Rider's Edge Suspension

I finally got my bike back from Ian at Rider's Edge Suspension. Wow...what a HUGE difference! Had I known it was going to be this plush a ride I would have done this WAY sooner. Actually it's a good thing it went thru a full overhaul; when Ian ripped the forks apart there was a rather interesting find once it was all exploded. During the assembly at the factory, he found that there were gouges on the slider on not just one, but BOTH forks. He figures it was a high speed tool that wasn't affixed properly when it was being put together, and it let loose. There were filings all over the inside, which would be why the feel of it wasn't so great near the time I took it in. So now I have shorter springs, Race-Tech valving, custom spacers and 5wt oil up there.

The rear...well, as I had heard from others...there was hardly any oil back there. So he gave me a new coil custom spacer and new oil too. The ride to the bike shop was so comfy! I am VERY satisfied with the work this guy has done; he really knows his stuff. That is all he does, is suspension work. I was lucky enuf to be able to get my bike in because he's like ALWAYS busy. I would recommend him to anyone wanting suspension work done, and what's nice is it's done here in Canada so I didn't have to send anything away. A 45 minute drive and my bike was in his shop, and he had my bike done in a day. So it's great for us Canuckleheads who want terrific customer service and A-1 tuning for their bike's suspension needs. Oh, I almost forgot. I can now get both balls of my feet down firmly, and seat height is now at 29". I think I've probably got the lowest R² out there.

Rider's Edge Suspension

We demand pics with you on the bike so we can see how low it is.

Hopefully tomorrow. It's in the back of the truck because we got hail balls the size of marbles on the way home and it got kinda squirrely riding on that shit. It's pissing down rain right now and I'm watching the Canucks kick the pants off of Chicago.

How lucky you were to find a place only 45 minutes away. And would it be rude for me to ask how much $$$ it all cost?

$625 CAD. That was the full meal deal, everything done.

I see Rider's Edge Suspension is in Vernon - wish I still lived in Kelowna.

deerHater wrote:

I see Rider's Edge Suspension is in Vernon - wish I still lived in Kelowna.

There must be a place near Ottawa.

If not there is one close to Montreal and another one close to Sherbrooke. Both places are renown for the quality of their work.

Stadium Suspension

Star Suspensions

Met many people that had to do business with them and none had any negative saying about either one.

It's nice to be able to keep things at home. What's interesting with Ian is, he trained with Paul Thede, who's with Race Tech. I met him years ago back when he was wrenching for the local Yammie dealer. He was then, the suspension guy. He went off on his own and started his own business, most of it was been thru word of mouth. The only advertising he has is his website, but he said most of his work has come from ppl who have passed along his name that have had suspension work done. He gets orders from all over; he was working on a set of forks from Australia for someone. He's done very well for himself.

Right after the oil change. Need more batteries...


He even put decals on.

Whats in the background there girl? A '71 Malibu/Chevelle?

Nice looking bike!! I'd just focus on your mirrors. What kind if mirrors do you have? I want to get those ugly stock mirrors off and yours seems to be the solution.

DanLap

Hey, I think the mirrors below the bars are a good idea. As long as you can actually see behind you.

I've got the KTM folding mirrors;

SheWolf - CONGRATES!!! on the susoension mods. I think NOTHING is more important if you plan to ride agessively, etc.


Travis at GoRace says: " KYB shock base seal head assembly $69.00 "Must be replaced because the stock one is not in spec when they are on the show room."

Can you tell from your bill or conversations with "Racer's Edge" whether or not they share Travis's view amd thus replaced this part - and IF SO hoe much they charged for it?

THANKS!

F'in nice.
You must be pretty stoked. :)

In fact, the only thing in that pic that doesn't look awesome is that TORO lawnmower.
Gawd, don't remind me I'll be cutting the grass soon. :)

Jersey Devil wrote:

Whats in the background there girl? A '71 Malibu/Chevelle?

It's a 1971 GMC Sprint Custom (the GMC version of the El Camino).

DanLap wrote:

What kind if mirrors do you have?

They are UFO DualSport mirrors.

Midnite171 wrote:

Hey, I think the mirrors below the bars are a good idea. As long as you
can actually see behind you.

I can see perfectly behind me; as much as I did with the stockers.

BigBird wrote:

Can you tell from your bill or conversations with "Racer's Edge" whether
or not they share Travis's view amd thus replaced this part - and IF SO
hoe much they charged for it?

He rebuilt the WHOLE THING, seals and all. It was included in the price, and yeah the stock seals suck big time. He even lowered my kickstand and didn't charge me.

YZEtc wrote:

You must be pretty stoked. :)

In fact, the only thing in that
pic that doesn't look awesome is that TORO lawnmower.
Gawd, don't
remind me I'll be cutting the grass soon. :)

I'm pretty damned stoked, yup. The lawnmower, yeah...I've already cut the grass here 3 times in the last month and a half.

Personally, I would love to find a place within 500 miles that would do my whole suspension for $650.

I do know the value of proper springs, oil, and shim stack because I did the KLX250S suspenders myself.

In fact, it was Mod #1 on the KLX and that mod alone made it into a new bike. My problem is I've never been comfortable (AT ALL) doing suspension work.

It's just not something I like to do. Maybe it has to do with the frequency with which my 1982 RM250Z went through fork seals, but I just hate doing suspension. Did I mention I hate it? Really hate it?

That said, I've been looking around and no one reputable will charge less than $1200(minimum) for front & back.

If anyone knows of a reputable place that would do a re-spring/re-shim/refill/recharge for a decent price let me know.

I had asked SheWolf if Racer's Edge felt is was necessary to replace the "seal head assembly" with a KYB part and she resoonded that all seals had been replaced. Since the "seal head assembly" is not a seal I sent Racer's Edge an email to get more data. My email amd their response is attached below FYI.

Net is Racer's Edge and GoRace DON'T have the same view of this $69 component (and neither if them have a shock dyno). This does NOT mean either of them are wrong (or that they can't do a great job without a shock dyno) but it is DATA to consider. (I like data :>)

My email to Racers's Edge:

> Travis at Go-Race in USA - Virginia, who had done quite a few of
> these shocks states \"One of the most important updates I preform to a
> stock WRR shock is to replace the extremely poor design seal head assembly
> with a KYB component. This really makes a difference with shock
> performance along with being rebuildable into the future. The stock seal
> head shaft clearance is way out of spec on the show room floor. This will
> cause a sticky action along with short seal life. Also the stock seal head
> seal is not available anywhere I have looked.\"
>
> I have NO idea if the above view is widely held or correct - but I
> haven\'t seen it mentiond by other suspension tuners. Can you give me
> your view on this and - IF you feel it is a mandetory or desirable chage
> let me know how much this part addes to the cost of a revalve.
>
> ALSO, do you have a shock dyno? and if so how much it adds to the revalve
> cost to get before and after dyno graphs?

Response from Racer's Edge:

I don't see the need to replace the seal head unless it's leaking. The WR
shocks that I've seen did not suffer from the stiction that you mention. As
with anything massed produced, there may be some out there with issues.

We don't have the use of a dyno.