Monster 1100 Evo, New Fork Internals

chris.p · 21-02-2015, 04:11 PM

As from a previous thread, you will know I had been wanting to change the cartridge's in my forks as I had been told by one or more suspension specialists that the Marzocchi's where sealed cartridges and they could only bin them and start again, the cost would bee around the £1000 mark with compression, rebound and preload adjusters fitted, as I felt this was a tad to expensive I kept searching. I found a company in Italy that listed cartridges for the 1100 Evo for around 600 euro's, before I bit the bullit and ordered them I fired off an email to Chris Taylor at K-Tech as he was one person I had not tried, I was not surprised to hear back from him that they did not do anything for the Monster 1100 Evo, but I was surprised that he also said that they had just done a cartridge kit for the Hypermotard and would be interested in seeing what he could do for the 1100 evo, so forks where duly removed from the bike and dropped off at K-Tech.

Once they where stripped I was told that the cartridges where not of the sealed type and could be sorted

I got them back a couple of weeks ago, but due to a bit of man flu, did not manage to fit them back in the bike till last weekend, first thing I noticed was that when I took them out of the box was that when you compressed them they felt plush and controlled, the originals would just compress very quickly and come to a near sudden halt near the full stroke of the forks, even if you adjusted the non click compression adjusters on the fork bottoms, they did not seem any different, and due to the lousy weather was not able to take the bike out to see what they felt like.

Even though the temp in Lincolnshire was a chilly 7 degrees this afternoon, I donned my leathers and took the bike out onto the cold but dry Lincolnshire back roads.
What a revelation, the front end was totally transformed, gone had the sudden dive you got when you throttled off or hit even a small bump, the light wallowing on long sweepers was gone as well

, the bike was a pleasure to ride, the harder you pushed the better it felt. The horrible jarring you felt through the bars when you hit a small bump or pot hole was gone, you just felt the bump, the forks would just compress smoothly absorb the bump and that was it, just fantastic, can not be more happier, just need the weather to warm up a bit more and really try them out, one thing I must say is that I have not as yet checked the sag or adjusted any of the settings, something I will need to do, but straight out the box they are fantastic.

If any Monster 1100 Evo owners are local ish to Lincoln and fancy a cup of tea and see the difference in the forks, please feel free to pop over.

I have taken a few pics, one is of the new compression adjusters, also a pic of all the original internal parts that have been removed and replaced, you will only see one of the compression adjusters as I seem to have misplaced one of them.

chris.p · 21-02-2015, 04:11 PM

Listed below are the new parts fitted to my forks all for a cost of £521.33

Piston kit Marzocchi 26mm.
Compression adj housing 1.5mm Marzocchi.
8.5nm springs ( to suit my weight)
Piston Kit Fitting SSK/SSRK.
Motul 5w Factory Fork Oil (1 Litre)

Many thanks to Chris Taylor and the guy's at K-Tech for a fantastic job at a good price, well worth the money.

21-02-2015, 04:11 PM	#1
chris.p Gold Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: lincoln Bike: No Bike Yet! Posts: 876	Monster 1100 Evo, New Fork Internals As from a previous thread, you will know I had been wanting to change the cartridge's in my forks as I had been told by one or more suspension specialists that the Marzocchi's where sealed cartridges and they could only bin them and start again, the cost would bee around the £1000 mark with compression, rebound and preload adjusters fitted, as I felt this was a tad to expensive I kept searching. I found a company in Italy that listed cartridges for the 1100 Evo for around 600 euro's, before I bit the bullit and ordered them I fired off an email to Chris Taylor at K-Tech as he was one person I had not tried, I was not surprised to hear back from him that they did not do anything for the Monster 1100 Evo, but I was surprised that he also said that they had just done a cartridge kit for the Hypermotard and would be interested in seeing what he could do for the 1100 evo, so forks where duly removed from the bike and dropped off at K-Tech. Once they where stripped I was told that the cartridges where not of the sealed type and could be sorted I got them back a couple of weeks ago, but due to a bit of man flu, did not manage to fit them back in the bike till last weekend, first thing I noticed was that when I took them out of the box was that when you compressed them they felt plush and controlled, the originals would just compress very quickly and come to a near sudden halt near the full stroke of the forks, even if you adjusted the non click compression adjusters on the fork bottoms, they did not seem any different, and due to the lousy weather was not able to take the bike out to see what they felt like. Even though the temp in Lincolnshire was a chilly 7 degrees this afternoon, I donned my leathers and took the bike out onto the cold but dry Lincolnshire back roads. What a revelation, the front end was totally transformed, gone had the sudden dive you got when you throttled off or hit even a small bump, the light wallowing on long sweepers was gone as well , the bike was a pleasure to ride, the harder you pushed the better it felt. The horrible jarring you felt through the bars when you hit a small bump or pot hole was gone, you just felt the bump, the forks would just compress smoothly absorb the bump and that was it, just fantastic, can not be more happier, just need the weather to warm up a bit more and really try them out, one thing I must say is that I have not as yet checked the sag or adjusted any of the settings, something I will need to do, but straight out the box they are fantastic. If any Monster 1100 Evo owners are local ish to Lincoln and fancy a cup of tea and see the difference in the forks, please feel free to pop over. I have taken a few pics, one is of the new compression adjusters, also a pic of all the original internal parts that have been removed and replaced, you will only see one of the compression adjusters as I seem to have misplaced one of them. Last edited by chris.p; 22-02-2015 at 08:46 AM..