Race Tech Suspension

[KVA.36]

Has anyone looked into a suspension set up from RACETECH? After looking for correct spring rates on the website, I see they offer a cartridge kit and a complete rear shock. I have had Gold Valves in my motocross bikes and they are worth EVERY damn penny. I see the other cartridge kits available but never seen anything on the RACETECH option.

Looking for insight before I call the technical department there.

Thank You

 

[Deleted member 452]

The techs at Race Tech knew nothing about our bikes when I called them a year ago. You also have to take the forks apart every time you need to adjust their gold valves so that could get old if they guess the wrong settings for your weight/riding style...

 

[KVA.36]

That isnt very reassuring.......... Maybe its time to bug em on my drive home from work. Couldnt hurt to kill 45 min drive if they have something to offer. Thank you for the info though BAHAWTON.

 

[mattv]

Maybe talk to Matt from Formula390.com; he carries suspension stuff. I don't see the cartridges on his site, but he can probably point you in the right direction. "Formula390" is his username on this forum.

 

[KVA.36]

Called RACETECH yesterday on my way home form work, and they had no information about the bike. I could tell he was right on the site searching the exact same info I had done already. He confirmed what I already knew about them offering a complete rear shock for $1200 and Fork inserts fro around $1200 also.

 

[isaac_]

+1 for Matt at Formula390. To be honest you’re looking at either an Andreanni insert or GP Suspension insert and a JRi shock.


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[green_bread]

I will tell you from experience that its REALLY hard to beat the Andreani cartridges. Definitely the best "budget" solution Ive ever experienced. The JRi rear was a good shock, but I think there are better options out there for the money, personally.

 

[Shaharidan]

I have a full race tech suspension on my bike, and it works well for me.
The sales people may not always be fully aware of what they have, and since I think they're more well known for motocross the RC390 may not be on they're radar.
They have an employee who races an RC, so they get decent feed back.
It's a small shop and customer service can be a bit tough unless you can get to the tech's.
Lastly, I would recommend having a professional do the forks, it's easy to ruin the threads when removing the axle holders.

 

[Formula390]

My ears be a buzzin'!!!! LOL

OK so looks like it's time for yet another fireside chat about suspension for our RC's... LOL

RaceTech basically knows just this side of bupkiss about the RC. I've been trying to get them to get themselves more educated, but basically they just sell what I told them to at this point it seems. Their rear shock is, well, what it is. I don't carry it, if that tells you anything. For the front end for -=MOST=- riders on the street and occasional trackday, all you need is springs and oil. Honestly tho, a lot of guys on top of the podium with "just springs and oil" and that then allows them to justify the funds for the JRi on the rear. I think the other rear shock options out there fall on the spectrum in the realms of worthless, or downright fucking dangerous! I will not sell anything which I wouldn't put one of my own loved ones on... and you can read into that whatever you may.

For race, depending on your race org and rules, you can go with the Andreaini or KTech setup. The ability to do your initial adjustment with an easy adjustment makes things a little faster... but by and large once somebody finds the settings the like, they may just as well weld the adjusters in place. So, what you are REALLY buying there, is the ability to do 1 less teardown, maybe, and a lot more work to get your front end dialed in. If you're a racer and you are hitting WILDLY different tracks (say Laguna Seca one weekend and Las Vegas the next) where there are hugely different suspension settings, then the Andreaini or KTech parts are worth it. It's also got a certain amount of resell factor, as you'll make it easier for the NEXT owner to get the suspension setup for themselves... or the "Farkle Factor" of adjustability.

The Cup bikes WP front end and rear shock are mostly OK, but you're limited on spring selection. Remember, KTM still thinks of the RC as a beginner bike for younger new riders and kids learning to race. The don't have spring selections for us... {ahem} older, gray, fat guys. Myself particularly included. If you're over 140# (160# in full gear) then you are going to be seriously undersprung with the cup bike suspension. If you happen to be one of the lighter riders tho, it's a possible solution. Again tho, it's going to cost more than any other option out there, and be frustrating to get springs for either end to dial you in right. I basically don't touch 'em. It's just not enough of a demand for me to justify the time, and the expense, to test them out with multiple riders and multiple weights, to really see what it takes to get it working right. If you are light enough to go that route, find yourself somebody who's racing in MotoAmerica with their kid and see what they say. If you aren't racing against 'em, my experience is they will likely tell you whatever they know.

There is also the R6 Shock Swap option, but for racing I tend to steer guys away from that option. For trackdays and street tho, it's a very decent option for a quite reasonable price. There's a few racers down in New Zealand who are running the Nitron shock, but the caveat there is that they have a local suspension guy who basically just treats the Nitron as a core and completely builds it to his spec, at which point it's a decent shock and what the Nitron should have been from the start. The cost is more than the JRi, but is affordable for them down there as they then don't have to ship the shock from the US to NZ and the local guy imports the Nitrons in bulk. I tried working with Nitron, but they were not interested in feedback, wanted me to rubber stamp their setup/configuration, and after I sent them 3 pages of mods after initial tests of the Nitron and they ignored EVERYTHING, I told them to go pound sand.

Something also to consider is, for larger riders who's mass begins to achieve parity with the mass of their bike, and I'm pointing squarely to myself in particular here, having a steering damper is something I think should really be considered to be a required component. Somewhere around the 200 pounds and up point, the bike can get pretty twitchy even with the front end dialed in perfect. If you loose traction on the front from any number of factors like you get in to a corner too deep too fast, slide it on sand, leaves, manhole cover, road turtle, etc, or you clip a curb, ride over a fellow racer who went down in front of you, blah blah blah, then the front end can get downright terrifying. Before I developed the steering damper kit, there were a number of places I could induce headshake every time, without fail, and nearly rip the bars out of my hands. Usually in a decreasing radius corner with a bump, but I also managed it when I'd hit sand or gravel on the road. I consider KTM not including a damper to be almost criminal, but I also can see how it happened with them probably doing 99% of all their testing with emaciated test riders in India and kids in the EU and US... where their weights are under that threshold so that if they got into a situation where headshake or a tank slapper could have developed, it didn't happen because of the rider weight. KTM just blundered their way into success with us older and larger riders. So, is a steering damper required? No. Is it a GOOD idea, damn straight! Honestly tho, while I offer it for everyone, at the end of the day, I developed the kit because -=I=- needed it!!! Having seen video of it in action (EdwardP333 jumping the curbing) and seeing that front end remain ROCK STABLE as his bike then went horizontal, with his bike and them him sliding to a stop on the outside of the turn (and then his instructor target fixated on him and nearly runs them both over when he also then went off the track) pretty much told me everything I already knew about why it's invaluable for riders who are heavier or who ride on bumpy tracks or roads. I'll let EdwardP333 or other folks who've bought the kid however speak further on the damper kit, and how well it performs.

 

[Jerchiz]

I'm looking to upgrade the suspension on my 2015 RC390. I plan on using the bike for Street use half the time and track use the other half for about a year then I'll keep it as a track only bike.
I'm in New Zealand and there's a guy here in the 300 track class group that swears by YSS rear shocks and fork cartridges. On my bikes in the past I've never done cartridges I've just replaced the fork springs which made them much stiffer to my liking.
YSS any good?? I've also been told to put a yss rear shock on my old suzuki dr600 dakar from a dr600 forum.