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Traxxion Dynamics AK-20 Cartridge Kit

Posted by Brad Puetz
Saturday, 05 April 2008
Page 2 of 2 I ran the first session on the new forks with the settings installed by Traxxion without touching a knob. Traxxion had installed .95 springs in the forks and they seemed well suited to my weight. Pulling out of pit lane the motorcycle already had a slightly different feel to it. My first few corners on the Traxxion forks had the bike feeling stiffer and more like a racebike than a stock streetbike. The initial settings had the bike “jumping” slightly over the larger bumps with the front end not staying planted. The rebound was set too slow and it was not allowing for the fork to track the pavement. We ended up playing with a few settings and ended up going 5 clicks faster on rebound, although the biggest change was felt when we went from 10 clicks out to 7 clicks out on the low speed compression. Any more than that and we started to get chatter in the front. The great thing about the Traxxion suspension was that every change we made was immediately felt. We could instantly tell if we were going in the right direction and were able to avoid tuning ourselves in the wrong direction. One thing I noticed about the AK-20 forks and my set-up was the faster I went, the better the bike felt. Two seconds off the pace and things felt a bit harsh and unforgiving. Once I would get some clear track and step up the pace the forks started to work like magic, giving me incredible confidence in the faster sections where the front was unflappable. I recently read a comment about a certain factory rider at the front of the AMA paddock. He said their bike was virtually unrideable unless you were on lap record pace and I found this pretty interesting. I have always been cautious not to make changes on my racebike unless I was having troubles with suspension while at my race pace because the suspension can react so differently at different paces. This seemed even more so the case on the AK-20 front end. If I was running slower in practice the GSXR didn’t react much different than my stock fork set-up. One I stepped up the pace however the difference was immediately felt. While my stock suspension would start to get out of shape at the hotter pace the Traxxion forks were now just starting to get warmed up and the performance gains were immediately noticed. The front was now tracking the pavement and was very compliant and composed making the whole bike react better. This composed feel was soon giving me the confidence to push harder. Instead of transmitting the hits from bumpy Buttonwillow through the chassis as it was before, the suspension was now soaking it up and letting me stay in the gas. Buttonwillow is so bumpy that you are never going to get a bike set-up so it feels silky smooth and you are always going to feel the hits, but a well set-up bike allows you to push hard through the rough sections, not forcing you to tip-toe through the bumps losing valuable time. I really look forward to putting the Traxxion AK-20 forks through their paces at an AMA national weekend when we can spend three days of constant set-up and fine tuning while at race pace. While stock suspension on modern sportbikes is quite good, one drawback has always been a lack of adjustment or a scenario where big adjustments are made with little or no positive effect to the motorcycle set-up. With the Traxxion AK-20 kit every change that is dialed into the motorcycle is immediately felt on the track. This makes set-up much less of a crap shoot because you can be confident you are tuning in the right direction. In addition to the AK-20 Axxion Cartridge Kit, Traxxion has also just designed the world's first gas charged cartridge kit for professional racers. Their AK-GAS kit was and is the first Gas charged cartridge that will work in any inverted fork and is SuperSport legal. The kit uses the OEM forks and OEM caps. My day at the track testing the Traxxion components was definitely a success. Keigwins at the Track put on an excellent event, one of the smoothest track days I have ever attended. The atmosphere was very relaxed, events ran timely, the staff was friendly and helpful, and there were surprisingly few incidents on track, none of which shortened any of my sessions. For more information on their track days you can visit www.keigwin.com. The Traxxion Dynamics AK-20 Axxion Cartridge Kit sells for a very competitive $999.95. For more information on transforming your bike into the ultimate track weapon you can visit www.traxxion.com. You can also head over to our Traxxion Dynamics thread in our Bike & Product Reviews Forum to ask Brad any unanswered questions. << Start < Prev 1 2 Next > End >>

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