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Installed Matris F15K kit and Bitubo WME shocks, 2017 T120

19K views 36 replies 20 participants last post by  Kinjane 
#1 · (Edited)
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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Tool Metalworking hand tool


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.

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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.

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I also installed Bitubo shocks. I'll post another write up about that.


Cheers.
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Sorry, no matter how hard I try, the site is not allowing me to post some of the accompanying photos.
To say I am frustrated is an understatement!
Any suggestions?

Update: I heard from the moderators. There is an 8 picture limit, so I deleted some pics and split the Bitubo install into another post.
 
#4 ·
By the way, with the standard Matris settings the ride is a little firm but very refined. I didn't have much time with the stock suspension, but enough to realize refined is not the applicable adjective. It was harsh and non-compliant. I just assumed it was because it was new.
The Matris stuff is new, but completely different, in a good way. I hadn't set the sag, etc. before my first ride. I will report back when I do a test ride with the proper set-up in place.
The Bitubo shocks were installed as well, albeit with as delivered settings. The rear sag settings were not set up, either. It had too much preload as delivered, so I expect improvement now that both ends have proper sag settings
Can't wait!
 
#5 ·
Cool. Glad to hear this.
I do not know why I am getting so much push back from members here about what I say is, the overly harsh ride on the T120s!! Well, on my T120 and the demo rides I've done.
I've owned dozens of motorcycles over many many years and I hold firm my impression that the the T120, is a rather poor example of factory choices in what should be comfortable suspension tuning for a bike like this.
 
#9 ·
I would have to agree on the suspension being the weak link on my T120. It easily bottoms out when pushed into a corner and I have the shocks set a maximum stiff. New suspension will definitely be in my girls future. I'll wear the stock stuff out a little first though.....nice write up by the way!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#10 ·
#11 ·
Finished my Matris install last night and was able to put about 50 miles on them tonight. The fork action is much more civilized than the stock set up. I'm using the recommended settings by Matris and currently have about 45 mm of rider sag. I'll probably put a couple of hundred miles on them before trying to fine tune them.
 
#16 ·
Well I anted up for the Matris cartridge kit and got it installed last weekend.

Most of the installation was very well covered by the OP. So what I'll try do is add some additional info to it.

My comments on the installation.

1. It's certainly easier to do one fork at a time while the other holds the headlight etc in place. But be careful as the new cartridges are not the same left to right and they are specific which goes where. You do reuse the stock topout springs, simple swap.



Here's a comparison shot. The stock right side cartridge is on top and the Matris on the bottom. You can see the small top out spring installed on the Matris cartridge on the bottom end.



2. It's easier to crack loose the bottom retaining bolts for the OEM cartridge/insert while the fork legs are still connected with the fender mount/fork brace and under spring tension. You will need an extended length 8mm hex driver, at least say 3" long, 4" to be safe. They are pretty tight. Finish tightening them the same in reverse when the fender brace is installed again. I used the orange axle wrench/tire spoon for the caps, they are 32mm. The preload adjuster is 19mm.



3. Holding the left side lower insert from spinning is a bitch as it's way down in there and there's nothing to hold it from spinning. I ended up using a steel pry bar I had that is sharpened on one end with 4 flats. The tapered sharp edges were perfect for biting into the lower insert enough to hold it from spinning while I backed out the retaining bolt. When I took out the lower insert it showed no damage at all from the bar I used.



4. It's easier to pump the dampening rods up/down to bleed the air bubbles out if you connect a section of rubber hose to the threaded end where the fork cap threads on.

5. You are supposed to measure the fork oil level with the forks collapsed and the dampening rod completely pushed in so you really need something to pull it back out.

6. I measured the level very carefully and ended up putting 340cc of oil in each leg. It comes with 1L of Motorex 5w fork oil.



Some shots of them installed.





My comments on the ride after installation follow Kevhunts pretty closely. There's a big improvement in quality of dampening, much more fluid and you can finally totally adjust it to suit your preference and riding conditions. I have zero reservation about recommending it to anybody considering a serious upgrade.

I'm about 205-210 fully geared up depending on gear of course. I prefer a little more supple than a little more firm but with good control.

I played around with the adjustments starting with the recommended settings of;

Preload = 6 turns in
Compression = 15 clicks
Rebound = 15 clicks

I'm currently at;
Preload = 5 1/8 turns in
Compression = 12 clicks
Rebound = 14 clicks

This is for all around mixed riding. If I were to do a more sporty canyon type ride I'd probably bump preload to 5 1/2 and compression to 13, possibly 14.

I was very happy to find that even a 1/4 of preload makes a difference and you can feel 1 click in either comp or rebound. So there's a very wide range of adjustment available. In addition to the cap preload adjust you can set the lower spring collar in 1 of 3 settings though it requires pulling the cartridge up to do so. It comes set in the middle position.
 
#18 ·
I bought my Matris kit from Bella Corse. There might be other places in the States. I think they might be cheaper from CarpiMoto but not in the States.

I didn't bother with the progressive springs as I really wanted to improve the dampening and have adjustability.

I had changed to 5w oil which helps for sure. If you do change the oil for dampening reasons just do the right leg as there is no dampening system in the left leg at all.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
 
#20 ·
I had the Matris F15K installed a few weeks ago, but today was the first time I had a chance to spend a day playing with the adjustments. The change in the ride is really amazing. I have mine tuned on the firm side and I can really feel it in the corners. Question for @muttskie and anyone else who has this kit: I can't really feel the clicks when I adjust the settings, and I have to be pretty careful about setting both to the same position. Have you found this, or do I have an issue with something that would make the click stops really hard to feel?
 
#21 ·
Steve, the clicks on my installation are not very definite, but they are noticeable and I was able to determine the number without difficulty. With my suited up weight of 195 lbs., the stock settings from Matris were correct. Whenever I changed them I always went back to the recommended settings noted in my earlier posts. Good luck... You are right. The change in ride quality is amazing.
 
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#22 ·
Additional Feedback on Matris Fork Install

I really appreciate the effort Muttskie put into documenting the install and to danketchpel for his additional suggestions. I found info on installing Matris and Bitubo fork kits for the air cooled models elsewhere in this forum but this was the best info I could find for the T120. I would like to suggest a couple of corrections (or at least differences between their descriptions and what I did).

The suggestion danketchpel made about doing one fork leg at a time will save you a lot of grief. He (and others) suggest removing and reinstalling the sometimes troublesome lower fork retaining bolt while the forks are still attached to the fender. I can't see a good reason for that. This system of retaining the forks internally was been used for a very long time. I have pulled apart quite a few forks. Based on my past experience I wouldn't even attempt this without a good impact wrench and the internal spring tension helping to prevent the rod from spinning. I have never failed (yet?) to separate the parts this way with a quick zip and Bob's your uncle. No sharpened sticks, metal rods, or broom handles needed. If you muck around with hand tools or no spring pressure once the rod starts spinning you will probably have to resort to jamming foreign objects into the rod. A shot of the parts and then how I like to do it.
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I did find a couple of Muttskie's comments to be different from my instructions for exactly the same kit. Specifically he said "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." I am pretty sure he meant the compressed inner fork tube.

In his photos he has correctly identified the correct internal parts for the correct fork leg. However his statement about compression and rebound seem backwards. "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.


If you can read the instruction sheet sideways you will see it states the left side fork is for compression and the right fork is for rebound. Since the correct internals went into each fork leg the only issue would be the C or R on the preload adjuster would be wrong and you might think you are adjusting rebound but actually compression or vice-versa.

I thought I had a pretty good tool collection but didn't have a hex socket big enough to remove the front axle. I had a bolt and nut the fit exactly. That is what the funkly looking bolt in the photo is for. Worked fine.

The stock fork caps on my 2018 are 30mm, not the 32mm danketchpel reported on his 2017. Not sure if they actually changed.
Finally the other pretty important advise I would give is do not snug up the triple tree pinch bolts until the fender is attached to both legs and the axle (without the wheel) is inserted.

Chuck
 
#33 ·
Based on my past experience I wouldn't even attempt this without a good impact wrench and the internal spring tension helping to prevent the rod from spinning. I have never failed (yet?) to separate the parts this way with a quick zip and Bob's your uncle.
I too have taken a lot of forks apart over the years and generally an impact will make light work of them, however when I took my Bobber fork legs apart using an 8mm section of allen key and an 8mm Snap On impact socket they wouldn't budge. The impact gun twisted the allen key like a bit of fusili pasta. I ended up drilling out the bolt heads with a 10mm drill bit. Maybe someone in Thailand was a bit enthusiastic with the thread lock? In any event sometimes they come out easily, and sometimes they don't.
 
#23 ·
I've a quick question to all of you that installed this kit.

Last weekend I installed the same kit to my Street Scrambler and at one fork I could set the lower fork retaining bolt with the right torque, according the service manual.

But after installing the cartridge to the other fork the lower fork retaining bolt was just spinning and unable to set this with the right torque. Because it was spinning and spinning. However, it felt tightened securly.

But do you guys ran into the same issues?
 
#24 ·
Thanks for taking the time and effort to post this up guys. I plan on doing this soon as my suspension is way too harsh for me. My old 1971 /5 BMW has better suspension than this bike. I just rebuilt my Buell front suspension so feel confident to carry this out. It's great that you all posted up pics of this procedure so others are not wandering in the dark so to speak. Bravo! :applause
 
#26 ·
Thanks to Muttskie, danketchpe and Hookalatch for their guidance and efforts to document this suspension work. Never would've thought a pandemic would motivate me to spend so much time in the garage finishing projects.

Just completed the same procedure and will add my 2 cents. An impact gun is almost a necessity IMO. Starting this project without a proper reach 8mm hex socket will slow things down considerably. In my case I had a socket but was couple thousands too tight to fit up into the fork leg. A little Dremel work cleaned it up to fit perfectly. Basically just had to remove the black finish which can't be seen anyway. Robinvs mentioned having trouble tightening the bottom cartridge bolt on the right fork which I did as well. The Matris cartridge is aluminum and the fine threads that bolt attaches to must be clean. Try finger tightening to snug it up prior to using a wrench to ensure it's fully threaded on. In my case I just had to remove the bolt, clean it and the Matris cartridge where the treads were as there was a small amount of debris causing the trouble. Obviously this must be done prior to pouring in the oil. Treat that bolt and the aluminum threads of the cartridge with TLC! Doing one fork at a time is definitely a hot tip. Would be easy to mess up the parts, especially the top out spring which looks the same when eye-balling but measure 1.325 left and 1.265 right. The left fork is a bit easier to assemble and a good one to start with. It's also easier to measure the fluid level on. FWIW the 340 cc of oil that Muttskie stated seemed like a good number. The bottom triple clamp and front fender / fork brace mounts had some thread locking agent on them. I'd recommend chasing those threads before reassembling to keep them nice and get good torque readings. Here's some torque numbers found from various sources.

rear shocks 28 Nm
caliper bolts 40 Nm
axle pinch bolt 22 Nm
front axle 65 Nm
top triple clamp 24 Nm
bottom triple clamp 45 Nm
 
#28 ·
After couple hundred miles it's quite incredible how much better the suspension works. It'll never be adventure bike smooth or compliant but the improvement over the stock set-up is significant. Good idea to take your time to set up it up for the way you ride and load. With so many adjustments keeping notes is also a nice way to log the settings for future reference. Setting make a big difference. If you opt for spending more on adjustable suspension might as well make best use of it. Making changes are fast and easy!

In the interest of sharing, I chose to try YSS rear socks as recommended by a local suspension guru. These are piggy back reservoir style. Since they're mounted behind the bags I wasn't so concerned with the retro look. They do come in different configurations. The choice for reservoir style was mainly due to riding with a pillion much of the time for which the compression dampening offers more flexibility. YSS product are available in Black or plain aluminum color. Another nice feature is 10MM of ride height adjustment along with compression, rebound and preload. No spanner wrench required for setting preload, just a short rod that sticks into the adjustment colar. Very simple.
PN # RG362-350TRCL-48

Suspension part Shock absorber Auto part Coil spring Suspension
 
#29 ·
many reservoir shocks are for looks + not necessarily better. the Bitubo WME shocks are DeCarbon meaning internally separated fluid, basically an internal reservoir. reservoirs add more fluid + being outside the main body it stays cooler when pushed very hard, usually on sport bikes only used on the track
 
#30 ·
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.

View attachment 467617

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.

View attachment 467625

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.

View attachment 467633

View attachment 467529

View attachment 467537

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.

View attachment 467642

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.

View attachment 467634
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.

View attachment 467538

I also installed Bitubo shocks. I'll post another write up about that.


Cheers.
Nice kit, from all appearances, and a very nice tutorial on installing it. I do like the capability of tuning without dismantling the forks

Bob
 
#31 ·
Matris suspensions are kind of underrated, maybe because they are not very well known. I had a M46K shock and F20 cartridges on the GSX S750 that got replaced with the Speed Twin, took them off to sell the bike. With the Matris kit the bike could outhandle the GSX-R 750 that I had before, and could keep up with my Daytona 675R. I had hopes that I could reuse the F20 cartridges on the Speed Twin with new fork caps, but those pictures confirm it's just not going to happen, at least not without extensive modifications of the stanchions.

These bikes are no slouch, with that much torque they could give sportbikes a run for their money on tight stuff if the engine wasn't writing check the suspension can't cash. But I'll digress, for a factory suspension it is not THAT bad.
 
#32 ·
again more great info + in Triumphs defense they do NOT know what YOU like or your weight + of course everything is built to a PRICE POINT. i found the non adj Bitubo kit great on my 2012 mag wheeler as they offer 3 weight setups + install easily without "machining" mentioned on the Matris site but NOT by any installer. on my 18 T120 i just did the bitubo WME shocks + find the forks fine for me for know as i am just a casual rider. i upgraded to lighter tubeless Alpina wheels which helps any suspension + find my 2019 new leftover street scrambler suspension firm but good + the single front 4 piston brembo BETTER than the TWO OE units on my 18 T120!!
 
#35 ·
Hello everybody with the Matris F15 Kit on your Bonnie or Scrambler - i need help! Why are the two cartridges of different length in the lower leg? This affects the overall length of the fork leg by shortening one leg cause of the top out spring hits the bumper 4cm earlier... doesnt make sense for me. Or is this normal only at the Bonnie? I try to fit the kit into a scrambler fork...
thanks for any help
Arne
 
#37 ·
With regards to the Hagons, you’ll need to give them a fair crack of the whip…
I had a pair on my air cooled SE that arrived with the recommended 20 springs and found them too firm on the lowest setting so fitted a set of 18s which on max preload were great. Unfortunately after some 10,000 miles they started to noticeably sag to the point the bike was getting difficult to park on the side stand and handling was suffering so I refitted the original 20s to raise the bike back up and put up with the firmer ride which after some 10,000 miles had again softened to the point of being like the 18s when new - perfect. They didn’t alter after that as far as I could tell.
I’m currently running a set of Hagons on one of my other bikes and again found the recommended spring was a bit too firm on the lowest preload setting. This time I persevered and after 17000 miles they now give a nice plush ride. The finish is still good and no hint of any leaks.
Keep hold of those 20 springs you may want to refit them later in the year :)

The Nitron piggybacks on my Speed Twin (at 4 times the cost) are something different entirely!
 
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