Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Just rang Race Tech re getting the rear shock done on the ZX7R and seemed to easy. As with every thing else on the it has been quoted say $500 and ends up double or tripple the price. Has anybody used these guys before and are they good. I know we have a couple in the stiky but none of them are in Sydney?

Rear shock pritty much needs a rebuild, suffering from being to firm, no rebound and completely non responsive! Makes riding interesting

Race Tech have quoted under $200, is this reasonable, looking at pulling it out at home drop it in, replace oil and if it needs a seal?

Info would be great????

They just did my Ohlins...
New oil, regass and oil seal was $145..

No probs, took it in, got it back 2 or 3 days later..

Don't know if its any better just yet, I don't really think there was anything wrong with it in the first place.
I really just wanted it checked over as I had a little incident that I thought may have stuffed the line to the reservour...

Thanks Dave.

The work shop is closed until the 8th of Jan so there is plenty of time to find somewhere, just didn't want to send interstate.

Definately go with these guys. They did the front on my 96 ZX9R. Dropped it out to them in the morning, they hadn't been able to get hold of me during the day so stopped work on it, I answered the question when I got there and they put it back together while I waited. Adjusted the back shock setting for me for free to.

Then said they would be at the next EC track day to fine tune it for free.

Terry is really easy going and really does know his stuff.

Poyda are you on comission joking

That is great i think i will use these guys. Just was unsure as they popped up on the net when i did a search. 2 out of 2 ain't bad (including Madkaw's reply as a positive)

do it !! Race Tech are ace

i'll give these guys a plug, terry knows his stuff.. he did a gold valve job on my old blue zx9 (which ended up going to I-K a few years back), and recently he did a gold valve job on the gixxer's forks and set up the suspension to match the new ohlins rear shock that i got as well... and the bike's like a razor now, even more so than when new.. so yeah, the guys at shock treatment do a good job.
the missus liked what they did to my gixxer so much she's planning on taking her gixxer thou K6 to shock treatment sometime to overhaul her suspension.

davezx9r wrote:i'll give these guys a plug, terry knows his stuff.. he did a gold valve job on my old blue zx9 (which ended up going to I-K a few years back), and recently he did a gold valve job on the gixxer's forks and set up the suspension to match the new ohlins rear shock that i got as well... and the bike's like a razor now, even more so than when new.. so yeah, the guys at shock treatment do a good job.
the missus liked what they did to my gixxer so much she's planning on taking her gixxer thou K6 to shock treatment sometime to overhaul her suspension.

Terry may well be very good, but personally I reckon those gold valves are a crock of shit!! From what my suspension guy in Melbourne tells me, a lot of the modern suspension has very very very good quality internals, and all they need is a respring and revalve usually to make em work properly. Every top racer I have spoken to about gold valves reckons the same!!!! FWIW I would be more inclined to have it done properly than fitting gold valves!

Strika wrote:

davezx9r wrote:i'll give these guys a plug, terry knows his stuff.. he did a gold valve job on my old blue zx9 (which ended up going to I-K a few years back), and recently he did a gold valve job on the gixxer's forks and set up the suspension to match the new ohlins rear shock that i got as well... and the bike's like a razor now, even more so than when new.. so yeah, the guys at shock treatment do a good job.
the missus liked what they did to my gixxer so much she's planning on taking her gixxer thou K6 to shock treatment sometime to overhaul her suspension.

Terry may well be very good, but personally I reckon those gold valves are a crock of shit!! From what my suspension guy in Melbourne tells me, a lot of the modern suspension has very very very good quality internals, and all they need is a respring and revalve usually to make em work properly. Every top racer I have spoken to about gold valves reckons the same!!!! FWIW I would be more inclined to have it done properly than fitting gold valves!

A few facts about suspension.

They are called gold valves because they are anodised aluminum coloured gold, these were first introduced by Race Tech so they could patent them. Other manufacturers followed suit. The main difference with these valves are the size of the apertures, these let the oil flow far more quickly once the shim stack has been actuated, hence the plush feeling with modified suspension.
The quality of the standard valves, shims and springs in most current Japanese bikes are crap, but having said that they are better than they were 10 years ago.
You mention a revalve and respring, other than the oil there really isnt much else to change.
While on the subject of oil use the best quality fork oil you can get, and change it at least every 10,000 K's.

Race Tech usually dont change the rebound valves and shim stacks, I suggest if you are going to get suspension work done, have both the compression and rebound valves and shim stacks replaced. The cost is a little more but the end result is worth it in my opinion.



Neil

gold valves are bigger diametre, all this means is they allow faster compression & rebound than the stock smaller valves, which is great on the road for reading different and inconsistent road surfaces but indifferent on the track where its nice and smooth.

They do work on road ! but are indifferent on the track as they are not needed due to the consistent & smooth road surface.

hoffy wrote:gold valves are bigger diametre, all this means is they allow faster compression & rebound than the stock smaller valves, which is great on the road for reading different and inconsistent road surfaces but indifferent on the track where its nice and smooth.

They do work on road ! but are indifferent on the track as they are not needed due to the consistent & smooth road surface.

I presume from your comment that you mean the holes are larger in diameter, this is correct, however the compression and rebound dampening except on small bumps is controlled by the shim stack.
The original valves made by Race Tech were made for the track hence the name, as original equipment valving was not good enough for the track.
The valving etc is even more important on the track as it gives racers that edge. It had nothing to do with the smooth surfaces found on race tracks but has everything to do with keeping the rubber on the track, improving things like corner speed, braking etc etc.
Remember Yamahas problems last year with front end chatter? Suspension was most probably part of the problem. Even Doohan complained about front end chatter on the NSR 500.


Neil

strika, the K6 has 1kg/m springs so a respring was not needed - it was the valving that was inadequate for my riding - i found the front (and rear, hence the ohlins on the back now) to be too soft for me - suzuki may have got it right for the average rider, but when i'm laying titanium through corners with the missus on the back, i want the suspension to be doing its job and the stock internals weren't up to it even on firmer settings.

Neilp wrote:

hoffy wrote:gold valves are bigger diametre, all this means is they allow faster compression & rebound than the stock smaller valves, which is great on the road for reading different and inconsistent road surfaces but indifferent on the track where its nice and smooth.

They do work on road ! but are indifferent on the track as they are not needed due to the consistent & smooth road surface.

I presume from your comment that you mean the holes are larger in diameter, this is correct, however the compression and rebound dampening except on small bumps is controlled by the shim stack.
The original valves made by Race Tech were made for the track hence the name, as original equipment valving was not good enough for the track.
The valving etc is even more important on the track as it gives racers that edge. It had nothing to do with the smooth surfaces found on race tracks but has everything to do with keeping the rubber on the track, improving things like corner speed, braking etc etc.
Remember Yamahas problems last year with front end chatter? Suspension was most probably part of the problem. Even Doohan complained about front end chatter on the NSR 500.


Neil

Well, Terry Hay told me that setting a current litrebike or the 12 up for the track you would not need gold valves, as the standard valves allow enough flow. Gold Valves are designed for road use, specifically sport tourng comfort on less than race track smooth roads.

Unless there are different types of gold valves?

And yes the valve is generally the part of the unit that the oil flows through.

hoffy wrote:

Neilp wrote:

hoffy wrote:gold valves are bigger diametre, all this means is they allow faster compression & rebound than the stock smaller valves, which is great on the road for reading different and inconsistent road surfaces but indifferent on the track where its nice and smooth.

They do work on road ! but are indifferent on the track as they are not needed due to the consistent & smooth road surface.

I presume from your comment that you mean the holes are larger in diameter, this is correct, however the compression and rebound dampening except on small bumps is controlled by the shim stack.
The original valves made by Race Tech were made for the track hence the name, as original equipment valving was not good enough for the track.
The valving etc is even more important on the track as it gives racers that edge. It had nothing to do with the smooth surfaces found on race tracks but has everything to do with keeping the rubber on the track, improving things like corner speed, braking etc etc.
Remember Yamahas problems last year with front end chatter? Suspension was most probably part of the problem. Even Doohan complained about front end chatter on the NSR 500.


Neil

Well, Terry Hay told me that setting a current litrebike or the 12 up for the track you would not need gold valves, as the standard valves allow enough flow. Gold Valves are designed for road use, specifically sport tourng comfort on less than race track smooth roads.

Unless there are different types of gold valves?

And yes the valve is generally the part of the unit that the oil flows through.

Gold Valves were originaly designed for the track as I explained in my previous post. It is not the valve that controls the oil flow on large bumps, but the shim stack. For small bumps the oil is forced through a number of small orifices near the centre of the valve. The number and size of these orifices varies between manufacturers. Your bike can be made to handle better by careful selection of valve type and shim stack configuration, however how this is achieved is open to interpretation. That is why suspension is still considered by some to be a black art.
Some understand it some dont.


Neil

Burky , worth the read and phone call

http://www.ksrc-au.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=13469