Happy bunny refreshing my 2019 R1250GS with Tractive at T-Tech Suspension

[davidfbmw]

Was gonna buy a pair of these ready for when mine needed doing
Missed 2 sets on here but mate talked me out of them, wish I hadn’t listened

 

[jefformston]

I have had a pretty similar experience in that I have a 72 plate TB 1250gs with 6.5k on the clock at the time. I went to see the 1300 out of interest. After a quick chat I was offered £12k to change (before new panniers, top box, crash bars etc) so I declined his kind offer and thought I love my 1250gs but how can I make it a little better. So early ‘25 I bought a set of Tractive units off the site and had them fully serviced and set up for me by Lucas at T-T Suspension (5 ️ service) and they have been a revelation, no crashing or jarring over our pot hole strewn shitty surfaced roads just smooth fluid progress - fantastic! Next up was a Hilltop remap, this would be my 3rd GS (11 tc & 17 lc) to be flashed by Hilltop and I wouldn’t be disappointed as the bike was smoother, quieter, rev’d up quicker and had no low speed surging or flat spots and to top it all I was getting better mpg. A year later and just about 11k miles on the clock and I love the gs even more, it’s a great bike that does everything that I need it to do.


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What’s the point when you only ride 1,600 pa (135pm)?

 

[Sancheto]

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for your insightful comment “whats the point” and wonder why you would make such a comment when you know so little about me, my bike, my riding requirements etc etc

I know you have put a ? As to my average annual mileage but surely you would need to know a little more detail when calculating my average mileage? Eg starting mileage, end mileage and how many years I have owned it and if you wanted to know the value of making the upgrade then you may even want to know how long I plan to keep it as the “what’s the point” value will change over different time periods.

I think myself and other contributors to this post have stated the improvements that they believe that upgraded suspension makes to the bike and bikes in general. Now that is not to say that we are “right” and everyone else is “wrong” As always it would be very boring if we all liked and wanted the same things in life. We are all different and all want different things/experiences from our motorcycles so if you are happy with your current motorcycle/suspension set up then that is great and I am really happy for you.

As you are just up the road from me you are more that welcome to come and have a go on my bike to see if you think the up graded suspension makes a difference over the standard BM units.

Cheers,

Tony


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[stick]

Just a thought, I don’t see the point in spending any money at all on changing the suspension components, the standard bike is more then good enough for 95% of bike riders. The better option and this is true for new bikes as well as older ones, is to take the bike to a suspension set up expert to set the suspension to your weight and riding style, this will save a huge amount of money on up grading the suspension that the vast majority of riders don't need or rather can put to serious use. You may consider it necessary to have the ecu remapped to take advantage of the improved handling but spending thousands of pounds on suspension before you’ve maxed out the standard bikes set up seems a waste of money, in my opinion.

Blimey , I must be in the 5% as changed both bikes from standard to Tractive. The M1000xr as it was too track focused for the road and to honest not needed for a tall cross over bike , the Tractive gives is so much more range and adjustability to get the bike to work on the roads with better electronic control and range.
The 1250gs I have (2023) has almost useless damping in Road where most would ride for a more comfortable ride on the Gs level. Dynamic / Pro is okay but still under damped and also limited in its adjustment ranges ( electronic damping) etc. What tractive offers is a better system , quailty parts and a set up designed for the rides preferences.
Suspension is fluid movement , the better you can move and control that fluid is determined by the quality of the pistons , ports valves and shims etc.
For me its no waste of money as I feel the upgrade make the bikes worth it as does an engine map, gets the best out of a factory controlled limitation. IMHO of course.

 

[jefformston]

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for your insightful comment “whats the point” and wonder why you would make such a comment when you know so little about me, my bike, my riding requirements etc etc

I know you have put a ? As to my average annual mileage but surely you would need to know a little more detail when calculating my average mileage? Eg starting mileage, end mileage and how many years I have owned it and if you wanted to know the value of making the upgrade then you may even want to know how long I plan to keep it as the “what’s the point” value will change over different time periods.

I think myself and other contributors to this post have stated the improvements that they believe that upgraded suspension makes to the bike and bikes in general. Now that is not to say that we are “right” and everyone else is “wrong” As always it would be very boring if we all liked and wanted the same things in life. We are all different and all want different things/experiences from our motorcycles so if you are happy with your current motorcycle/suspension set up then that is great and I am really happy for you.

As you are just up the road from me you are more that welcome to come and have a go on my bike to see if you think the up graded suspension makes a difference over the standard BM units.

Cheers,

Tony


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You’re right my bad, I had assumed, I know never assume anyway I did, that you had the bike from new, no offence intended, I was under the impression that the suspension on the 1250GS/GSA was pretty good as standard, so to make the decision to change after so few miles seems unusual unless it was faulty and the bike out of warranty. I hope you get many happy miles from it.