Don't let just anyone rebuild your suspension.

BusaWhipped

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With 60,000 miles on the front forks, things were getting bouncy. With everything I had planned for the summer, I didn't have the time to send them out to have them done, so I took it to the local dealer that does my maintenance. I wasn't thrilled about taking this route. I talked to them for a long time about what I wanted out of the suswpension. They work on the bike aloy and know I'm an aggreeive rider and track the bike. They assured me they could built it to do what I needed. They have a relationship with RaceTec and would get the perfect setup from them.

We'll I get the bike back, and it still bounces. I turn this, adjust that, but nothing is getting it settled down. I thought I just didn't understand the RaceTec stuff, so I got GIXERTP to help me with it at the Bash. It was better, but not great. I took it to the track for the first time with the rebuilt forks, and Luci was sliding and bobbling around the corners.

I took it to the suspention tuner at the track to set it up. That's when the bad news started coming. He suspected that the valving hadn't been installed correctly. He did what he could, but it wasn't much help. I left Luci with him to rebuild the front forks again at the end of day 1.

Beginning of Day 2, I find Luci up on the rack without a front end. Te bad news continues. The compression valves had been installed wrong, and the rebound valves were missing. He says he sees that lot from dealer installs when they try to install RaceTec valves. To top it off, he had sold the last of the valving needed to fix this during Day 1. Wonderful. So I ran Day 2 on forks with improperly installed compression valves and no rebound valves. I'll be taking Luci to Chicago next week to have the forks rebuilt by someone that knows what they are doing.
 
I expect things like that from dealers, I get surpised when things are done rite !
Luci ? Is that coz you get the rear tyre loose on her ?
 
Sorry to hear this Dennis

Glad you were able to get it figured out, Now just to get her fixed.
 
i only find shops i trust to work on any parts of my bike......and dealers are on the almost never goto list.
 
Sorry that put a damper on your weekend, Dennis. It was good to see you guys again.
 
Dang Dennis, I'm surprised you kept that beast on two wheels with that debocle. Nothing worse than bum suspension and nothing better than sweet, well tuned suspension. Suspension over horse power every day! :beerchug:
 
i'm sorry you had to find out what was wrong like this but i'm glad it is finally going to get fixed :beerchug:
 
What a bummer. A stealership at their "award winning" best again I see :banghead:


Let us know where & what you end up getting done.
 
That sucks Dennis. I hope you get some $$$ back from the dealer. It won't help w/ your lost track time though.
 
Once you go beyond the un-bolt and swap or the bolt-on and go you shouldn't go to a shop that's going to learn on your dime. Sorry to hear this.
 
Dennis if need be I can send you a set of forks done by GP suspension here close to me done to your specs and setup to your styling if you want,just lmk..They do all the on track setups here and know their stuff.They build your setup completely in house,they have about 3-5 machines running at all times and have every part you can think of there..google gp suspension..
 
This is aweful! There are some people that would never have known there was a legitament problem with their suspension and just dropped their hands in disgust with their "lack of driving ability" after having their suspension "set for the track". :banghead:

It's really good that you posted this up...so more don't make this mistake. I'm glad you were able to tell that there was a real problem and stayed after it.:bowdown:

I have not been completely satisfied with my suspension setup on my GenII but now I definitely know I will not be working through the Stealership route.

Thanks BW
 
Wow, sorry to hear that story. I had mine done at Twin City Suzuki with outstanding results. Mine was also bouncy, and now is very settled and confidence inspiring. I watched the entire process, and probably would take the route you are now going if I had known of the bad possible outcome. Good luck with the new guys.
 
Wow, Dennis!

Sorry to hear that buddy. I think the dealership needs to refund you money and fork out some dough for your wasted track days too!!
 
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