Originally Posted by Pleiades (Post 214108)

It will have. Somewhere mid-way through 2012 the internals switched to KYB and with it came short progressive springs and much longer spacers than before. It's easy to tell the bikes with KYB internals as they have the raised adjusters on the fork tops.

Originally Posted by Richlybow (Post 216081)

I have a (bought new) 2014 ten but it has recessed Allen key adjusters on the fork tops. Does that mean it's a pre 2012 model then??:tongue9:

Originally Posted by keithy2 (Post 216082)

You may well have, my ten was bought new sept 2014 but the serial number says it is a 2013 model. Mine has the raised fork adjusters and the springing is strong definitely not soft and sagging after 10000 miles. I wiegh 250+ ibs and go off road so it gets some stick. I very recently sat on a early 2008 ten and found the seat and suspension much softer than mine even though it had only done 15000 miles from new it was totaly stock. The owner sat on mine and had a good bounce and agreed with me it was much firmer and said "it feels like it has progressive springs in it".

Originally Posted by Richlybow (Post 216081)

I have a (bought new) 2014 ten but it has recessed Allen key adjusters on the fork tops. Does that mean it's a pre 2012 model then??:tongue9:

Originally Posted by keithy2 (Post 216082)

The owner sat on mine and had a good bounce and agreed with me it was much firmer and said "it feels like it has progressive springs in it".

Originally Posted by Pleiades (Post 216084)

Your bike is almost certainly a 2012 or earlier model. 2012 was a cross-over year and early bikes came with Paioli internals (linear springs, short spacers and recessed allen key adjusters) and later ones with Kayaba internals (shorter progressive spring, long spacer and raised screw and locknut adjusters). The change more or less coincided with production moving from the Derbi plant in Spain to the MBK plant in France. Check your VIN plate and see where it was made (2008/2009 Italy, 2010 to mid-2012 Spain, 2012> France).

After very good XTZ sales in 2008 and 2009 (it sold out completely in 2008), things took a dive when the recession really kicked in. Dealers overstocked with 2010/2011 bikes because they over-estimated sales thinking that it would carry on being as popular. These (mostly unregistered) bikes have been slowly drip-fed out on to the showroom floors over the subsequent four years.

If you PM me the VIN number and engine number I can probably find the build date for you. (Don't post it in the open forum here.)



That's because it does! ;)

Originally Posted by Pleiades (Post 216084)

Your bike is almost certainly a 2012 or earlier model. 2012 was a cross-over year and early bikes came with Paioli internals (linear springs, short spacers and recessed allen key adjusters) and later ones with Kayaba internals (shorter progressive spring, long spacer and raised screw and locknut adjusters). The change more or less coincided with production moving from the Derbi plant in Spain to the MBK plant in France. Check your VIN plate and see where it was made (2008/2009 Italy, 2010 to mid-2012 Spain, 2012> France).

After very good XTZ sales in 2008 and 2009 (it sold out completely in 2008), things took a dive when the recession really kicked in. Dealers overstocked with 2010/2011 bikes because they over-estimated sales thinking that it would carry on being as popular. These (mostly unregistered) bikes have been slowly drip-fed out on to the showroom floors over the subsequent four years.

If you PM me the VIN number and engine number I can probably find the build date for you. (Don't post it in the open forum here.)



That's because it does! ;)

Originally Posted by Richlybow (Post 216113)

why did they move production around? Was it just financial or was there some other reason?

Originally Posted by Pleiades (Post 216114)

Government incentives, it's as simple as that.

The Spanish government was desperate in 2009 to get foreign investment after the 2008 crash and create jobs, so offered incentives for Yamaha to build certain models at it's own ailing Derbi plant from 2010. In 2012 the deal either expired, or the Spanish couldn't afford to subsidise production/offer the same incentive anymore as the euro-crisis bit deep, so in steps the French government. They obviously offered a sweetener Yamaha couldn't refuse, so production moved to the MBK plant in Saint-Quentin. Both Derbi and MBK are wholly owned subsidiaries of Yamaha.

The reasons are similar to why Google is in Ireland, Honda in Swindon, Toyota in Derby and Nissan in Sunderland etc. None would be where they are without government tax and/or other incentives.

Originally Posted by lankyrider (Post 216488)

Once loaded up it sounds like the progressive fork won't be much use to me. Would mixing and matching make sense - Ohlins forks and a hyper pro shock spring at the back?

Originally Posted by lankyrider (Post 216536)

Thanks for the help, it's all very. For now I think I'll take the current setup off road, see how much I hate it, and then set funds aside accordingly. That means I'll have to buy a bashplate first - I wonder when this list of wants ends..

Originally Posted by Pleiades (Post 216517)

It is fine to mix and match. As I mention early in this thread, I�ve tried both linear and progressive springs back to back at the front and rear and came to the conclusion that linear front (Ohlins) and progressive rear (Yacugar/Hyperpro) was the way forward for me at 85Kg in full kit.

As you suggest, progressive front springs tend to get �light� and a bit slow to react to bumps and corrugations when there is a lot of weight (luggage, pillion etc.) towards the back of the bike. Theoretically, the main advantage of a progressive rate spring is that as load increases the spring effectively stiffens saving a lot of fiddling about adjusting preload to suit a range of conditions. Now this works fine on the rear as additional load/weight acts downwards (the way you�d expect it to) on the spring/shock and the progressive stiffening works in your favour. However on the front it works in reverse; the more you load up the bike, the more you tip the weight distribution rearward, the lighter the spring rate gets so you end up riding in the softest part of the forks stroke and with SAE15 oil (typical of progressive installations) in the forks this means they become over damped and sluggish to react.

Everybody has their own take on how they want their bike to handle and have very different needs in terms of luggage carrying, pillions and road/trail conditions, so the best piece of advice I can give is experiment. You won�t know what you like or works for you until you�ve tried out several permutations� which unfortunately can get expensive! ;)

Originally Posted by lankyrider (Post 220699)

Bringing the rear suspension back to how the stock would feel new.

Originally Posted by cam147 (Post 220693)

I have just done ohlins springs, fork oil 10w motul and new pyramid seals as had slight leak, but now wondering of a new hyperpro spring on standard rear shock or is there any other ideas for a low budget. I am an xtx rider 09 and about 85kg

Originally Posted by UKbri (Post 231667)

Pleiades, do you remember what size the air gap was you used? I done my Hyperpro front springs about 3 years and 60,000 miles ago and think it's about time I replaced the oil lol. Back then Hyperpro just sent me a litre of oil and I used 500ml in each, can't even remember what grade it was. After reading your post I think I'll go for the 10 weight.