mhevezi Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 So... I think we can all admit & agree that the stock suspension on the FJ-09 is barely adequate, and leaves much to be desired. It's not terrible, but far from top tier. Coming from a Buell Ulysses- I'm pretty spoiled by excellent, stock suspension. After doing some research and speaking with a few companies, I settled on Fast Bike Industries out of North Carolina. Went with an Andreani Fork Kit and a new, replacement JRI shock. From my discussions with Dave at FBI, the forks are fine for upgrading with new cartridges, but the shock needs to be replaced with a larger unit, better suited to the bike. There is very little to be had with the stock shock. Order for the fork kit and shocks was placed this week, so I should get my suspension bits in the next week or so. Should have everything installed by the end of the January. Looking forward to 'more control' in 2016! I'll keep you up to date on the installation and first rides with the new bits. Happy Motoring! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattonme Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 Andreani, JRI and Ohlins products offered by me are in cooperation with FBI since I'm paying to be an advertiser on this forum (and others) and spending time on the board as a contributor. My pricing should be better than going direct to him. http://fj-09.org/thread/2775/holiday-andreani-fork-shock-special Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhevezi Posted January 17, 2016 Author Share Posted January 17, 2016 Update: the mailman made me very happy. Now, I just need to find the time to tear into the bike and start the transformation... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhevezi Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 Ok Race Fans, here we go. So the Andreani Fork kit is pretty simple to install. If you work with someone who will sell you the new cartridges with springs for your weight/riding style, the job is much easier. No need for a spring compressor and it's basically a bolt-on swap. I marked a zip-tie to make a dipstick when filling the forks with fluid. 125mm of air space to the top, with the cartridges installed and the forks collapsed. When filling the forks with fluid, be sure to work the forks up and down to get fluid in the cartridge. Stock on the Bottom My Homemade Dipstick Fill 'Er Up! Now the Shock was a different story. The tidy packaging of a modern sport/touring bike leaves very little room to work. It can be done with the right tools and a bucket of patience. The shock fit well, after I adjusted the ride height to match stock and went in smooth- with some help. An extra set of hands to hold things in place can be beneficial. Honestly, the toughest part was finding a spot to mount the remote reservoir. I chose to strap it to the frame on the right side. I finished last night and just had enough time to clean up and get to bed. Documentation on the shock was light, and I need to set everything in the middle and start from there. Sitting on the bike felt stiff, so I reduced the rear preload and when I get a helper (or two), I will properly check/set the sag. I do want to get some miles on the bike to work everything in, before I start making changes. I have all the preload taken out of the forks, as my springs are 9.3's and should be plenty strong for me. I'm 6'03" and 215-220lb, all geared up. Pretty excited to get the bike out this week and see how she feels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattonme Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 I think you meant 125MM (not cc) on oil height, and did the fork instructions specify how to set the needle? This was an oversight that I pointed out to the factory and now they have a little postscript about it but it's easy to miss. initially C leg should be set wide open, R leg at 2 turns out. For the shock I wouldn't just start twirling things but in general set the Comp to full soft and aside from documenting the Reb needle clicks and writing things down, set sag before you do anything else. If you haven't watched/read the Ohlins or Racetech or any of the other several guides on suspension setup, do that so you know what to look for and then make changes at first in 1 turn increments with Nth adjustments in 1/2 turn increments. But you can get reasonably close just sitting in your garage and shoving down on the bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhevezi Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 I think you meant 125MM (not cc) on oil height, and did the fork instructions specify how to set the needle? This was an oversight that I pointed out to the factory and now they have a little postscript about it but it's easy to miss. initially C leg should be set wide open, R leg at 2 turns out. For the shock I wouldn't just start twirling things but in general set the Comp to full soft and aside from documenting the Reb needle clicks and writing things down, set sag before you do anything else. If you haven't watched/read the Ohlins or Racetech or any of the other several guides on suspension setup, do that so you know what to look for and then make changes at first in 1 turn increments with Nth adjustments in 1/2 turn increments. But you can get reasonably close just sitting in your garage and shoving down on the bike. Ooops. Yeah, 125MM, not cc.... I'll fix that. Missed the part about the needle. Hope I can correct anything without tearing back into the forks. While the JRI shock is very nice and obviously a quality piece, the included documentation/manual, or lack of, is kind of a bummer. I have e-mailed JRI to get some important info on my shock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattonme Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Yeah, me and FBI are working with JRI to get them to up their game. If you're lucky a few turns on the needle and it'll hit the seat. Otherwise you need to take the cap off, set the needle, and then thread it back on. Trying to do that with the forks on the bike will probably be "interesting". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member ULEWZ Posted January 26, 2016 Premium Member Share Posted January 26, 2016 Ok Race Fans, here we go. So the Andreani Fork kit is pretty simple to install. If you work with someone who will sell you the new cartridges with springs for your weight/riding style, the job is much easier. No need for a spring compressor and it's basically a bolt-on swap. I marked a zip-tie to make a dipstick when filling the forks with fluid. 125mm of air space to the top, with the cartridges installed and the forks collapsed. When filling the forks with fluid, be sure to work the forks up and down to get fluid in the cartridge. My instructions say to fill and bleed the forks with the spring, cap, and inner rod off, so I think a spring compressor is required. That is how I did it anyhow. A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Bikes: 2015 FJ-09, Seat Concepts seat cover and foam, Cal Sci medium screen, rim stripes, factory heated grips, Cortech Dryver tank bag ring, Modified stock exhaust, FlashTune with Graves fuel map, Cree driving lights, Aux power socket. 2012 Street Triple type R (Wifes) 2007 FJR1300 (Sold!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhevezi Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 Hmmm... Maybe I need to re-read those. Might be in for another long day. Oy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member ULEWZ Posted January 26, 2016 Premium Member Share Posted January 26, 2016 Hmmm... Maybe I need to re-read those. Might be in for another long day. Oy. Additionally, you need to take off the spring to set the initial 4 turns on the needles, plus, on the two that I have installed, the nut was loose. on a side note, mine has the long gold part making compressing the spring to reach the nut a challange. On Ty's, his gold part was much shorter, making compressing the spring to reach the nut, cake. A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Bikes: 2015 FJ-09, Seat Concepts seat cover and foam, Cal Sci medium screen, rim stripes, factory heated grips, Cortech Dryver tank bag ring, Modified stock exhaust, FlashTune with Graves fuel map, Cree driving lights, Aux power socket. 2012 Street Triple type R (Wifes) 2007 FJR1300 (Sold!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docsimple Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 trust me, read all the threads on this install. I had to pull and redo a second run on these as well When I have the extra money I will be getting some parts from pattonme and doing a third round of updates 2015 Red FJ 09 2013 WR250R - little boy blue - sold 2012 DL650 V Strom - sold 2007 FZ6 - sold 1986 FJ600 - sold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhevezi Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 Yeah, did some more digging and it appears that I got all excited, like Jo-Jo the Idiot Circus Boy, with a pretty new pet! I do need to pull the top caps, and set the needle on each fork- and I'm pretty certain I can do that with the forks still on the bike. I'll mess with that this week. Since I filled the forks with fluid, WITH the springs attached, I am likely a few MM short on fluid, so I'll add some to compensate. I did work the forks a fair amount when I added fluid to bleed out air. I added fluid about 5x in each leg, in steps, for two reasons: one I didn't want to overfill the legs and 2, I wanted to work the suspension a few times to help bleed the cartridges during the fill process. FWIW- I used about 14-15oz per fork leg. From a 32oz bottle, I estimate I have 2-4oz left over. On the shock- I got an e-mail back from JRI. Nice that they were responsive, but their idea of a "manual" consisted of: "The Blue Collar is rebound. The red knob on the remote adjuster is Compression." That's it. The WHOLE manual! Again, the JRI shock looks to be VERY well made and is beautiful- and it needs better included documentation. Especially considering many buy these and install them without prior knowledge of JRI. I'll get it dialed in. Thanks for keeping me honest guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattonme Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 on a side note, mine has the long gold part making compressing the spring to reach the nut a challange. On Ty's, his gold part was much shorter, making compressing the spring to reach the nut, cake. Let me guess, you bought your set pre-July? I made a royal stink about the excessive length in June. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattonme Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Since I filled the forks with fluid, WITH the springs attached, I am likely a few MM short on fluid, so I'll add some to compensate. I did work the forks a fair amount when I added fluid to bleed out air. That's it. The WHOLE manual! Again, the JRI shock looks to be VERY well made and is beautiful- and it needs better included documentation. Especially considering many buy these and install them without prior knowledge of JRI. you 'bled' the forks with the springs in and the cap attached? Hopefully your answer is no. They are bled when the stroke is consistently 'firm' the whole travel. If you have air in the top you'll feel a sudden change in pull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member ULEWZ Posted January 26, 2016 Premium Member Share Posted January 26, 2016 on a side note, mine has the long gold part making compressing the spring to reach the nut a challange. On Ty's, his gold part was much shorter, making compressing the spring to reach the nut, cake. Let me guess, you bought your set pre-July? I made a royal stink about the excessive length in June.Purchased end of May. Good call on convincing them to make the gold part shorter. What a pain with that length. Ty's was so simple. A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Bikes: 2015 FJ-09, Seat Concepts seat cover and foam, Cal Sci medium screen, rim stripes, factory heated grips, Cortech Dryver tank bag ring, Modified stock exhaust, FlashTune with Graves fuel map, Cree driving lights, Aux power socket. 2012 Street Triple type R (Wifes) 2007 FJR1300 (Sold!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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