Street Motorcycle Services
With our detailed knowledge of suspension systems, we recognize the important role the rest of the chassis plays on overall rider satisfaction. The best forks in the world will feel terrible if out of alignment. A great shock setting will be disguised by rusty linkage bearings.
Sag and Set Up
If every rider were 5’8” tall, they weighed in at 155 pounds, and that weight was distributed identically on their body, and we didn’t take gear or passengers, we wouldn’t need preload adjustability. If we all rode on the same piece of ground at exactly the same speed, with identical skill level and expectations from our bikes, we wouldn’t need adjustable damping. However, that is far from the case. At Accelerated Technologies, we find massive benefits from custom setting the sag for each rider to their own bike. Just because you bought it from someone about your weight, don’t assume for a minute it is perfect for you. We adjust the preloads front and rear to set the rider sag where we want it. If you need Fork Springs or Shock Springs to hit your target sag, we will let you know and most likely have it in stock. Your bike will handle safer and absorb bumps better, keeping you in control when your bike is set up properly for you. We train you on what we are doing and why and guide you on how to make adjustments after you leave our shop.
Fork Service
Motorcycle forks both ingress contamination (dirt and brake dust) and generate it internally from metal tubes sliding on bushings that are side loaded constantly and worse while braking. Pouring out your fork oil by yourself overnight gets about ¼ of the contamination out of the bottom of the fork and none out of the cartridge where the particulate has wedged into the shim stack holding it open slightly, dramatically reduce friction and extend seal life. We disassemble the cartridge, pistons, all shims, then the tubes themselves to examine and service the bushings, seals, and wipers where brake dust, bug guts, and road grime gets embedded. We often change the wear parts and then lathe polish the fork tubes to remove traces of vertical scoring. This helps the seals to run smooth and do their job, which can dramatically reduce friction.
Base price starts at $250 plus parts, (seals, bushings, wipers, O-rings, new copper base bolt washers) and lathe polishing if required. Revalve service and Respringing is available if improvements are desired.
Shock Service
We change the oil in our engine every season, but somehow think the .3 litres trapped in our shock since our bike was new is invincible. Most riders don’t feel the 1% the shock degrades every time we ride it as the engine heat and constant bump motion break down the oil. Sediment drops down and accumulates around the shaft and seal inside the shock, making it sticky and reducing ride comfort. Most will only service the shock when it finally gives up, fails completely, and dumps its oil out. You don’t wait till a connecting rod comes out of your engine cases before changing your engine oil, do you? Expect a dramatic improvement in comfort, compliance, and performance with just a service to add fresh synthetic oil and a chance to remove all the break in contamination.
Base price starts at $145 for aftermarket shocks and $160 for OEM shocks plus any seals, o-rings, nitrogen seals, lathe polishing and other repairs that may be needed after inspection. Revalve Service is available if improvements are desired.
Revalve Service
Often your expectations as a rider exceed the factory developed setting of your forks or shock. Perhaps you are very light, or they missed the mark and you find your ride far too harsh? Or, perhaps you ride faster with more aggressive inputs than the stock settings can handle? If you have adjusted your compression or rebound all the way to one extreme and it keeps getting better, then you find the adjuster at max or minimum? You are then a candidate for getting your suspension revalved. We will ask you pointed questions about your riding style and expectations and then ask you if you have exhausted the stock adjustments on your bike. What did you find as you made adjustments? If you have changed the springs on your bike to correct for the load you carry, the suspension will often need a revalve to control the new spring properly. Are your clickers all the way open or shut? Maybe your bike doesn’t have clickers? Maybe you would like some??? If so, we can discuss replacement cartridges or replacing the shock.
Revalving fee for a shock or pair of forks starts at $65 plus shims, and will be added to your fork or shock service if you need it. Shims range from $2.50 to $3.00 each. We may need two or three in a shock that is close, or 20-30 in a pair of forks if they are sadly out to lunch. We can guide you completely on your revalve needs and let you know if you would benefit.
Chassis Service
Due to mileage, use, and cleaning, exacerbated by the thermal cycling our Canadian bikes see without use during winter storage, rust gets into the steering head bearings, linkage pivots, chain rollers, wheel bearings, lever and shifter pivots, the throttle tube mechanism etc. etc. Making sure all these critical pivots are smooth and lubricated is what makes a brand new bike feel… well, like brand new. When we elevate your bike to remove the forks for Fork Service, this is the perfect time to gently swing the handlebars from left to right to check for sticky or notchy steering head bearings, which mostly happen during winter storage when all the (often very limited) grease from the factory has been wiped away. We then try and gently pull and push on the axle to see if the bearings are just loose, as they naturally become over time. Any excessive play in the fork bushings can be confirmed at this time. After we have elevated the bike and removed the shock for Shock Service we can pivot the swingarm through its range of motion to see if the linkage bearings need grease or replacing. None of these bearings are very expensive (usually $15-$40 each) and with the suspension out, half of the labour has already been done. Bad bearings are often hard to feel but make the bike hunt in a straight line and ride poorly, reducing rider confidence without knowing why, reduce bump compliance for sure and if left longer, full seizing can result with dramatic effects on safety.
Prices vary, labour rates are $110 an hour. Steering head bearing service is usually 1.5 hours depending on the maintenance the bike has seen. Linkage bearings can take 1 hour to more than 4 hours if they have been ignored for generations.
Performance Improvements
Accelerated Technologies in Buckhorn didn’t win 4 consecutive CSBK Pro National #1 plates without knowing how to improve the performance of a street bike. We can discuss your wishes and expectations with you, decide on a budget, and then recommend how best to meet your goals in a timely fashion. From engine mods, exhaust changes and fuel injection improvements to tires, gearing changes, weight reduction and dyno tuning, we can facilitate most dreams you have for your bike to make huge improvements. An extensive range of suppliers ship parts to us constantly to help us maintain and improve hundreds of bikes a year.
Labour rate is $110 an hour for most Performance Projects.
Crash Repair
We wish none of our customers ever fell down, but bikes only have two wheels and both physics and gravity are proven forces. After a handlebar has touched the ground the damage can be as little as the forks being out of alignment, gently twisted in the triple clamps, to more serious bending and fractures. When evaluating a front-end impact for example, we measure the wheels and brake rotors for lateral and radial run out (bending), we examine the steering stops for impact level, we measure the inner and outer fork tubes for straight, we then feel and examine steering head bearings and handlebars until we find where the energy of the impact has stopped. We can straighten most fork tubes if not creased from a bad impact, and true some bent wheels as well. We have perfected bent rotors in house and trued spoked rims after even the slightest deflection damage from a (suspected) overzealous tire machine. Our goal is rolling the bike out of our facility better than before your crash! Accidents happen, we can make it better!
Labour rates $110 an hour. Fork tube straightening is $100 per tube.