Hi, I just bought a 3900 mile 2008 1100S Hypermotard and there's a couple of issues that I'd like some advice on, it would be greatly appreciated! It's in amazing condition for being 16yo. The previous owner (as of yesterday) says the forks were never touched by him. It's therefore a pretty safe assumption that the 1st own didn't either with such low mileage. Any bump in a turn and the bike is sitting up VERY abruptly. The fork rebound and compression were and are set at factory settings. Tyre pressures were F34psi and R41psi. I think these are too high and I've dropped them but the sitting up problem hasn't gone away. I'll be aiming for +7-10% cold to warm pressures but I'm still a bit lost, no real benefit came from the pressure change. I'll get the forks serviced, and I may tackle it myself, but I would like to see if I can resolve this harshness from the front end before starting any major maintenance. Could it be the forks are overfilled? What should be process be to recover what should be a fairly sweet handling machine with standard settings? When I stand the bike up and push the seat down, the front is solid doesn't move unless I use unreasonable force, the rear compresses a little. How much compliance should I expect from an HM in standard trim? Wouldn't old oil offer less damping as it ages, and so the compression damping required to stay standard would need to be increased as the oil degrades? Or do I have this wrong?! On bumpy back roads it felt like the more bumps I hit in succession the more solid it became. Could be my imagination as I've had limited time on it, but it would not hold a line if there were bumps, instead it wanted to sit up violently. I realise that tyre pressures and suspension settings are a personal thing and optimal settings may be some way off of standard. However, as this machine is new to me I have no baseline and I'm seeking sound advice from the experienced to begin my journey into HM ownership. Cheers for anyone who read this far! Matt
Welcome! Hypers rock, sadly I no longer own one. Reading through your post, I would say a good starting point would be servicing the forks. After 16 years the oil is likely to be "tired". There are a couple of 1100 owners around here that may be able to help. Good luck with sorting the problem. Head over to the Newbie Hangout and introduce yourself and post up a pic.
The Marzocchi forks on the Hypers are known to be very harsh in operation, especially on sharp hits as they do not handle the sudden compression very well. I did some research on it and apparently a lot of the issues come from the stock internals having too small oil holes so they do not let the oil flow out quick enough - basically causing a mild hydraulic lock. Sometimes it feels like you dislocated your shoulders. Mine has gotten to the stage where I am looking at aftermarket cartridge inserts for mine, Andreani or YSS, to try and cure the issue.
Thanks for the warm welcome. I was intrigued by your remark about oil becoming tired so I did a bit of Youtubing. There is a channel called Motor Oil Guy. Although this isn't motor oil we're referring to, it's pretty clear that 5 years + even sitting doing nothing is a bad idea for oils. Additives separate, especially in the cold and anti-foaming agents also separate. I don't know how a fork oil would compare in reality to an engine oil in terms of having additives, but I'm going to go with the assumption that they must have some sort of synthetic elements and therefore subject to similar degradation over time. Short version; "tired" probably underestimates the condition of the oil after 16 years! Cheers for the sound advice, my objectives are clear now.
I'll take a look at Andreani. YSS didn't come up with much after a quick seark. K-Tech down the road from me have nothing listed other than seals and oils. I've asked Maxton for a quotation to convert the forks and if they do a self-build kit. I have an RSVR Factory as well which must have one empty fork leg by now, so investing in the tools to do both bikes myself might be my only cost effective way forward. Thanks for the pointer.
This is YSS Australia but this is a link to their fork cartridge listing. https://yssaustralia.com.au/motorcycle/40159-20mm-cartridge-kit.html Andreani have a good following in the USA.
Matris do a fork cartridge kit, I've used one in the V Raptor and very good they are too. The link is to an eBay listing but quite a few aftermarket places should be able to source them: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/402632843481
Looks like the only Matris option is ebay with shipping from the US, but cheaper than the UK supplier for Andreani. Can anyone comment on how the Matris and Andreani compare? I'll wait to see what Maxton can come up with, but looks like Matris is a good shout if it performs well.
Bike Torque Racing are the Matrix importers in the UK. If you give them a call they should sort you out... although I notice the following link seems to imply it's for KYB forks (?) https://www.biketorqueracing.co.uk/...ati-1100-hypermotard-kyb-20072009/fd106rk.htm
I really appreciate the support. I'll contact BTR in the week to clarify. The same cartridge set listed on eBay in the USA is way cheaper but postage, import duty and oil and seals will bring it to about the same as the UK supplier price.
Id be really interested to see what you go with and see what the result is....a set of fork cartridges are next on my list for mine....KTech do a set of cartridges (about "1100 i think) - but the adreani ones do look tempting at almost half the price...
Bike Torque Racing replied to my inquiry. "Sadly Matris aren’t listing any fork kits for your S model. The KYB forks are used in the base model but your S model does have the upgraded Marzocchi forks so the kits won’t fit." Maxton also replied. Apparently they do SD25 cartridges which are a variant of the GP30. One fork for compression and one for rebound. The preload adjustment is either external or internal (cheaper but still adjustable inside the fork top). Cost adds up to over £1,000. So it looks like Andreani are the only cost effective option....
