GP Suspension bye-bye

[MCRIDER007]

Maybe I just caught the shop on a bad weekend? However, I paid top dollar and got a C- job. Yes, it is all fixable (unless my muffler is tweeked in which case it is D- job). I just expected more. BTW, my bike was there for a week, and I told them that I needed in on Saturday at 10am. As you can guess, did not really get worked on until Saturday am and did not get it until 2pm. All the time, I said, late is fine, but I want a quality job done. BTW, they seem to have done a good job on the tapered bearings in the steering head- this was the hardest thing where I thought there would be issues. Just goes to show you. Now up to the garage to fix the bracket install.

How disappointing. REALLY disappointing. Glad George was able to help you get it worked out. I know now where I will DEFINITELY not be sending my suspension stuff for service.

I talked to George tonight and it appears there may be ANOTHER issue, KFG may have installed too light of springs for Barry's weight. Adding a lot of preload and/or ride height to get the correct steering geometry is an acceptable short term solution to compensate for light springs (or to compensate for a passenger) but it should never be required for a solo rider on a custom aftermarket suspension upgrade.

Screwups are a part of life (and doing business) but the important thing is how willing KFG is going to be to fix an obvious mistake. Let's wait and see what happens on this one before passing judgement.

 

[yamafitter]

... Adding a lot of preload and/or ride height to get the correct steering geometry is an acceptable solution to compensate for light springs but it should not be required on a custom aftermarket suspension upgrade.

Adding too much preload really is not an acceptable way to correct for light springs. The correct spring rate is the first step in suspension setup which is why the 'free' sag and 'ride' sag measurements are so important and need to be done correctly. Almost all FJR's come from the factory 'undersprung' unless you are a very light rider.

A light rider is something that most of the fat *******s around here are not. I offer a photo of Niehart's plate from the NAFO banquet as proof ...

 

[MCRIDER007]

... Adding a lot of preload and/or ride height to get the correct steering geometry is an acceptable solution to compensate for light springs but it should not be required on a custom aftermarket suspension upgrade.

Adding too much preload really is not an acceptable way to correct for light springs.

You're right....poor choice of words....I am going to edit my post.

 

[Norman Hamer]

I believe I met Barry at Thunderhill last fall during a track day. He told me he knew Dave well, Barry seemed like a good guy but I did not need any service at that time. Who's first for a service report?

Just handed my FJR over to them this morning for suspension service (GP suspension front/Penske Rear), at the recommendation of some friends who have used Barry's services extensively. I'll post back if service is either outstanding or lacking.

April and the other folks at KFG worked me in right before they headed off to MotoGP, on a relatively tight schedule. Bike was there for a week, but that was largely because ( a ) I had to have them pick up due to family issues, and ( b ) was having them do general service, too.

Price was fair, I enjoyed dealing with them. They got a new-to-me bike back to me set up right for a long trip when they said they would.

I took the bike on the Spiral Highway, Idaho 41, Utah 141, California 1 and the twisties to and from it, good gravel I didn’t want to be on outside of Coeur D’alene, nasty washboarded CA “highway” outside of Lake Tahoe, the finest in under-maintained park service roads around crater lake and umpteen miles of highway, both with and without expansion joints. 4600 miles in the last 2 weeks, and although I’ve had many complaints, not a one of them have been suspension related.

I'll be taking my business back in the future, and recommend them.

 

[dcarver]

Good to know, Norman, thank you for the data point!

 

[Bluestreek]

I just saw this. My bike is dew for some work. :angry2:

 

[Auburn]

Well just got my bike back from KFG/GP Suspension in Auburn WA on 7/28/2012. What can I say other that I am grateful that George Hespe AKA EscapeFirst was there for me. KFG did a less than satisfactory job. Maybe it was because Barry and most of the shop was at Laguna Seca- do not know and do not care. The bracket for rear shock Penske reservoir kept hitting my boot. Turns out the bracket was installed wrong- should have been installed on the opposite side of the frame hanger from the muffler bracket instead of sandwiched in between. The hose for the reservoir was routed incorrectly too. That whole thing is a redo this afternoon, just hope that my muffler did not get tweeked because the one side had to be pushed further out to sandwich the bracket. Will find out later.

As to the set-up, it was a joke. The tech admitted that this was all pretty new to him. I do not blame him. Instead the owners have to take responsibility here. There was nothing but the compression set even remotely close in the rear, the front was better but still wrong. The rear penske shock was bottomed out for ride height. George saw it within 10 seconds of me arriving at his house. I had told the tech twice that the bike felt *** end low and he merely measure sag and took out preload. :angry2: Then mentioned that Barry, the co-owner, would have to look at the rest. Bike felt very weird yesterday- *** end low, poor initiation into turns. Wow, I was upset with my hard earned money spent. However, again thanks to George, turns out that I needed about 9mm (toward the upper end of the shocks adjustment range) of ride height adjustment. KFG had 0mm of ride height and had not tightened the lock nut. All in all, George spend about 30 minutes and got my suspension close. I feel like KFG Suspension owes George some money. Maybe about $40 of the $80/hr labor rate. I did spring (pun intended) for lunch for Mr. Hespe.

Maybe I just caught the shop on a bad weekend? However, I paid top dollar and got a C- job. Yes, it is all fixable (unless my muffler is tweeked in which case it is D- job). I just expected more. BTW, my bike was there for a week, and I told them that I needed in on Saturday at 10am. As you can guess, did not really get worked on until Saturday am and did not get it until 2pm. All the time, I said, late is fine, but I want a quality job done. BTW, they seem to have done a good job on the tapered bearings in the steering head- this was the hardest thing where I thought there would be issues. Just goes to show you. Now up to the garage to fix the bracket install.

Barry have you had a chance to address your issues with them?

 

[Bill]

Is there anything special that Dave did to the FJR1300 forks that would prevent them from being properly serviced by anyone other than KFG?

 

[Hudson]

Is there anything special that Dave did to the FJR1300 forks that would prevent them from being properly serviced by anyone other than KFG?

Shouldn't be. His mod consisted of revalving (and maybe front springs???) but the standard service is merely replacing bushings, seals, and fluid.

 

[RedPorscheKilla]

I would really love to hear the end of this story. Because right now I'm at a loss.

One hand (site) of the forum says, go for KFG and go for Penske plus the GP front fork farkle..... the other site say meh, go for Oehlins and Sasquatch and what not!!!

I know how this must feel, been there done it and didn't really get a T-Shirt..... but this isn't part of this conversation, so I spare you the read here.....

As the riding season is drawing to a close for me, I'd love to get my bike in to a shop, get-'er-done so come the season, I'm ready to role...

Thanks for ya help!!

 

[Barabus]

Well just got my bike back from KFG/GP Suspension in Auburn WA on 7/28/2012. What can I say other that I am grateful that George Hespe AKA EscapeFirst was there for me. KFG did a less than satisfactory job. Maybe it was because Barry and most of the shop was at Laguna Seca- do not know and do not care. The bracket for rear shock Penske reservoir kept hitting my boot. Turns out the bracket was installed wrong- should have been installed on the opposite side of the frame hanger from the muffler bracket instead of sandwiched in between. The hose for the reservoir was routed incorrectly too. That whole thing is a redo this afternoon, just hope that my muffler did not get tweeked because the one side had to be pushed further out to sandwich the bracket. Will find out later.

As to the set-up, it was a joke. The tech admitted that this was all pretty new to him. I do not blame him. Instead the owners have to take responsibility here. There was nothing but the compression set even remotely close in the rear, the front was better but still wrong. The rear penske shock was bottomed out for ride height. George saw it within 10 seconds of me arriving at his house. I had told the tech twice that the bike felt *** end low and he merely measure sag and took out preload. :angry2: Then mentioned that Barry, the co-owner, would have to look at the rest. Bike felt very weird yesterday- *** end low, poor initiation into turns. Wow, I was upset with my hard earned money spent. However, again thanks to George, turns out that I needed about 9mm (toward the upper end of the shocks adjustment range) of ride height adjustment. KFG had 0mm of ride height and had not tightened the lock nut. All in all, George spend about 30 minutes and got my suspension close. I feel like KFG Suspension owes George some money. Maybe about $40 of the $80/hr labor rate. I did spring (pun intended) for lunch for Mr. Hespe.

Maybe I just caught the shop on a bad weekend? However, I paid top dollar and got a C- job. Yes, it is all fixable (unless my muffler is tweeked in which case it is D- job). I just expected more. BTW, my bike was there for a week, and I told them that I needed in on Saturday at 10am. As you can guess, did not really get worked on until Saturday am and did not get it until 2pm. All the time, I said, late is fine, but I want a quality job done. BTW, they seem to have done a good job on the tapered bearings in the steering head- this was the hardest thing where I thought there would be issues. Just goes to show you. Now up to the garage to fix the bracket install.

Barry have you had a chance to address your issues with them?

Yeah- they made things right. It is done. "Meh" sums up my whole experience. Would I do it again? I would just order the rear shock and get he 1.1kg/cm race tech front spring and do the install. I actually prefer the old valving with the 1.1kg/cm race tech spring over the new valving and 1.0kg/cm spring from GP. Maybe I will go back to the 1.1 spring next service. That's just me. YRMV.

 

[Auburn]

Well just got my bike back from KFG/GP Suspension in Auburn WA on 7/28/2012. What can I say other that I am grateful that George Hespe AKA EscapeFirst was there for me. KFG did a less than satisfactory job. Maybe it was because Barry and most of the shop was at Laguna Seca- do not know and do not care. The bracket for rear shock Penske reservoir kept hitting my boot. Turns out the bracket was installed wrong- should have been installed on the opposite side of the frame hanger from the muffler bracket instead of sandwiched in between. The hose for the reservoir was routed incorrectly too. That whole thing is a redo this afternoon, just hope that my muffler did not get tweeked because the one side had to be pushed further out to sandwich the bracket. Will find out later.

As to the set-up, it was a joke. The tech admitted that this was all pretty new to him. I do not blame him. Instead the owners have to take responsibility here. There was nothing but the compression set even remotely close in the rear, the front was better but still wrong. The rear penske shock was bottomed out for ride height. George saw it within 10 seconds of me arriving at his house. I had told the tech twice that the bike felt *** end low and he merely measure sag and took out preload. :angry2: Then mentioned that Barry, the co-owner, would have to look at the rest. Bike felt very weird yesterday- *** end low, poor initiation into turns. Wow, I was upset with my hard earned money spent. However, again thanks to George, turns out that I needed about 9mm (toward the upper end of the shocks adjustment range) of ride height adjustment. KFG had 0mm of ride height and had not tightened the lock nut. All in all, George spend about 30 minutes and got my suspension close. I feel like KFG Suspension owes George some money. Maybe about $40 of the $80/hr labor rate. I did spring (pun intended) for lunch for Mr. Hespe.

Maybe I just caught the shop on a bad weekend? However, I paid top dollar and got a C- job. Yes, it is all fixable (unless my muffler is tweeked in which case it is D- job). I just expected more. BTW, my bike was there for a week, and I told them that I needed in on Saturday at 10am. As you can guess, did not really get worked on until Saturday am and did not get it until 2pm. All the time, I said, late is fine, but I want a quality job done. BTW, they seem to have done a good job on the tapered bearings in the steering head- this was the hardest thing where I thought there would be issues. Just goes to show you. Now up to the garage to fix the bracket install.

Barry have you had a chance to address your issues with them?

Yeah- they made things right. It is done. "Meh" sums up my whole experience. Would I do it again? I would just order the rear shock and get he 1.1kg/cm race tech front spring and do the install. I actually prefer the old valving with the 1.1kg/cm race tech spring over the new valving and 1.0kg/cm spring from GP. Maybe I will go back to the 1.1 spring next service. That's just me. YRMV.

Barry, good to hear they made it right for you. If you get the springs, bring the bike by and we can swap them out easily. Would only take a couple of hours. We don't need all the other parts to make the swap.

I just rebuilt my forks Sunday. Very easy job on these bikes.

 

[RedPorscheKilla]

Would you mind me jumping the band wagon? I couldn't make the tech day on Saturday, as I had already another commitment with Puget Sound Saftey. I'd like to learn how to rebuild my forks.

Thanks a lot.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Would you mind me jumping the band wagon? I couldn't make the tech day on Saturday, as I had already another commitment with Puget Sound Saftey. I'd like to learn how to rebuild my forks.

Thanks a lot.

RPK, you have a PM.

--G

 

[Auburn]

Would you mind me jumping the band wagon? I couldn't make the tech day on Saturday, as I had already another commitment with Puget Sound Saftey. I'd like to learn how to rebuild my forks.

Thanks a lot.

yes we can. I also have one other person that lives nearby that we are putting a race tech system in his.

for a gen II you will need the following parts:

4SV-23135-10-00 METAL, SLIDE 2(Lower Bushing) (2 each)

3P6-23135-00-00 METAL, SLIDE 2 (Middle Bushing) (2 each)

4SV-23125-10-00 METAL, SLIDE 1 (Upper Bushing) (2 each)

4SV-23115-00-00 GUIDE, COVER UPPER (Washer) (2 each)

4SV-23145-01-00 OIL SEAL (2 each)

4SV-23156-00-00 CLIP, OIL SEAL (Ring clip) (2 each)

4SV-23144-00-00 SEAL, DUST (Dust seal) (2 each)

You will also need 2 liter of fork oil (I use Honda SS-7 - you need 3 bottles) The fluid you have to get locally.

Cost from CyclePartsWarehouse.com is around $65.00 (+shipping)

Once you have the parts in hand we can schedule the work. Takes about 2-3 hours depending on how good you are at taking your front wheel off.

 

[Barabus]

RPK,

Brian and George are the best at this stuff. I know how much I value all their assistance. I will lend a hand at any suspension upgrades.

Barry

 

[ahchiu]

Bryan,

Let me know when you do this, I will also do mine, BTW I have all the stuff to makeup 2 more sets of the specials fork tools, so we will have 4 set in the PNW.

 

[Auburn]

1350365932[/url]' post='1007598']Bryan,

Let me know when you do this, I will also do mine, BTW I have all the stuff to makeup 2 more sets of the specials fork tools, so we will have 4 set in the PNW.

Marcus if your are available Saturday lets do it then. Give me a call.

 

[escapefjrtist]

1350365932[/url]' post='1007598']Bryan,

Let me know when you do this, I will also do mine, BTW I have all the stuff to makeup 2 more sets of the specials fork tools, so we will have 4 set in the PNW.

Marcus if your are available Saturday lets do it then. Give me a call.

What time y'all starting the festivities?

--G

 

[Niehart]

Yeah, what George said?