Traxxion Suspension review UPDATED

[michael]

 @michael , you've got to give us a total rundown and review of all the modifications you've made on your bike when it's finished. You've certainly added all the goodies!

I'll do that in a new thread.  I have already messed this one up enough, sorry!

[docsimple]

we need a thread for ridiculously long lists of farkles

[michael]

I cancelled the AK-20 and Penske order with Traxxion this morning. I don't want to pour a bunch more money into the bike, I'm just going to sell it when I get the forks back.

[maxxam]

The forks won't even arrive at Traxxion until Monday, and then it takes them 10 days to custom make the AK-20s, then a week for them to get back to me. Gonna be a while. The good news is that I still have my KTM 350 EXC-F to ride in the meantime, and that is a super fun bike to ride, with super suspension.  Not much fun for long highway rides though. 
In the meantime, sent the ECU out for flash (should be back today), and have a set of the Graves air injection blockoff plates to install while the tank is off. But I have plenty of time to get that done.
 
I suppose the Penske shock will show up before the forks do, but I don't want to install it until the forks are back on as I worry about the stability of the motorcycle while it is up on the front PitBull HeadLift stand. I'd have to get it off of the swingarm stand and onto the centerstand without tipping it over, and I think I'm better off waiting on that part of the job. The HeadLift stand is stable as long as the rear of the bike is stable.

Just curious - why do the block-off plates if you can have the air injection turned off with the flash? Thanks & looking forward to hearing how all your mods turn out!

[docsimple]

Michael, best of luck with your new bike. The guy who sold me my Penske shock had sold his FZ09 and bought a SuperDuke. It was extremely tasty. I wouldnt want o take it on long road tripos though

[hotboot]

I cancelled the AK-20 and Penske order with Traxxion this morning. I don't want to pour a bunch more money into the bike, I'm just going to sell it when I get the forks back.

Good luck with finding "the right one" - I am also doing the same.

[fddriver2]

 
From a member of the XR1200ownersgroup.com
 
 
streettracker
 
The test of the motorcycle is the satisfaction it gives you. There isn't any other test. If the motorcycle produces tranquility it's right. If it disturbs you it's wrong, until either the motorcycle or your mind is changed.
 
So move along.......

[Guest fzrcraig]

That is awesome.

[chikung]

I have mine booked in for a resrping and revalve front and rear to my weight. This is an absolute bargain for £285 ride in rode out.

[zine]

Almost 3 weeks later, I'm still waiting for my Matris rear shock and front cartridges.
 
I was hoping they'd be with my before my trip to Belgium (from UK) on the 20th March,
 
Suspension guys work to their own 'universal' calendar !

[beanburnham]

Randomly met Rogerc today at 4 corners (CA hwy 9 & skyline) and got to ride his FJ. It felt so much better than my stock setup. Felt smoother and more controlled with much less nose dive on braking. Looks like I gotta start saving. Thanks for the ride Roger

[tarsolace]

ANOTHER REVIEW:
 
Comments on my new Traxxion Suspension (AK-20 Fork Cartridges and Penske Shock)
 
So I've got FIVE 140 Mile Canyon Riding Excursions on my new suspension WOW! Amazing! I can't really say anything negative or in contradiction to all the other reviews above. Mostly, I can only confirm what you've read. Ya pay your money and ya get your Satisfaction.
 
How different than OEM? Primarily, the things I didn't explicitly read in the other on-board reviews was that the change is Dramatic. My bike performs better than I was imagining it would.
 
The stock suspension always preformed quite well (IMO) when the road surface was a 9 or 10 (on a 10 point scale). Without any surface irregularities the FJ felt agile and planted. It's now even more amazing in those conditions (call it 20% better).
 
However, when the FJ was stock and the riding surface was 5-8: having irregularities like patch repairs, cracks both treated and untreated, etc., the OEM suspension wasn't so good. Tracking was not trustworthy; I was generally afraid to add rider input; I just let the bike roll until I got to a section that was smoother/more consistent. On a piece of road that was a mixture of conditions this resulted in never being able to really get on it as the tracking (read planted) was seriously unreliable. Often, the OEM suspension would transfer the irregularities into the bike as vibration which would then upset stability. For safety reasons, there was simply (at least for me) no playing around or experimenting in less than perfect conditions. Generally, it was always better to coast over an irregularity--because the frame would take a hit rather than the suspension absorbing the problem.
 
The new suspension floats over the road surface--EVEN IF THE QUALITY HAS DETERIORATED TO A 5! I'm having more fun on roads that formally had lots of problems and interrupted the playful part. The Bike is now truly planted. It's consistent and feels like it's on a rail throughout the turn. All the Vibration "Hits" that contributed to instability are gone. It's almost like you can feel the suspension pushing the tire rubber down and into the cracks.
 
Regarding the company: I got a great consultation from Dan at the beginning of considering the purchase, got some coaching as to set-up upon ordering, and ended up doing 4 rides exactly as he had set it up for me out of the box. Since then, I've added one click towards a "harder" ride on all adjustments. This makes it a harsher hit if you really hit a sizable crack (1/2-1 inch) or pass from asphalt to concrete to asphalt crossing a bridge, but once your cranking 8-11,000 RPM's and dialed into a carve it's astonishingly smooth. I was bummed about the price initially (at purchase) but definitely feel like it was more than worth it now. I just recently got my lean angle to the edges of the tire (almost--last millimeter for the left and still 3mm away for the right--Michelin Power 3's). With OEM suspension, I don't think I was going get there: just couldn't trust the bike enough to commit. At 90 and 100MPH (in a straight line) the bike is VERY different. Pretty much like 80MPH with OEM.
 
Obviously, you can see I'm pretty excited. You should know that I'm NOT riding two-up, not taking 350 mile trips, and almost exclusively focused upon Canyon Riding. The Traxxion set-up dialed me into the zone I was looking for.
 
-stan