smitty141
My name is Smitty.. And I have a motorcycle proble
Well gents, I may have gone off the deep end with the cost of this mod. $1150. installed (forks off the bike). But this includes fresh fluids, and the cartridge kit and the correct springs for your weight. That is one thing that I think was a little off on the Wilbers deal. Everyone got the same front spring rate (how can that be). I had talked to Lee (he is a member here) a few times trying to get as much info to make my mind up. Well on my way to Atlanta I set a time to have this work done. I was running a few hours late, but this was not a problem for them.
When I pulled up Lee was there to greet me with a hello and hand shake. And a place out of the 100 deg heat. First thing I did was meet everyone and hand them my new to me Ohlin shock to Martin. He is the Wiz in the suspension dept. He first pulled the spring and then cleaned the shock in the ultrasound bath. I thought it looked good before, now it looked new. He put it on the dyno and let it do it's thing. First off, the stock rear spring was to light at 625lbs. for my weight and so was the rebound stack in the shock. He said not a problem, I will revalve only the rebound valving, and service the shock. It will be like new and setup for your weight and riding ability. And he went to work on my shock......
While he was doing that I pulled my forks off and gave then to Lee. He already had me a set of AK-20 cartridges put together for me. But before they could be installed my forks came completely apart and cleaned. I should tell you guys there shop is SPOTLESS!!!!!. I think you could have open heart surgery in there.... Lee stripped the forks down and cleaned all the parts. Then all the parts went in the ultrasound cleaning tank. And again everything looked new. He inspected all the parts. He did find a very small nick in a fork tube and then polished it out. He installed the new fork kit and set them up for my weight ect. While he was doing this, I put my very cool Ohlin rear shock on my FJR.
When Lee was done I put the front back together and couldn't wait to ride it.
Total cost...
$999.75 cartridge kit
$150.00 fork kit install.
$125. service and revalve rebound only on the rear shock.
$99.95 for the correct rear spring.
$1374.70 total.
While there maybe some guy that say Holy-**** thats a lot of money... Well you are right, it is a lot of money. But to me it is better spent on this than exhaust, PCIII, and other performance items.
Most guys didn't think $600-800. on a rear shock was out of line, or a grand for a complete exhaust. I think it is because the fork kit can't be seen, and there for has zero bling factor. But thats what I think...
Now for the ride report.....
All I can say is WOW. I did a slab ride from Atlanta and the rear was outstanding. And the front was okay. But the real test and what I wanted was where I ride most... the twistys...
Well myself, Dogger (Skinny Dave), my brother and a few others went for a early "beat the heat" ride at 4:30am this morning. We took it easy till the fog was gone. We ended up on one of Missouris greatest sportbike road. Highway 32 and HWY DD and P. The bike was fantastic!!! On a 5 mile section of P me and Dogger was really letting it hang out. It cornered perfect and none of the bad habits of the stock setup. All I can say it is spooky fast and felt great. I think if Dogger holds it to 80-85% I should be able to hang with him.... Can't wait to ride it again... Maybe in the early morning again.
So do I think it is worth the hard earned money I spent....YES... Is it for everyone, no... But if you are a aggressive rider who like to wick it up, I would give Lee a call ASAP...
I would also like to thank Lee for his help, and tour of this first rate shop. Maybe more later after I ride it more....All I can say is WOW!!! :yahoo: Smitty
When I pulled up Lee was there to greet me with a hello and hand shake. And a place out of the 100 deg heat. First thing I did was meet everyone and hand them my new to me Ohlin shock to Martin. He is the Wiz in the suspension dept. He first pulled the spring and then cleaned the shock in the ultrasound bath. I thought it looked good before, now it looked new. He put it on the dyno and let it do it's thing. First off, the stock rear spring was to light at 625lbs. for my weight and so was the rebound stack in the shock. He said not a problem, I will revalve only the rebound valving, and service the shock. It will be like new and setup for your weight and riding ability. And he went to work on my shock......
While he was doing that I pulled my forks off and gave then to Lee. He already had me a set of AK-20 cartridges put together for me. But before they could be installed my forks came completely apart and cleaned. I should tell you guys there shop is SPOTLESS!!!!!. I think you could have open heart surgery in there.... Lee stripped the forks down and cleaned all the parts. Then all the parts went in the ultrasound cleaning tank. And again everything looked new. He inspected all the parts. He did find a very small nick in a fork tube and then polished it out. He installed the new fork kit and set them up for my weight ect. While he was doing this, I put my very cool Ohlin rear shock on my FJR.
When Lee was done I put the front back together and couldn't wait to ride it.
Total cost...
$999.75 cartridge kit
$150.00 fork kit install.
$125. service and revalve rebound only on the rear shock.
$99.95 for the correct rear spring.
$1374.70 total.
While there maybe some guy that say Holy-**** thats a lot of money... Well you are right, it is a lot of money. But to me it is better spent on this than exhaust, PCIII, and other performance items.
Most guys didn't think $600-800. on a rear shock was out of line, or a grand for a complete exhaust. I think it is because the fork kit can't be seen, and there for has zero bling factor. But thats what I think...
Now for the ride report.....
All I can say is WOW. I did a slab ride from Atlanta and the rear was outstanding. And the front was okay. But the real test and what I wanted was where I ride most... the twistys...
Well myself, Dogger (Skinny Dave), my brother and a few others went for a early "beat the heat" ride at 4:30am this morning. We took it easy till the fog was gone. We ended up on one of Missouris greatest sportbike road. Highway 32 and HWY DD and P. The bike was fantastic!!! On a 5 mile section of P me and Dogger was really letting it hang out. It cornered perfect and none of the bad habits of the stock setup. All I can say it is spooky fast and felt great. I think if Dogger holds it to 80-85% I should be able to hang with him.... Can't wait to ride it again... Maybe in the early morning again.
So do I think it is worth the hard earned money I spent....YES... Is it for everyone, no... But if you are a aggressive rider who like to wick it up, I would give Lee a call ASAP...
I would also like to thank Lee for his help, and tour of this first rate shop. Maybe more later after I ride it more....All I can say is WOW!!! :yahoo: Smitty
