Matris R Rear Shock - Photos

In case anybody is wondering what comes with the Matris R rear shock here are a few photos. Mine is set up for touring at about 250 pounds (113kg) solo, rider and gear, and 390 pounds (177kg) with passenger. The hydraulic preload adjuster is factory set at 2mm of a possible 7mm. I’m leaving the length as-delivered (320mm) as my legs are rather short. This may get tweaked a bit later.

Right off I notice that the spring is a milimeter thicker than the original, with one less turn. I investigated getting the remote preload adjuster but was told by Matris that it could only be purchased separately. For now I’ll stick with the standard Allen hex adjuster and see how troublesome it is to get a ball end bit on an extension in to do the job.

Any advice from those who are using one of these units would be appreciated.

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Hey Tom, I'm running a Matris K but in case it helps (it's already here somewhere plus more):
1. C spanner adjustment of preload is a nightmare; hex screw can't be worse !
2. They are easy to take apart (with cheap spring compressor) so you should easily be able to upgrade to hydraulic remote preload gizmo if needed OR change the spring weight
3. Experience (UK for sure) has been that Matris dealers ship 'standard' springs for GRiSO @ 135nm despite any information you supply about your weight and riding style; which is stiff as hell if you are lightweight like me. I reduced down to a 115nm spring to get in the right area. You may want to check if they actually 'tailored' the spring to your requirements or went off the shelf. Springs are cheap & easy to fit.
4. If you haven't fitted it yet, you can go 'bottom up' or 'top down'. I've done both & my personal recommendation is to go bottom up - from top it's a bugger getting the air box/inlet rubbers/wiring out the way & back together (and you only benefit from easier-to-do-up top nut)
5. Changing length has dramatic effect on handling so you can play tunes with front fork drop rings & rear height.

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Paul, thanks for the feedback. I agree that the ring adjustment is a terrible arrangement, unless one plans for a simple set-and-forget affair. I’m glad to hear that it’s easy to change out the hydraulic adjuster should I desire to do so. As for the spring rating, the dealer did take my stats and riding habits and I’m guessing that the heavier spring will be fine for me as I’m probably at about 250 pounds (113kg) with gear and a couple liters of water (pretty much a necessity her in southern Arizona). As for the wrenching, I’m taking it up to Cliff at Manic Moto in Queen Creek, Arizona tomorrow. I’m at my winter residence and don’t have the tools or a garage to do the work here. He will service the swingarm bearing, drive splines, and steering head bearings while he installs both the rear shock and the Matris K fork kit.

At present there is 62mm of sag at the rear, using a heavier Racetech spring on the stock shock and compressed about 5mm more than the owners manual recommendation. Needless to say the bike bottoms out a lot and wallows in sweeping curves if there is any unevenness in the road surface. Being rather short in the inseam department I want to go with the stock length first and see how things go, or maybe add about 3mm at most. Once I determine what the new sag values are and see how the handling is I’ll see about adjusting the rear shock length and fork height. I also need to figure out the two-up settings. In any case I’m expecting a huge improvement over the stock unit.

Best Wishes

I'm thinking I might see if I can get the preload gizmo installed on mine. Paul is right. Adjusting the preload with c-spanners is a {insert naughty word} of a job.



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beetle wrote:

I'm thinking I might see if I can get the preload gizmo installed on mine. Paul is right. Adjusting the preload with c-spanners is a {insert naughty word} of a job.

When I ordered mine I inquired about getting it with the remote actuator for the hydraulic preload unit. Unfortunately, they only make it for the GRiSO with the standard socket hex adjuster or with the knob mounted to the adjuster (not sure how you’d reach it), not with the hose and remote knob. I was told that adjuster with the remote unit, with the hose and the knob, could be ordered separately. The key specs would be the length of the hose, the angle of the connector (or maybe connectors), and whether the remote pump is wanted with the hex socket or the knob. The mount for the remote pump appears to be the same setup as on an Ohlins.

Judging by the sales sheet the preload unit should fit any of the Matris GRiSO shocks. The only difference that I see is that the hydraulic unit is held in place by a tapered lock ring instead of the threaded locknuts.

By the way Beetle, where did you come up with the shock sock?

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It's a Traxxion Dynamics sock. Pete got it for me. You can get them directly from TD, or eBay etc.


LINKY

Ok guys, got my Matris rear shock installed. I wound it out to 328mm. Where should I start as far as rings showing on the front forks? They have the Matris cartridge's installed.
Thanks..

sideshowbob wrote:

Ok guys, got my Matris rear shock installed. I wound it out to 328mm. Where should I start as far as rings showing on the front forks? They have the Matris cartridge's installed.
Thanks..

Hi,

I have the 4th ring flush with the top of the triple tree. The rear Matris unit is about 20 mm longer than the standard unit.

Cheers.

sideshowbob wrote:

Ok guys, got my Matris rear shock installed. I wound it out to 328mm. Where should I start as far as rings showing on the front forks? They have the Matris cartridge's installed.
Thanks..

An 8mm increase in shock length should yield about 24mm of height increase of the bike at the rear. This means that if the front is at the stock height the bike is now tilted forward and the handling should be pretty quick, possibly even twitchy. You can move the fork tubes downwards in the triple clamps, raising the front end to get the bike more level. This will slow down the turning response but will increase the overall ground clearance, which is sometimes done to compensate for a set of lowered pegs.

sideshowbob wrote:

Ok guys, got my Matris rear shock installed. I wound it out to 328mm. Where should I start as far as rings showing on the front forks? They have the Matris cartridge's installed.
Thanks..

GuzziLooper wrote:

This means that if the front is at the stock height the bike is now tilted forward and the handling should be pretty quick, possibly even twitchy.

Twitchy? Hardly. The long wheelbase prevents that. My Matris shock is wound out to max, and I've run the forks at 6 rings. Still rock solid.

sideshowbob, my experience has been that tyre choice will determine where you set the forks. Prior to running PR4's, I had the forks at 6 rings. With the PR4's, I had 5 rings. Now with Road 5's, I have them back at 4. Tyre profile has quite an effect.

Thanks all. Think I'll start at 4 and see how it goes. New Conti sport attacks.

Those tires garnered a lot of praise in some of the V7 forums, interested to hear your view.

I've raved about the Conti's often. The Sport Attacks are fantastic but just evaporate! I had trouble getting  5,000 km out of them. I'm now running Road Attacks with the pressures a couple of PSI lower and seem to have lost little if anything in terms of grip but they are lasting much better.

I strongly recommend the Conti's, they are often overlooked.

Got out for a test ride today. Ended up winding out a butt load of of pre load and a bit of compression, close to brilliant, a little more fine tuning needed. Conti's work great!

sideshowbob wrote:

Got out for a test ride today. Ended up winding out a butt load of of pre load and a bit of compression, close to brilliant, a little more fine tuning needed. Conti's work great!

I had mine out for about a 160 mile solo run on all sorts of roads yesterday. Front preload still at 20 clicks (10mm). Tried backing it off a bit to 15 (7.5mmm) but it was too soft. Front compression is at 9 clicks, and rebound at 11. The rear shock is at the factory settings for hi and low compression and rebound but I backed off all the preload on the hydraulic adjuster. I still need to check and see how close I’m getting to full travel on the forks. The cable tie is in place, just need to take it for a ride.

It was surprising how much one click would make on either of the damping settings on the fork, rather like going to the optometrist...”better A or better B?”

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beetle wrote:

It's a Traxxion Dynamics sock. Pete got it for me. You can get them directly from TD, or eBay etc.


LINKY

Hey Beetle.
What lenght should I choose?

Thanks in advance.
Steffen, Denmark

I'll measure it.

beetle wrote:

I'll measure it.

Thank you, great service :-)