I thought I'd post some information about the Matris F15 (F15T122K) fork kit, along with the Bitubo WME02V1 rear shocks (OEM height, 351mm) that I just installed on my 2017 T120.
I purchased both items from Carpi Moto in Italy and after complying with their payment policy regarding using a Verified by Visa qualified credit/debit card, everything arrived in about 4 weeks, or so.
The fork kit is of high quality and very easy to install, though you need to have some skills and certain tools. The instructions are very basic and require some thought to understand their meaning.
I removed the front wheel and fender. Note the routing of the ABS sensor wire on the left hand fork leg as it is positioned as shown in the photo below. I also separated the brake calipers from the outer fork tubes.
Then I removed the fork assemblies from the upper and lower yokes by loosening the pinch bolts and sliding the forks out the bottom of the lower yoke. I loosened the fork cap nuts prior the loosening the lower pinch bolts. And, I recommend marking the assemblies as right and left. It will matter which is which, though the presence of the ABS sensor mount tab is an indicator, as well.
After removing the cap nut, I drained each fork assembly of it's fluid. The kit comes with new fork oil. Some of the components of the stock fork guts will come out when you invert the forks to drain.
It is now time to remove the bolted in fork cylinders. I was able to easily remove one of the lower cap bolts with an 8mm allen wrench, but with the other fork, the bolt just spun. I needed to use an air impact wrench but didn't have an 8mm allen socket that was long enough to reach the nut through the axel boss of the outer fork tube. I decided to cut one of my 8mm allen wrenches and fit it into a socket that I happened to have. Using an air impact ( or electric impact ) wrench makes short work of removing certain bolts, including the lower fork cap bolt. I did need to jam a piece of wood into the fork to prevent the lower cylinder from turning. I used a piece of oak landscaping stake that I happened to have.
Once the internal cylinders are removed make note of which goes to which fork leg. They are not the same. The length of the lower cylinder portion which holds the top-out spring is different on each one.
Now I thoroughly flushed out the hollow fork assemblies with mineral spirits, making sure they were both very clean. My forks are off of a nearly new bike, so I didn't feel the need to separate the upper and lower tubes for seal or bushing replacement. If you have significant miles on your bike, this may be a step you will wish to take. It's rather easy to do.
After ensuring that the inside of the tubes were clean and dry, I transferred the top-out springs to the new fork cartridges and installed them into their respective fork legs in the reverse sequence of removing the stock innards, tightening the lower cap nuts by hand (no impact gun!). It is very important that the correct cartridges go into each of the forks. The right hand fork gets the cartridge that has the SHORTER of the top-out spring holder. This is the new Matris COMPRESSION cartridge. The left hand fork gets the cartridge with LONGER top-out spring holder. This is the new Matris REBOUND cartridge. See photo.
Note the difference in the lower ends. The cartridges go to each leg as shown.
Now, per the supplied instructions (no spring in place and cartridge rod fully compressed), I added the the Motorex 5W fork fluid, pumping the cylinder to get any bubbles out. I noticed that if I tilted the assembly while adding the fluid, it would bubble out a lot of air. Each leg will take just under 1/2 of the bottle to achieve the recommended oil height of 160mm from the top of the extended inner fork tube.
It was then the simple matter of installing the springs and caps, making note of the position of the washers (lower end of spring) and upper spring collar. These items are clearly shown in the instructions supplied by Matris.
That's it. The forks are then installed on the bike in the reverse of the disassembly. I did have some difficulty with the alignment of the headlight bracket tubes and their rubber grommets, but after a little fiddling, it went together properly.
Included in the Matris instructions are the initial settings for compression (15 clicks out from fully closed), rebound (15 clicks out from fully closed) and preload (6 turns in from fully open/unloaded). My kit came with the standard 9.0 N/mm spring rate springs. These springs ended up just right for my geared up weight of 198 pounds. They are the standard springs for the kit, by the way (If you are of significantly different weight, either plus, or minus, you would need to specify this on order. It is easy to get other springs upon initial order. Afterward, it's harder and time consuming.).
In setting up the sag, I needed to reduce the spring preload 1 full turn for a total of 5 turns in from fully open/unloaded. This gave me 20mm of static sag and an additional 20mm of rider sag, for a total of 40mm.
I also installed Bitubo shocks. I'll post another write up about that.
Cheers.
I purchased both items from Carpi Moto in Italy and after complying with their payment policy regarding using a Verified by Visa qualified credit/debit card, everything arrived in about 4 weeks, or so.
The fork kit is of high quality and very easy to install, though you need to have some skills and certain tools. The instructions are very basic and require some thought to understand their meaning.
I removed the front wheel and fender. Note the routing of the ABS sensor wire on the left hand fork leg as it is positioned as shown in the photo below. I also separated the brake calipers from the outer fork tubes.
Then I removed the fork assemblies from the upper and lower yokes by loosening the pinch bolts and sliding the forks out the bottom of the lower yoke. I loosened the fork cap nuts prior the loosening the lower pinch bolts. And, I recommend marking the assemblies as right and left. It will matter which is which, though the presence of the ABS sensor mount tab is an indicator, as well.
After removing the cap nut, I drained each fork assembly of it's fluid. The kit comes with new fork oil. Some of the components of the stock fork guts will come out when you invert the forks to drain.
It is now time to remove the bolted in fork cylinders. I was able to easily remove one of the lower cap bolts with an 8mm allen wrench, but with the other fork, the bolt just spun. I needed to use an air impact wrench but didn't have an 8mm allen socket that was long enough to reach the nut through the axel boss of the outer fork tube. I decided to cut one of my 8mm allen wrenches and fit it into a socket that I happened to have. Using an air impact ( or electric impact ) wrench makes short work of removing certain bolts, including the lower fork cap bolt. I did need to jam a piece of wood into the fork to prevent the lower cylinder from turning. I used a piece of oak landscaping stake that I happened to have.
Once the internal cylinders are removed make note of which goes to which fork leg. They are not the same. The length of the lower cylinder portion which holds the top-out spring is different on each one.
Now I thoroughly flushed out the hollow fork assemblies with mineral spirits, making sure they were both very clean. My forks are off of a nearly new bike, so I didn't feel the need to separate the upper and lower tubes for seal or bushing replacement. If you have significant miles on your bike, this may be a step you will wish to take. It's rather easy to do.
After ensuring that the inside of the tubes were clean and dry, I transferred the top-out springs to the new fork cartridges and installed them into their respective fork legs in the reverse sequence of removing the stock innards, tightening the lower cap nuts by hand (no impact gun!). It is very important that the correct cartridges go into each of the forks. The right hand fork gets the cartridge that has the SHORTER of the top-out spring holder. This is the new Matris COMPRESSION cartridge. The left hand fork gets the cartridge with LONGER top-out spring holder. This is the new Matris REBOUND cartridge. See photo.
Note the difference in the lower ends. The cartridges go to each leg as shown.
Now, per the supplied instructions (no spring in place and cartridge rod fully compressed), I added the the Motorex 5W fork fluid, pumping the cylinder to get any bubbles out. I noticed that if I tilted the assembly while adding the fluid, it would bubble out a lot of air. Each leg will take just under 1/2 of the bottle to achieve the recommended oil height of 160mm from the top of the extended inner fork tube.
It was then the simple matter of installing the springs and caps, making note of the position of the washers (lower end of spring) and upper spring collar. These items are clearly shown in the instructions supplied by Matris.
That's it. The forks are then installed on the bike in the reverse of the disassembly. I did have some difficulty with the alignment of the headlight bracket tubes and their rubber grommets, but after a little fiddling, it went together properly.
Included in the Matris instructions are the initial settings for compression (15 clicks out from fully closed), rebound (15 clicks out from fully closed) and preload (6 turns in from fully open/unloaded). My kit came with the standard 9.0 N/mm spring rate springs. These springs ended up just right for my geared up weight of 198 pounds. They are the standard springs for the kit, by the way (If you are of significantly different weight, either plus, or minus, you would need to specify this on order. It is easy to get other springs upon initial order. Afterward, it's harder and time consuming.).
In setting up the sag, I needed to reduce the spring preload 1 full turn for a total of 5 turns in from fully open/unloaded. This gave me 20mm of static sag and an additional 20mm of rider sag, for a total of 40mm.
I also installed Bitubo shocks. I'll post another write up about that.
Cheers.