Front fork cartridge kit recommendation

[alant]

Hi guys!

Please recommend me a front fork cartridge kit for my MT07 2019.
I'm about 190 lbs wo gear, ride mostly streets and twisty roads, sometimes with very rough surfice. And sometimes I feel the bike suspention could be better.
For rear shock there are many good options, but
as I read on the forum many front fork cartridges had have issues and they have to be modified to be used on the street.

As for today (2023), can I find a front fork cartridge kit, that I can
just buy, mount it as-is without modification and go to ride?

I consider about folowing cartridge kits:

1. Matris F15K
2. Bitubo JBH01
3. K-tech IDS20
4. Ohlins NIX-22
5. YSS Fork Cartridge Kit

 

[shinyribs]

I was very pleased with my Ohlins fork kit. I have ridden forks that were smoother, but not many. I also ride on rough back roads and never found a need to modify them. I have the tools and experience to retune them. They weren't perfect, but not worth me ever taking apart. They could be harsh on certain bumps, but 99% of the time they were ideal.

Ive got Ktech suspension on my current bike and it's been marvelous, especially considering the price range they fall in. The shock is the best I've ever ridden and I've built custom shocks. 

 

No experience with the others so I can't speak, but I look at Ktech with the same confidence as Ohlins. Forced to decide between those two, I would choose on price alone. 

 

[mjh937]

I have the Matris F15K and have been very happy.  I bought them from Matt who used to be active on the forum and he modified and installed them.  I am not sure what he did exactly. 

[Pursuvant]

Only way you can go wrong with the forum recommendations is by not searching and reading all the back history, tons of info here by the best members, but you have to search and read all of it that applies to you.

And imo you need to replace rear shock, not just the forks. I'm a big fan of @shinyribs recommendations about pretty much every topic he's posted about

[mjh937]

I agree with @Pursuvant about the rear shock.  I was amazed how much better the front felt after I replaced the shock.  I thought the forks were the problem but the shock is definitely the bigger problem, especially on the earlier bikes (mine is a 2015). 

[alant]

14 hours ago, shinyribs said:

I was very pleased with my Ohlins fork kit. I have ridden forks that were smoother, but not many. I also ride on rough back roads and never found a need to modify them. I have the tools and experience to retune them. They weren't perfect, but not worth me ever taking apart. They could be harsh on certain bumps, but 99% of the time they were ideal.

Ive got Ktech suspension on my current bike and it's been marvelous, especially considering the price range they fall in. The shock is the best I've ever ridden and I've built custom shocks. 

 

No experience with the others so I can't speak, but I look at Ktech with the same confidence as Ohlins. Forced to decide between those two, I would choose on price alone. 

 

Do you mean, that if I buy the  Ohlins NIX-22  or  K-tech IDS20,  they will be pretty good with no modifications for my purposses? Cornering at the roads with not very good surfice, where the bike is very unstable with the stock suspention, and at the same time not too stiff for the street. I am defenitelly going to change the shock as well.

[alant]

10 hours ago, mjh937 said:

I have the Matris F15K and have been very happy.  I bought them from Matt who used to be active on the forum and he modified and installed them.  I am not sure what he did exactly. 

Yes I have read about Matt's modifications, big respect to this guy. But I am living in Europe, and my point is just to buy a cartridge kit with the guarantee from my dealer, mount it as-is, adjust it and go ride.

[M. Hausknecht]

I suspect for your purposes, any of the listed kits would work well. They all provide compression and rebound  damping, and preload adjustment. Some will come with springs too soft for you (8.5 N/mm with the YSS kit, for example), so you'll want to get different springs or buy a kit that allows you to select your fork springs (Ohlins or K-Tech). I have the NIX 22 on my race bike. Works just fine but, for me, the compression damping was a bit harsh so I switched to 2.5wt fork oil in the compression fork while using the recommended 5 wt in the rebound fork. You weigh more than me, however, so the compression damping with 5 wt could be more appropriate for you.

A new, good quality shock will improve the bike's handling more than the fork internals, so I wouldn't delay it to do the forks first.

 

[shinyribs]

5 hours ago, alant said:

Do you mean, that if I buy the  Ohlins NIX-22  or  K-tech IDS20,  they will be pretty good with no modifications for my purposses? Cornering at the roads with not very good surfice, where the bike is very unstable with the stock suspention, and at the same time not too stiff for the street. I am defenitelly going to change the shock as well.

Correct. 

I'm my option they aren't just pretty good, they will be great. 

 

[alant]

46 minutes ago, shinyribs said:

Correct. 

I'm my option they aren't just pretty good, they will be great. 

 

Ok, thank you.

About K-tech shocks, do you recommend full RAZOR-R or RAZOR-R LITE would be enouth for my needs?

[Subito]

FWIW, another and more affordable option is the Traxxion AR-25, a damper rod/cartridge emulator kit that costs significantly less than a true cartridge fork kit:

AR-25 Axxion Rod Damper Kit, K41-1 - Traxxion Dynamics

---

Drop in Damper Rod Kit. Combines damper rod and cartridge technology for superior bump absorption, traction, and control.

 

[shinyribs]

21 hours ago, alant said:

Ok, thank you.

About K-tech shocks, do you recommend full RAZOR-R or RAZOR-R LITE would be enouth for my needs?

I'm running the Lite on my bike now and I think it's excellent. It has enough range of adjustment that I can go from too soft to too firm, so I don't know why I would need more adjustability than this. I just hoon around on rough back roads, someone who runs track may completely disagree with me. 

The most important thing is to be honest with the suspension company when you tell them your weight and riding style. I'm kinda heavy at 220lbs and that much spring pressure can affect valving. If you try to act like you're lighter than you are, or pretended to be heavier to adjust for luggage, you can end up with something that'll never be comfortable. 

I don't ever carry a passenger, but with out of the box Ktech settings I can haul ~60lbs on the bike and ride quality is unaffected.  I did back off the rebound settings they suggested a few clicks. Otherwise, I couldn't be more happy. 

Its a few hundred dollars cheaper to order the shock now with the remote reservoir vs deciding to add it back on later, so consider that. But I personally don't think it's something I'll ever consider doing. 

[shinyribs]

21 hours ago, Subito said:

FWIW, another and more affordable option is the Traxxion AR-25, a damper rod/cartridge emulator kit that costs significantly less than a true cartridge fork kit:

AR-25 Axxion Rod Damper Kit, K41-1 - Traxxion Dynamics

---

Drop in Damper Rod Kit. Combines damper rod and cartridge technology for superior bump absorption, traction, and control.

 

That looks like a great kit. For the cost I would seriously consider that option. Another member posted about a Progressive Suspension fork kit that was very affordable a while back. For a typical street ridden bike these are most likely the best bang for your buck. We won't know until someone uses one and gives us feedback, though. 

[union]

I've been happy with my cartridges from Andreani.  Paired them up with a Penske shock.  I've had better but that was on bikes I was racing.

 

The K-tech stuff is generally nice.  It was in the running for this bike but we went the direction we did because we had have issues with their small bike shocks in the past.  Hopefully they have corrected those by now.

Edited April 3, 2023 by union

[alant]

9 hours ago, shinyribs said:

That looks like a great kit. For the cost I would seriously consider that option. Another member posted about a Progressive Suspension fork kit that was very affordable a while back. For a typical street ridden bike these are most likely the best bang for your buck. We won't know until someone uses one and gives us feedback, though. 

Good option for US but not for EU.

I think the simular and available in EU would be the  MATRIS FSE  FY125SE

 

[cornerslider]

9 hours ago, shinyribs said:

That looks like a great kit. For the cost I would seriously consider that option. Another member posted about a Progressive Suspension fork kit that was very affordable a while back. For a typical street ridden bike these are most likely the best bang for your buck. We won't know until someone uses one and gives us feedback, though. 

I run this kit on my dedicated FZ-07 race bike. This kit will get you 95% of what a cartridge kit will- at half the cost!!! For a street application, I wouldn't waste the time/money/effort into a cartridge kit. This kit is easy to install, and have ZERO regrets. I'm probably pushing it beyond what it was designed for, as I doubt it was ever supposed to be used in a racing application.... I run this kit, with a K-Tech Razor "R" shock. The bike feels fantastic, even when I'm pushing it.... I've never lost traction, nor has the bike ever gotten "out of shape" when racing. Traxxion Dynamics, has been in the suspension game for many years. They build a fantastic product!!!!

[M. Hausknecht]

17 minutes ago, cornerslider said:

I run this kit on my dedicated FZ-07 race bike. This kit will get you 95% of what a cartridge kit will- at half the cost!!! For a street application, I wouldn't waste the time/money/effort into a cartridge kit. This kit is easy to install, and have ZERO regrets. I'm probably pushing it beyond what it was designed for, as I doubt it was ever supposed to be used in a racing application.... I run this kit, with a K-Tech Razor "R" shock. The bike feels fantastic, even when I'm pushing it.... I've never lost traction, nor has the bike ever gotten "out of shape" when racing. Traxxion Dynamics, has been in the suspension game for many years. They build a fantastic product!!!!

“If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough.”
― Mario Andretti

[cornerslider]

36 minutes ago, M. Hausknecht said:

“If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough.”
― Mario Andretti

I knew someone was gonna bust-my-ball$ on that post.... Carry-on my friend

[cornerslider]

On 4/3/2023 at 7:29 AM, shinyribs said:

I'm running the Lite on my bike now and I think it's excellent. It has enough range of adjustment that I can go from too soft to too firm, so I don't know why I would need more adjustability than this. I just hoon around on rough back roads, someone who runs track may completely disagree with me. 

The most important thing is to be honest with the suspension company when you tell them your weight and riding style. I'm kinda heavy at 220lbs and that much spring pressure can affect valving. If you try to act like you're lighter than you are, or pretended to be heavier to adjust for luggage, you can end up with something that'll never be comfortable. 

I don't ever carry a passenger, but with out of the box Ktech settings I can haul ~60lbs on the bike and ride quality is unaffected.  I did back off the rebound settings they suggested a few clicks. Otherwise, I couldn't be more happy. 

Its a few hundred dollars cheaper to order the shock now with the remote reservoir vs deciding to add it back on later, so consider that. But I personally don't think it's something I'll ever consider doing. 

I didn't see this until just know..... I run the K-Tech R "Lite" on my street R3. Once I got it set-up properly for my needs, it was hard to tell the difference between the "R" and the "Lite". For a street application, I recommend the "Lite". Save that $300, and put it towards something more useful-