Is the go-race package worth it?

I have almost 6k on my wr now, 80% of it is all dirt. For the most part the stock suspension was fine for me, I always ran the shock rebound maxed out and fork compression 4-6 clicks out. Over time I got used to the rear shock rebounding way too fast and bucking over whoops, I would just slow down no big deal.

What changed all this was tires. I was never confident with the d606/mt21 combo, great on the the road, but un-predictable in mud/sand at high speed. I thought these were the limits of the bike, with the weight...

I ordered a set of pirelli xcmh mid-hard the most aggressive DOT tire I could find with good reviews. When they arrived I could not believe they were DOT approved with the knobbies spaced soo far apart.

The first time out on the tires and 20 miles into a ride I was instantly filled with confidence burying the front tire into corners and ruts. This predictable handing over the next 200 miles got me "off the seat" and into a stand up attack position. I was spending more time standing on the pegs, only sitting for corners, and having alot more fun.

As my speed progressed, the suspension could not keep up. I became extremely irritated knowing that I had to slow down for a obstacle that I was more then confident to clear at my current speed.

I decided to drop the money on the go-race package. It was hard to swallow at close to $1000 for the full package rear shock and fork re-valve and rebuild. I have never spent more then $100 on suspension so this was a tough call.

Service and ship time with go-race was great, period.

The first 20 or miles out on the new suspension I didnt notice much of a difference to be honest. Then, every rider's worst nightmare happened. I was riding down a gravel forest road with a few other bike's, we were clipping out pretty good.. 60-70mph. At a instant the dust cleared from the bike in front of me and i saw a 4' long 12" deep dried up mud-hole in the road. I never even had time to hit the brakes, all I could thing of was "I'm $$$$$"

Long story short, the suspension soaked it all up, the bike tracked straight, and I realized that I need to re-learn the limits of the bike with the new suspension. I can no longer "out-ride" the bike.

To quote whoever said it here "want to go fast? get your boingers did" yeah they were right...

The go-race package not only made me a faster rider, but inspired alot of confidence I never thought i would have in a street legal dual sport.

I have over $700 in engine/emission/exhaust mods. If I were to do it again, this would be the order:

1)tires pirelli xc-mh
2)gearing 14-52
3)go-race suspension package
4)leave the engine alone

Its hard to explain how much faster and harder I can push this bike whether it be single track or high speed whoops, it was worth the money for sure. I used to struggle keeping up with the pack and ringing the bike by its neck, now I am just a dust cloud

Glad to hear it, my shocks are with Go-Race now getting the same thing done. It wasn't a hard decision for me to get shock work done--I knew as soon as I did my first off-road ride they weren't going to cut it for me. I'm a big guy, plan to do multi-day adventures and I like fairly technical terrain. But it is a lot of money for me, especially right after buying the bike. Ultimately, tires and suspension affect everything you do on the bike, so I agree, start there with the mods.

I hope you'll give an update on the Pirellis after you've had them awhile. I'm starting off with the D606/MT21 combo but I want to consider different options in the future.

Cheers.

If you like the XCMH on the front then give the XCMS (DOT approved too) a shot - much better in the loose stuff with out giving up too much on the pavement.

Another front I like that is DOT rated is the MT16.

Just mounted my 2nd set of the xcmh this season, best tire I have been on so far that is dot rated. I will give the xcms a shot on the next tire change.

Got roughly 600 miles out of this set. Rear is toast but still provided very predictable handling.
~100 miles of tar
~100 miles of clay
~250 miles of gravel
~150 miles of soft dirt
Also a couple gnarly hill climbs with sharp rocks

600 miles on a set of tires is nothing to write home about but keep in mind I ride this bike as fast as I can most of the time