Spent the day at the GT Motocycles shop with my V7III Racer installing suspension, wheels, and tires.
- New springs for the rear Öhlins shocks, a higher rate than OEM to handle my size/weight body.
- A Matris fork cartridge kit with, again, springs more closely matched to my weight.
- A set of Kineo tubeless spoked wheels in the OEM standard sizing.
- A set of Conti RA3s in the 110/80-18 and 130/80-17 sizes.
One detail that the mechanic suggested (and I went for) was to drop the front end 10mm on the fork stanchions for a bit faster steering turn-in. It seemed reasonable to me, and is similar to what I once did with my LeMans V way back in the mists of time.
Once installed, we set up the Matris fork adjustments to the suggested standards, then tweaked the preload just a little bit lighter from there to get the sag where it felt good to me sitting still. Similarly, the rear suspension units are at the default damping settings, we set up the sag per the spec, and then tweaked the setting just a little bit higher to where it felt good to me sitting statically in the shop. Then I took the bike for a short ride to see what it felt like.
Much better: The steering felt more planted and confidence-inspiring, the steering turn-in more natural. The tires feel much more grippy and predictable. I returned to the shop and we did a leak check on the forks (none) and arranged for my stop-back tomorrow morning to pick up all my take-offs with my partner so I can bring them home and decide what to do with them.
(Anyone want a set of V7III Racer OEM wheels with some low-mileage Pirelli rim protectors on them?
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It was only a short test ride as it was late in the day and both I and the mechanic wanted to shut down for the evening. I rode back to my hotel afterwards (about a 6 mile run through heavy Friday evening traffic) and my impressions held true: the bike feels much better to me with these upgrades. Of course, that's still only a little bit of ride testing and no serious corner carving yet .. I was too tired and traffic on a Friday evening too heavy and crazy to do much more. After my partner and I pick up the take-offs tomorrow, I'll ride the bike the 400 miles back home to Santa Clara ... While it might be spot on, I fully expect that I'll need to do just a little more pre-load and damping tweaking when I have some more time in different riding situations on the setup. But it's far closer to the mark already, a much better point to work from.
Overall, the changes are all positive and the value of doing these changes obvious and worth it to me. It takes what I know is a very good bike and moves it up to an even better level.
Many thanks to Todd and his mechanic, David, for their advice and efforts! They've truly done me very well, and although this work is not an inexpensive proposition, when I think what it might have taken me in time and trying different combinations and tires, it saved a huge amount of effort and expense to have their advice and act upon it. I didn't have to go for the Kineo wheels, but they are for sure very pretty indeed and they are a real tubeless rim, with no messing about trying to seal up the OEM wire wheels or switching to a tubeless mag wheel.
Onwards! Home tomorrow!
