Manxkiwi

On 7/8/2020 at 10:32 PM, johnmark101 said:

I did a basic revalve and spring replacement of the OEM forks and shock on my Ninja 1000 and it actually made quite a difference.  Drastic improvement in stability and feel with a small but noticeable improvement in bump absorption.

The front forks of the Tracer GT feel harsh over less than smooth pavement and are lacking in the ability to absorb sharp bumps.  I managed to get everything fairly well sorted on the stock suspension with the exception of the high speed compression, which I could not dial out, even when reducing the overall compression damping up to the point where it was too soft.  This is exactly the reason I started contemplating suspension upgrades for the GT.  I am pretty certain I would have been happy with just doing the revalve and spring replacement for the forks and shock as I did with my Ninja, but this bike will see more touring duty and I want a smooth ride but not at the expense of excellent handling......so for that reason I bit the bullet and ordered the new rear shock and AK-20's.  The cost sucks but I am pretty sure that will be long forgotten after the first ride on the new suspenders.   

Yes, you will always improve stock suspension (especially rear shocks) with a re-valve etc (if it is re-buildable). But you will always have a crappy shock body, mass produced with poor tolerances and from poor materials, with no ability to contain temperature differences. Which was my point; if you miss out the step of re-working your stock shock and go straight for a good replacement, you'll ultimately save money.

It is expensive doing suspension properly and I (most people?) could only really afford it later in life. But, I'm pretty sure you won't regret it. As I said before, you don't realise what you're putting up with until you get really good suspension set up for you and your bike. 

+1 to above post. Spend as much as you can justify on suspension. You will save some money on tyre life and you can put the OEM (POS) back in when you sell the bike. You will not regret your purchase, if you can afford it.

Re-valving OEM shocks is a waste of money in my opinion, because they're still made of crap material etc and change performance drastically as soon as they change temp. This is one of the big pluses for simply buying a good brand shock. I put the Nitron NTR2 on my GT, best money spent so far. IMO forks aren't too bad, but I'll probably look at Racetec gold valves etc over winter.

Another thing not many people realise; is that most OEM suspension has little or no ability to 'blow out' in the stroke (high speed compression - abrupt bumps). This is addressed with a shock replacement and decent re-valve of the forks. People often think they're bottoming out the forks. But what they're feeling is hydraulic lock and a very harsh ride. Linear springs and the ability to 'blow through' sharp bumps makes for a 'magic carpet' ride! I coined that phrase when I had my Sprint GT forks done. What a world of difference!

To sum up my (rather lengthy) opinion; You don't really realise what you're putting up with, with poor suspension, until you get good suspension. Then you think 'why didn't I do this years ago'? Ha ha.

I did a 3 1/2 week 5000km south island trip on my tracer gt. Chain didn't need looking at, apart from a bit of lube every 2 to 3 days of riding. That was two up loaded. Axle nut I do to 100Nm, 140 or whatever it is is just stupid. I know it's what they state in the manual, but my Sprint gt Triumph had the same value, that is a single large nut on a single sided swinger! I did do that one to the recommended value. 

Just as a 'by the way'; I have the Givi tanklock system with an EA118 25 litre bag. It is excellent, so easy to click on and remove. Nothing touches the paint, I'm really pleased with it. Especially as you basically can't use any 'regular' type tank bag anyway.

Agreed. Clamp ring for Givi 'lock ring' tank bag. It's only the clamp though, the plastic adapter isn't there.

I test rode one back in March. Like you, I thought it felt just like a two wheeler on the move. A very confidence inspiring front end. I found it unusual (obviously) thinking of three lines on the road surface where the wheels would be tracking, when looking for holes/gravel etc. You'd get used to that though. Probably wouldn't buy one, unless I won silly money on lotto! But it was good satisfy my interest in how it rode.

If that's not a wind up, I'd be very concerned! Very concerned indeed..

Wow, you can't complain about that price! The Givi is a little pricey, I got a discount, which sweetened it a little. Also it's a one off purchase for the life of the bike. That's how I sold it to myself anyway! He he.

Bit of a thread dredge, hadn't seen this before. I have the Givi sump guard. It's not a problem to fit. I think it looks good (everyone will have their own opinion), offers excellent dirt and crud protection and is pretty sturdy. Not 'go over logs dirt bike style' sturdy. But will take a bit of a knock no problem. When I remove it for an oil change, the sump etc. doesn't even need cleaning usually. No stone chip damage on headers, sump or coolant tank either!

I would highly recommend this to anyone. Cheers.

When I misjudged the next fuel stop in the south island, I got 390km on a tank. I was two up fully loaded and riding very conservatively on the second half of the tank, when I realised it was going to be tight. Got 17.3 litres in it when I filled up. So theoretically had .7l remaining! Wouldn't want to push it that far again mind!

Here are some low res pics to illustrate my setup (sorry no pics on bike - yet). The threaded rod with the piece of hose on it goes through the rear wheel, resting on the bottom inside of the rim (hence the hose, to protect the rim). The extrusions extend to the front, you have to raise them a little (I use a piece of wood). I then measure with a steel rule from the straight edge to the front rim. Get the fore and aft rim dimensions the same on one side (by moving the 'bars), then compare to the other side. Length shown with tape is pretty much minimum. If you're going to get/buy some straight edges, get them at least this long or longer.

This is an adaptation of the old string method, which has been around for years. This, I think is far superior, if you can get the bits. There is a caveat: I'm pretty sure you can't do this on the center stand, you need to be on a paddock stand, to clear the extrusions.

I'll try to get some pics of the setup on the bike at some point, but hopefully it's fairly clear what to do?

Hope this helps, Cheers.

I always use two long pieces of extrusion. Clamp to rear tyre/wheel, measure gap on each side of the front rim. Never even looked at s/a markings on any of my bikes. When you adjust chain, just be careful to move each adjuster screw the same amount. Easy. You'll never look  back if you can get your hands on said straight edges.

I had the opposite problem after my 10k (kms) service. Chain was like a piano wire! = not happy..

Chain tension across bikes and models is driven (no pun intended!) by the relationship between the sprocket centres and swingarm pivot position. Least slack  being achieved when they all in line in the suspension stroke. Just my 2c.

9 hours ago, Dodgy Knees said:

Two great pics of NZ at it's best... superb.  Few years back I saw Bruce Anstey wheeling the Britten at Jurby iom, just before he broke it, oops. Incidentally,  what's the latest news on Bruce, I know he's been very poorly.

I know he won the junior 250 race last year at the classic TT in August. Not sure if he's doing the TT this year or not? Clive Pagett will have a bike for him, that's for sure. Let's all hope he's up to riding it. The man's a legend, has overcome cancer twice now and can still make it look easy round the TT course!! Respect. 

Can't upload any more pics. Am I only allowed 1Mb total (mods)? Maybe because I don't have many posts?

Just edited and I was able to add more photos. Maybe I did something wrong? Anyway here's a couple more:

I was pretty close with my 5000km estimate. Got back on 5082km! Certainly was epic. Great roads, amazing scenery and the bike was brilliant. I'm so pleased with it, it really ticks all the boxes for me.

Britten was in a bike gallery in Invercargill. I'll throw a couple more pics up, it's only letting me put two up at a time.

Heading off for a 3 week tour of the south island (NZ) tomorrow. We live in the north island. Looking forward to it.

Should end up something over 5k kms I reckon.

I just fitted the MRA VTM screen on my GT. I'm 5'7" and it works a treat. Very happy, between the built in height adjustment and the small deflector on the top, I can achieve every scenario I could ever want. Air fully over the top of my lid, or at shoulder height with the lid in clear airflow, like on a sportsbike. Worth a look in my opinion.

Not today, but on Monday I'm fitting a Nitron NTR2 on my GT. Really looking forward to the upgrade. I've done suspension on a number of my bikes over the last few years and never regretted any of them. Highly recommended if you can afford it.

The GT seems to be sprung for a 60kg rider never intending to have a passenger or be loaded!

6 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

Not sure but think later years are not Brembo, which may not be any worse; and finding one used in a known decent shape for cheap is very difficult.  I don't like trusting a used MC when a new one from PartShark.com was only $90 (new R1 rotors were also very reasonable).  I made my own MC mounting bracket and bar clamp mirror bracket from MasterBike... Caliper spacers and longer bolts are Matt's, lines Spieglers and pads Vesrah RJL now EBC HH+ 

Thanks for that 2&3, yes I agree it would be unlikely to bet a good used one, but you never know. I'll check your link, but post and tax from out of the US is almost prohibitively expensive when I've checked things in the past. I don't feel my brakes are bad at all, but if an MC comes up, I wouldn't mind trying it out. I've got a 675r also, so I'm spoilt with excellent front brakes on that! Cheers.

Hi there, first post on this forum. I see the 2014 R1 master mentioned here, I'm wondering what range of year models are considered good for this application? Obviously 14 to now, but when did the R1 go radial and are the later ones better than the earlier ones? Will help for looking on Ebay or second hand etc.

Thanks in advance. Had my GT 2 or 3 months now, loving it.