FakawiTribe.com | TribalTalk

keng · Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 3:01 pm Post subject: Tapirtuned or not?

Guys... read this tread
http://www.fakawitribe.com/tribaltalk/viewtopic.php?p=26213#26213

"ProjectMaheez have started to offer a Works-type fork and suspension tuning service for all brands of suspension, including Rockshox, Marzocchi, 5th Element and Manitou. This type of suspension upgrade previously is only available to World Cup Teams and high-end suspension tuning houses. Your suspension will be surprised at how good your old fork or shock can be made with a TapirTuned upgrade. We can turn your sh**ty 5th Element rear shock into a supersmooth bump-eater, just ask Team Rider Zure who is running a TapirTuned 5th Element on his DH bike for the past few weeks."
*From website.

Just wanted to get more comments from people who have done it? And maybe more technical stuff into it.

Why didn't the 'big brands' just do it to with better oils... etc...

fakawichief · Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 4:06 pm Post subject:

it's like PUSH and MoJo..
play around with the inside of your forks to make it perform to your needs

keng · Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 5:40 pm Post subject:

Chief look like you swear by it..... anyone else?

penangkia · Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 6:10 pm Post subject:

to start off, let me introduce my self, i am adam. i ride a commecal supreme dh.

if you a tapir-ing a rear shox, chances are that i will be working on it.

it depends on what shox or fork that you have and we will work on it differently. basically its an addition of a a teflon based lubricant, whats different from this from normal lubricants is that this bonds to the metal and has very good lubricating properties. the results on boxxers have been very very good, forks like fox 40s which are already amazing get even better. but the improvements on the boxxers have been the best.

on rear shoxs, say a 5th element, it would involve polishing of the control valve to get rid of that annoying clicking, re shimming of the rebound shim stack so that you can run acceptable rebound speeds, a change of the main shaft seal to a softer compound seal to reduce the stiction.

on a dhx, the whole boost valve assembly will be taken apart if there is any clicking, and the compression shim stack can be changed to increase the low speed compression or high speed compression. the dhx already has a very wide tuning range so most of the time nothing much needs to be done.

on a roco, the whole shox has two compression shims stacks in series. and it is a very tunable package. there isn't nothing much which needs to be done there, but i have seen cases where it is overdamped for certain bike desings. namely fadzlees commencal supreme dh, it has been reshimmed to suit the bike better. as main piston is the same design as the 5th element, it does have problems with slow rebound and can be sped up by changing the rebound shim stack.

and on shox and forks, sometimes the oil weight is changed from stock oil weight to suit lighter or heavier riders. and we use only silkolene rear shox fuild on all out suspension work. it is the best oil we can get, also it comes in cool colors. :-D

so thats what we [b]basically[/b] do you shox or fork.

feel free to ask any other questions,
adam.

penangkia · Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 7:15 pm Post subject:

[quote="keng"]
Why didn't the 'big brands' just do it to with better oils... etc...[/quote]

one of the big brands do actually do this, this is what you get when you send your marzocchi for a works tuning.

the big brands dont do this from stock for a few reasons, but the main one being cost. because manufactures cant make shoxs which are tuned for every since bike design, (although some shoxs do come correctly damped for particular bike designs) they design the shox around roughly a 1:2.8 leverage ratio and maybe a 160-170 lbs rider (americans are heavy). because of this, it may be a far from optimal set up for your bike, your weight and your riding style.

same goes for forks and rider weights.

as for the additive, it is pretty pricy and i dont think manufactures really care.(marzocchi is still knows to ship out their suspension with out enough oil in them) that or so they will still have a reason to offer a "works" package. another reason i can think off is because this additive is not readily available, so if the use it the stock, then when an oil change is needed on your suspension and it suddenly does feel as good as it used to be, it wont be good for the suspension companies would it?

IMO, suspension is the most important thing on a bike, followed by tires. these two components is what gives you traction, which in turn allows you to maneuver your bike well. a well set up suspension on a shitty bike is much better then a crap set up on a good bike design.

just my two cents.
adam.

fakawichief · Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 7:50 pm Post subject:

Thanks Adam! Couldn't have explained it better myself!

Welcome to the forum! good to have u on board!

xtcgodzilla · Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 8:37 pm Post subject:

good to know no tapir used

penangkia · Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 11:31 pm Post subject:

thanks for the welcome chief!!

and once again as armijn has said before, no tapirs were harmed or molested during the making of tapir tuned and tapir juice.

keropok · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 10:24 am Post subject:

This is great. Adam i've got one question for a brand new suspension will it void the warranty if we just change the oil?

How long will it take to service the suspensions and what are the charges?

penangkia · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 11:45 am Post subject:

it depends what brand rear shox you have, its best you contact armijn about that. he goes by the nick amf around here. drop him a pm.

what i would suggest is that you ride the shox for a few months, so at least you know how the shox performs. then from there if you have any complaints we can address them. if you tune it now, and you just keep the stock settings it may be a waste. that and give the shox some time to break in, then everything has been worn in, and the oil will be dirty. so that way will be more beneficial, instead of changing the oil straight away and letting it get contaminated from braking the shox in.

Matt · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 11:47 am Post subject:

[quote="xtcgodzilla"]good to know no tapir used[/quote]

LOL. Or no tapir oil is used.

xtcgodzilla · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 2:45 pm Post subject:

will we get a tapir sticker once the fork is done ?

the only tapir i have is from MNS

penangkia · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 11:48 pm Post subject:

tapir stickers are in the works, this is what it would look like:

[img]http://www.projectmaheez.com/images/tapirtuned1.jpg[/img]

fishbrain · Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2007 8:38 am Post subject:

right, i'll be sending in my bikes soon to PM, its been awhile didnt visit PM, armijn la, malas betul buka kedai!

penangkia · Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 8:14 pm Post subject:

FYI, TapirTuned had two wins last weekend at the penang international dh race. mens elite and womens.