What a difference a day makes....

[captainscarlet]

....twenty four little hours.  Or the few short hours it took to rip out my Tracer's original fork innards and replace them with K-tech 20IDS fork cartridges.  I am, as a rule, not one for superlatives and have in the past had a good deal of scepticism when people claim that various upgrades/changes have transformed their bikes.  But in this case I find that there are no other words; my bike has been transformed!

Over the previous winter I had ditched the original shock for a K-tech Razor Lite and at the same time performed a budget upgrade on the forks by dropping in K-tech springs for my weight and by choosing some more appropriate fork oil.  These changes made an appreciable difference but I felt there was more to be had.  Having trawled through reams of forum posts it's clear that the real problem with the Tracer's forks is valving and transport of oil.  I decided therefore to bite the bullet and purchased K-tech's 20IDS cartridge kit.  I could then make use of the K-tech springs I had purchased and fitted during the winter.

The bike is now brilliant!  The ride is much more comfortable and at the same time far more precise and stable.  It's like the suspension is actually working and doing what it is supposed to!

My new suspension in combination with my Scorpion slip-on and S-TEC Performance ECU flash have made my Tracer absolutely the best bike for me.  It is light, fast, smooth and comfortable and it puts a grin on my face every time I ride it.  I recently test rode a number of other bikes including KTM's big adventure bikes, but frankly they left me cold.  Sure the 1290 has loads of power but most of it is unusable and frankly big adventure bikes are just that, big, unnecessarily so in my opinion.  Sure the big adventure bikes will take you into the unknown but I don't ride off road.

Frankly there is no other bike IMHO that offers the combination of benefits that the Tracer does.  I was going to qualify that statement with the addition of "for the money" but frankly I don't think that bit of the statement is needed.  With sorted suspension, a slip-on and ECU flash it is quite simply a brilliant bike.

CS

[wordsmith]

If I may, cs, woddit it cost you?   I understand your northern location, and doubtless shipping was not cheap , but it would be of interest to know if you don't mind.   TIA...

Edited July 31, 2019 by wordsmith

[captainscarlet]

56 minutes ago, wordsmith said:

If I may, cs, woddit it cost you?   i understand your northern location, and doubtless shipping was not cheap , but it would be of interest to know if you don't mind.   TIA...

Absolutely. Shipping was actually pretty reasonable, €15 I think.  K-tech have a large European depot that all their European suppliers draw from.  I ordered from Omniaracing.

• K-tech Razor R Lite 330 mm rear shock (287SD-014-270-020) €388
• K-tech HPFS pair of front fork springs (3624-300-90) €81
• K-tech 20IDS fork cartridges (120-014-270-020) €625

Then there was fork oil on top of that.  I used Redline fork oil, putting extra light in the compression leg and light in the rebound leg after advice gleaned from the forums.

So in total around €1100 which is just short of 1800 Aussie dollars at the current rate of exchange.

HTH

CS

[betoney]

5 hours ago, captainscarlet said:

 I am, as a rule, not one for superlatives and have in the past had a good deal of scepticism when people claim that various upgrades/changes have transformed their bikes.  But in this case I find that there are no other words; my bike has been transformed!

The bike is now brilliant!  The ride is much more comfortable and at the same time far more precise and stable.  It's like the suspension is actually working and doing what it is supposed to!

My new suspension in combination with my Scorpion slip-on and S-TEC Performance ECU flash have made my Tracer absolutely the best bike for me.  It is light, fast, smooth and comfortable and it puts a grin on my face every time I ride it.

Frankly there is no other bike IMHO that offers the combination of benefits that the Tracer does.  I was going to qualify that statement with the addition of "for the money" but frankly I don't think that bit of the statement is needed.  With sorted suspension, a slip-on and ECU flash it is quite simply a brilliant bike.

CS

I LOVE reading posts like this.  -

For the money involved, I completely understand a lot of riders skepticism but there is nothing like seeing a riders face come back from a ride after a suspension upgrade.  The ear to ear grin and look of awe and the obligatory "why did I wait so long?" 😎  As a "bang-for-the buck" upgrade, NOTHING comes close to a suspension upgrade.

I agree with you on the bike "transformation" - suspension, ECU flash and sport tires, a smile on my face every time I ride the bike!  👍

 

[wordsmith]

5 hours ago, captainscarlet said:

Absolutely. Shipping was actually pretty reasonable, €15 I think.  K-tech have a large European depot that all their European suppliers draw from.  I ordered from Omniaracing.

• K-tech Razor R Lite 330 mm rear shock (287SD-014-270-020) €388
• K-tech HPFS pair of front fork springs (3624-300-90) €81
• K-tech 20IDS fork cartridges (120-014-270-020) €625

Then there was fork oil on top of that.  I used Redline fork oil, putting extra light in the compression leg and light in the rebound leg after advice gleaned from the forums.

So in total around €1100 which is just short of 1800 Aussie dollars at the current rate of exchange.

HTH

CS

Many thanks, cs.   After asking the costs I found the K-tech online presence, so had a pretty good understanding of the dosh involved.   Not cheap, as betoney says, but clearly well-spent as far as you're concerned.

[koth442]

Man I need to upgrade my suspension... This K-tech stuff sounds really good.

[texscottyd]

48 minutes ago, koth442 said:

Man I need to upgrade my suspension... 

Yeah, you do.  Trust me on this one!   

@captainscarlet - Amazing, isn’t it?  The entire persona of this bike changes with top shelf suspension upgrades.   

@betoney - You and I have been among the more vocal advocates, so I’ll reaffirm your statement:  Although it’s a lot of bucks, suspension is still the best bang-for-your-buck investment on the FJ/Tracer.  

[Guest]

I did K-Tech cartridges and Razor- R rear shock on my bike when it had 500 miles on it and it was so worth it. It takes away most of the harshness of holes and transition strips but here in New England there are a lot of highway exit ramps that are really torn up and it was scary because the stock suspension couldn't handle it and it was hard to know where the bike was going. Now.....I don't even give it a second thought as it runs on rails. The other thing is that there's never a hint of head shake. My XSR900 was shaky as hell and the FZ 09 I rented a few weeks ago out in California had an expensive steering damper on it.

Funny that this topic came up as I was out washing bike for a weekend road trip and my girlfriend was sitting out talking to me and I was saying to her that I can't figure out why people buy these bikes and rush out and put a premium exhaust and flash it before they do the suspension.  Of course she didn't give a shit but if you're sitting next to me when I messing with my bike, I'm talking about motorcycles. She lost interest and went for a walk with the dog. Anyway......I get that Yamaha wanted to hit a price point with these bikes and cheaped out on the suspension. Doing the suspension really brings out all of the best in the design and in my opinion it's the best money you can spend for these bikes.

 

[wordsmith]

10 minutes ago, chesterburnet said:

She lost interest and went for a walk with the dog.

Marry that dog!

[wordsmith]

K-tech appears to be able to supply their components from the UK, which for me here in Oz would mean an appreciable discount of 19% (IIRC) due to the deletion for a non-EU citizen of the VAT/ sales tax.   I also have found a local suspension 'guru' who says on his website that he uses K-tech gear.   I'd have to arrange installation as well as supply as I have neither the know-how nor the tools for a DIY job.

I'm not yet ready to spring a lot of dosh on this upgrade, but will explore it further if my basic but so-far satisfactory tweaks prove inadequate.   I fully understand and respect all claims of a vast improvement over stock (and not only with K-tech I'm sure) - I found a vast improvement in another area when I ditched that crap stock seat for a BAGSTER seat.   Different sort of issue, I know, but the same....

Edited August 1, 2019 by wordsmith

[Tracerracer]

im eager to know why different oil weight, whats the reason behind this?

 

23 hours ago, captainscarlet said:

I used Redline fork oil, putting extra light in the compression leg and light in the rebound leg after advice gleaned from the forums.

 

 

[chitown]

2 hours ago, Tracerracer said:

im eager to know why different oil weight, whats the reason behind this?

 

 

 

Generally, the weight of the oil is going to impact the rate at which it can flow through the valving. For lighter riders/loads using stock suspension replacing the oil with lighter can make the suspension feel more compliant and reduce harshness. It's a balance and is going to work for lighter riders/loads but will have less benefit as the rider/load gets heavier. Fat guys like me often need to upgrade the valving. Any aftermarket suspension upgrades should come with good recommendations for fork oil based on your desires and typical loading.  

Edited August 1, 2019 by chitown

[koth442]

I'm one of those goobers than put an exhaust and ECU flash on before the suspension. I regret it.

[betoney]

13 minutes ago, koth442 said:

I'm one of those goobers than put an exhaust and ECU flash on before the suspension. I regret it.

Its still not too late...  😎

[Guest]

9 hours ago, wordsmith said:

K-tech appears to be able to supply their components from the UK, which for me here in Oz would mean an appreciable discount of 19% (IIRC) due to the deletion for a non-EU citizen of the VAT/ sales tax.   I also have found a local suspension 'guru' who says on his website that he uses K-tech gear.   I'd have to arrange installation as well as supply as I have neither the know-how nor the tools for a DIY job.

I'm not yet ready to spring a lot of dosh on this upgrade, but will explore it further if my basic but so-far satisfactory tweaks prove inadequate.   I fully understand and respect all claims of a vast improvement over stock (and not only with K-tech I'm sure) - I found a vast improvement in another area when I ditched that crap stock seat for a BAGSTER seat.   Different sort of issue, I know, but the same....

I love K-Tech as does my local performance shop but, I think that there are a lot of choices that'd work just as well. I did my rear shock but had the shop do the fork cartridges as it requires a few specialized tools and he did the setup with me on the bike. The last fork kit I did was on my 1985 Husqvarna CR250 and was as easy as doing a rear shock.