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T7 Fork Open Cartridge Kit


Ktmmitch

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The latest, and final, part of our suspension development for the Yamaha T7 Tenere are now in stock after nearly a year of development and testing.
These class-leading Open Cartridge fork inserts are a major improvement over the stock OEM open cartridge for many reasons:
Much larger 35mm piston, compared to OEM 20mm, giving over 270% increase in shim swept area for more damping control & suppleness.
Adjustable fork Preload Caps, offering up to 11mm of adjustability with the simple turn of the centre nut, using special tool supplied with kit.
Custom-wound linear fork springs, in both 6,4Nm & 6,8Nm choices for different rider weights.
Separate legs for compression & rebound damping, giving maximum adjustability and range.
Our own CNC machined spring guide & check valve with PDS (bottoming control) which gives a progressive, smooth finish to the fork stroke on full compression.
Easy to fit, no special servicing tools required, a quick and simple replacement for the OEM cartridge & OEM fork caps.
 
 
 

RRP616-1.jpg

RRP616-2.jpg

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3 minutes ago, Ktmmitch said:

Click on the currency button at the top of our website to see price in different currencies

Thanks. Generally don't click on links; our IT takes a very dim view of this practice.

 

Price ok but postage is nearly 20% on top of the price 🤔. Hmm the penalty for living in the best arse end of the world.

Alcohol! No good story starts with a salad.

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2 minutes ago, Rider 101 said:

Thanks. Generally don't click on links; our IT takes a very dim view of this practice.

 

Price ok but postage is nearly 20% on top of the price 🤔. Hmm the penalty for living in the best arse end of the world.

Yes, we have the same problem ordering Barkbusters from NSW

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2 minutes ago, Ktmmitch said:

Yes, we have the same problem ordering Barkbusters from NSW

🤣 yes! My Barkbusters were free with my T7. Benefits of being in NSW. Also B&B bashplate,tail tidy,  and Pivot Pegz were almost a give away.

I might wait until this flu thing passes. It is time for another trip to the Old Dart and I am sure I can pack a few RR things in my baggage. 😁

Alcohol! No good story starts with a salad.

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Wow ... I would love to fix my front problem, now I only need to repeat it often enough so that I believe this is my only way forward 🙂 ... and I have to find out how much a local shop might charge me to swap the fork internals so that I don't have to.

 

Shipping is only 100$CDN to Quebec-Canada, plus duty and taxes of $252.43 ... so the estimated total cost is quite affordable for such a BIG change (complete internals)

...  TOTAL = $CDN 1376.15 ... 

this is much lower than the Touratech kit ... CA$2,759.46 

 

Here is the link for Canada duty charges, if someone is interested. 

 

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49 minutes ago, MGG said:

Wow ... I would love to fix my front problem, now I only need to repeat it often enough so that I believe this is my only way forward 🙂 ... and I have to find out how much a local shop might charge me to swap the fork internals so that I don't have to.

 

Shipping is only 100$CDN to Quebec-Canada, plus duty and taxes of $252.43 ... so the estimated total cost is quite affordable for such a BIG change (complete internals)

...  TOTAL = $CDN 1376.15 ... 

this is much lower than the Touratech kit ... CA$2,759.46 

 

Here is the link for Canada duty charges, if someone is interested. 

 

not as bad as I thought especially Canadian Shipping can suck my....*choose a human part*...

 

still going hurt my piggy bank...

 

Thanks for the heads up...

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4 hours ago, Limey said:

I guess I would be better off canceling my order for the T7 Preload Caps-RR 614 and going this route?

For the extra cost, I would say yes, but don't forget to get the rear shock spring set correctly for rider sag, to balance the bike

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9 hours ago, Ktmmitch said:

For the extra cost, I would say yes, but don't forget to get the rear shock spring set correctly for rider sag, to balance the bike

I’ve installed your heavier rear spring about 5 weeks ago but unfortunately I damaged my right bicep after a fall picking up the bike. So haven’t had the chance to test the rear yet.

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3 hours ago, Limey said:

I’ve installed your heavier rear spring about 5 weeks ago but unfortunately I damaged my right bicep after a fall picking up the bike. So haven’t had the chance to test the rear yet.

Hope you heal quick. I plan on making a bike jack at some point and I'm sure at some point it will come in handy.

I'll probably go the crutch route.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

For those interested in differences between OC & CC fork kits (apart from price difference)

 

CLOSED CARTRIDGE:

All adjustments to be done from top cover cap

    • Separate Rebound leg and compression leg, both adjustable from the top.
    • Spring preload adjustment 12 mm in both legs.
    • Air release bolt.
    • CNC machined end cap. 

Ease of assembly by customer:

    • No modifications to front fork necessary
    • Cartridge is filled by Tractive.  No air inside.
    • Oil seal floating to follow bending forces.
    • Blow off valve to blow of oil when pressures are to extreme. 

Robustness / Stability / Bigger adjustment range

  • Closed cartridges: no foaming => reproducible, stable damping
  • High damping stability because of 35 mm pistons (biggest in the market)
  • Hydraulic endstop against bottoming in both cartridges. 
  • Very robust due to maximum tube diameter.

Nitrogen chamber with bladder for lowest stick-slip

 

 

OPEN CARTRIDGE:

All adjustments to be done from top cover cap

              Separate Rebound leg and compression leg, both adjustable from the top.

    • Spring preload adjustment 12 mm in both legs.
    • Air release bolt.
    • CNC machined end cap. 

Ease of assembly by customer:

    • No modifications to front fork necessary
    • Oil seal floating to follow bending forces. 

Robustness / Stability / Bigger adjustment range

  • High damping stability because of 35 mm pistons (biggest in the market)
  • Hydraulic endstop against bottoming in both cartridges
  • Very robust due to maximum tube diameter.
  •  
  • Can be serviced easily by competent home mechanic.
Edited by Ktmmitch
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I was seriously considering the RR open cartridge version, but the cost is bordering on £800 now, with the tool required to fit and SKF oil/dust seal kit. Originally RR suggested a figure of around £600 (which it is, if you don’t have to pay the VAT). To justify this cost, they would have be like night and day better, which hopefully they would be. However, I’ve spent large amounts of money on similar upgrades in the past, and they didn’t do as was expected, which is why I’m so cautious, about spending such a large amount.

 

When an order is made, are springs supplied for rider weight, do you have a data base for settings, depending on type of use or type of riding style, i.e plush Touring/road riding or off-road or spirited road riding? (I did come and visit you and took your bike out for a quick ride, but the suspension settings were obviously set to your weight and for off-road riding, plus the tyre pressures were very low on the off-road tyres that were fitted, I didn’t really get a true felling for how I would want it for myself). Or are they supplied with a base setting, and the rider has to experiment to find what they like?

 

I find the OEM front forks quite harsh, on the pot holed poor surfaced roads where I live. I’m wanting a much plusher, more comfortable ride on road. Will this be achievable with the RR OC kit, or would they still need further attention to the valving?

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@FredBasset We appear to be seeking the same result from modifications to front forks. I also find the forks quite harsh on roughly surfaced roads. I have installed K-Tech fork piston kit and rear shock piston assembly, but so far I am a long way from finding a setting that I would call plush on road. The low speed off road feel is ok but even slight irregularities at motorway speeds are uncomfortable.

All I want is a "plush" ride when touring, and the ability to handle off road conditions comfortably when taken slowly. (I'm 70)

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1 hour ago, Engineer said:

@FredBasset We appear to be seeking the same result from modifications to front forks. I also find the forks quite harsh on roughly surfaced roads. I have installed K-Tech fork piston kit and rear shock piston assembly, but so far I am a long way from finding a setting that I would call plush on road. The low speed off road feel is ok but even slight irregularities at motorway speeds are uncomfortable.

All I want is a "plush" ride when touring, and the ability to handle off road conditions comfortably when taken slowly. (I'm 70)

Sorry to hear your K-Tech mods didn’t work out so far. This is the reason, why I’m so cautious about spending a large amount on the unknown. I expect others are in a similar position, waiting for others to test the waters. 

Edited by FredBasset
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I’m with you guys ^^^^

a nice plush ride to iron out all the crappy UK road surfaces, but gives a controlled and great handling ride thats also reasonably capable Offroad on trails and fire tracks. Maybe Ohlins is the answer........

 

what we need is a group test of all the options, so we can determine who’s getting all our money

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 9/21/2020 at 9:32 PM, Alf Meister said:

I’m with you guys ^^^^

a nice plush ride to iron out all the crappy UK road surfaces, but gives a controlled and great handling ride thats also reasonably capable Offroad on trails and fire tracks. Maybe Ohlins is the answer........

 

what we need is a group test of all the options, so we can determine who’s getting all our money

Any UK T7 owners are more than welcome to visit our factory to test the suspension on our own T7 

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It would be nice to hear your experiences, I am considering a fork upgrade during the winter.

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Two Yamaha T7 Tenere’s in the workshop today, one having the Hyperpro springs removed and our new Open Cartridge kit fitted, plus our Extreme shock in place of OEM shock, fitted with correct spring weight for rider.
The other customer T7 already had our Uprated Rear Spring on OEM shock, and we changed the OEM fork cartridges for a set of our Open Cartridges, much larger 35mm diameter piston in comparison to OEM 20mm, plus preload adjustable fork caps.

CA203727-EEF0-4DA1-8D3D-F4138E7CF78B.jpeg

60B28248-B245-461D-9162-B2F3181A6454.jpeg

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  • 2 weeks later...

@FredBasset Visited Rally Raid last week. Had a ride on @Ktmmitch 's bike with the extreme open cartridge fork kit, and had a good chat with John.

Although the bike was equipped with higher rated springs than I would need, I was impressed with the ride on road and on a short stretch of broken and potholed concrete road.

I have pulled the pin and ordered the open cartridge fork kit and also the extreme shock, although as John is currently testing some lighter fork springs, I hope to discuss his findings to confirm my spring choice before my units are dispatched.

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Currently I’m undecided, waiting for more feedback, but will probably wait until next spring! 😉

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So much of this depends on your weight, height and riding style. 

 

I revalve and re spring every bike that I get. I usually have to just to set the right sag settings and also because of my weight which is 240 lbs. 

 

One guys Suspension settings and needs are totally different from another's.   If you try adjusting your settings and the forks still bottom out on you , then consider upgrading your suspension .  

 

I'm considering this very cartridge kit for my bike this winter , from Rally Raid. It seems to fit the bill and the price is right.  Rally Raid has a ton of great products, this is just one of em. 

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