend of mine gave me some wise advice.

Sort out the following in order:

Tires: you have two, and need to be suited to your type of riding.
Suspension: it holds your tires to the road
Power: If you need more.

Most of my bikes get a rear shock, and some sort of fork rework. Too often the Japanese manufacturers save on suspension. The Tenere was ok. About 60k km ago I put in a Yacugar rear shock (2 way comp, rebound, rem. preload). Primo quality, same price or better than Ohlins/Penske. And went with Penske valving and shim stack on the fron (self installed ::010: It makes a huge difference. Naturally springs to my weight.

My 2014 FZ09 had horrible suspension. Penske shock went in. Left the front as is. Sold bike at 3.5k.
My 2015 FZ07 same deal. Shit suspension. Yacugar rear (non adjustable) and emulators for the front. Sold the bike at 5.5k, and the suspension components at a 60% discount on fleabay.
My 2015 FJ09 came with slightly less horrible suspension. This one got the full treatment. Traxxion drop in cartridges (fully adjustable), and Yacugar rear shock (2 way comp, rebound, rem. preload). Still loving it at about 18k.

I recently test drove a friends 2017 AT 6 spd. 75k of gravel. The OEM boingers are just ok on the smooth gravel. Once it got technical or washboardy..the rear couldn't keep up. It was disapointing. At any rate, he screwed around with a spacer, heavier oil in the rear shock, and eventually will order a new rear ohlins ($1100 USD), and will likely get his forks re valved for $700 USD.

The 2017 KTM 1090 has very good OEM suspension. But it's a KTM ::015::

 

[~TABASCO~]

Congratulation ! Looks awesome and I'm sure it works awesome for ya ! Make sure your shock pre load is just about 100% set up correctly right now while its new. And if you would like or need to adjust it in the future you should consider keeping those disc well lubed along with the black collar. Ive had the "pleasure" of trying to adjust a few Penske shocks on customer bikes. The collar was seized up, it was NOT fun. Just a little water/grit/mud/elements will lock that collar up.. Try and get it set up the very best you can right now! Fun friendly FYI

Enjoy your new 'ride'.

 

[Fpalbrecht]

Thanks for the heads up. I will keep the threads clean and lubed.

 

[Fpalbrecht]

The problem I had was the plastic tip on the allen screw that locks the collar broke off. It wedged itself in the threads making it really hard to move the collar. Wd 40 type lubricant and working it back and forth got it out. I'm not going to crank on it as hard from now on.

 

[steve68steve]

I have a Penske shock/ spring upgrade on mine and agree that it's a game-changer. I always read glowing reports about suspension upgrades but wrestled with their high cost. Now there's no looking back. Congrats.


I got my Penske shock/ spring for a bit over $900 and had it shipped to me. The installation is very straight-forward and doesn't require any special tools. In the past I'd considered a spring-only upgrade - the cost is a tiny fraction of getting the whole assembly, but they you have to compress that spring to install it, which is not a job for this do-it-yourselfer.


So for me, the cost of getting a shop to install a spring only was pushing up against the cost of getting the whole assembly and doing the install myself. That helped justify the expense for me.