Occasional poster here - thought my experience with MCT might be useful for people thinking about suspension work...
Having experienced the benefit of properly-sorted suspension on my steelie CBR600 I finally booked my Tuono (08 R w/ newly fitted second-hand Ohlins rear) in for a (long-overdue) suspension setup with MCT up in Ipswich. I looked at a couple of other places (a mate with a KTM uses X-bikes) but John at Bikersworld (the Aprilia dealer in East Grinstead) uses MCT for his race bikes and that's a good enough recommendation for me!
Took me a couple of hours to get up to Ipswich but finally arrived just after half 9 and was presented with a cup of tea as soon as I got there - result!
Really friendly guys; they got my Tuono inside (I'm very jealous of their workshop!) ASAP and started taking it apart. I'd asked them to check the oil & springs in the front forks and set up the front shocks and rear Ohlins to suit my weight & riding (the second option on their website's "Setup" page listed at £195+VAT).
Forks came off pretty quickly and they stripped them down - I've had the bike from new and all I've done is add a turn of compression damping at the front, so it came as a real surprise to find that the springs AND oil weights in each fork were different. I guess I got a Friday bike from the Aprilia factory!
I had an in-depth chat with Darren (chief technician and a very nice guy) about my riding style (A/B-roads, touring), where I rode (everywhere), whether I was doing trackdays (no) and whether I carried a pillion (infrequently and she's light) so he knew what to aim for.
Darren took the bike out to bed in the springs and oil - then handed me the key and sent me out on a test ride on some roads that have a bit of everything.
It's no exaggeration to say that I was utterly amazed. Intellectually I knew that suspension *obviously* makes a massive difference...but the change was INCREDIBLE. I found myself bracing for bumps that I never felt - the front just glided over them. I was still getting a kick in the *** from the rear, so returned to the shop, Darren twiddled the rebound damping and I went out again. Absolutely perfect.
I've always had a lack of confidence in the front-end of the Tuono but with the suspension adjustments a lot of that confidence has come back. The bike feels glued to the road rather than hammering over bumps as before - and the power delivery from the rear is significantly smoother whereas before it was chattering a lot when accelerating over bumpy surfaces.
Total cost - just over £260 inc. VAT. Bargain. Superb service and has absolutely transformed my bike. IMHO if you haven't had your suspenders sorted by someone who absolutely knows what they're doing then you're missing out - I'd recommend having the suspension work done before any engine work at all, it's made that much difference.
MCT - recommended! Can't really summarise it better than the quote from MCT's site:
Having experienced the benefit of properly-sorted suspension on my steelie CBR600 I finally booked my Tuono (08 R w/ newly fitted second-hand Ohlins rear) in for a (long-overdue) suspension setup with MCT up in Ipswich. I looked at a couple of other places (a mate with a KTM uses X-bikes) but John at Bikersworld (the Aprilia dealer in East Grinstead) uses MCT for his race bikes and that's a good enough recommendation for me!
Took me a couple of hours to get up to Ipswich but finally arrived just after half 9 and was presented with a cup of tea as soon as I got there - result!
Really friendly guys; they got my Tuono inside (I'm very jealous of their workshop!) ASAP and started taking it apart. I'd asked them to check the oil & springs in the front forks and set up the front shocks and rear Ohlins to suit my weight & riding (the second option on their website's "Setup" page listed at £195+VAT).
Forks came off pretty quickly and they stripped them down - I've had the bike from new and all I've done is add a turn of compression damping at the front, so it came as a real surprise to find that the springs AND oil weights in each fork were different. I guess I got a Friday bike from the Aprilia factory!
I had an in-depth chat with Darren (chief technician and a very nice guy) about my riding style (A/B-roads, touring), where I rode (everywhere), whether I was doing trackdays (no) and whether I carried a pillion (infrequently and she's light) so he knew what to aim for.
Darren took the bike out to bed in the springs and oil - then handed me the key and sent me out on a test ride on some roads that have a bit of everything.
It's no exaggeration to say that I was utterly amazed. Intellectually I knew that suspension *obviously* makes a massive difference...but the change was INCREDIBLE. I found myself bracing for bumps that I never felt - the front just glided over them. I was still getting a kick in the *** from the rear, so returned to the shop, Darren twiddled the rebound damping and I went out again. Absolutely perfect.
I've always had a lack of confidence in the front-end of the Tuono but with the suspension adjustments a lot of that confidence has come back. The bike feels glued to the road rather than hammering over bumps as before - and the power delivery from the rear is significantly smoother whereas before it was chattering a lot when accelerating over bumpy surfaces.
Total cost - just over £260 inc. VAT. Bargain. Superb service and has absolutely transformed my bike. IMHO if you haven't had your suspenders sorted by someone who absolutely knows what they're doing then you're missing out - I'd recommend having the suspension work done before any engine work at all, it's made that much difference.
MCT - recommended! Can't really summarise it better than the quote from MCT's site:
Maxton are huge! I have a Maxton rear shock and front fork internals on my CBR6 and it's incredible.
