Upgraded Yari Vs stock Lyrik Ultimate?

Time for a new fork.
Rather than defaulting to a stock Lyrik Ultimate, I’m wondering if an upgraded Yari might be a better idea as they’ll workout being within £50 of each other I reckon.

Thinking of picking up a Yari B2 which has the softer debonair rather than the newer one which seems to have been fudged just to make it sit higher.
Then add a Novyparts Splug which will give a custom shimmed compression damper and turn the MoCo damper into something very similar to the Manitou TPC.

As there will still be an air spring acting on top of the damper oil, then add a Chickadeehill AWK to the air spring side to create a dual chamber positive spring making it more linear.

Anyone else tried, or considered similar?

Interested to see how it turns out but I reckon you could find a “take out” charger 1 or 2.0 damper someones has upgraded… quite possibly brand new and never ridden.

I’ve not got either fork yet. If the charger 2.1 RC2 is considered the better damper, I could just get that. I’m wondering if the Yari with upgrades would actually build into a better fork.

I’m pretty sure the motion control damper is already a shimmed damper, what is wrong with the damping?

I adjusted mine by removing one of the shims to lower the amount of compression damping and i found it fine after that.

I’ve not got either fork yet. If the charger 2.1 RC2 is considered the better damper, I could just get that. I’m wondering if the Yari with upgrades would actually build into a better fork.

I’m interested too but not a fan of the MOCO except from a servicing pov.
My thoughts (all they are) is lots of work, fiddling and cost for something that might be better but with caveats as to “better”… (as in you can set it up for a specific use but at the expense of other uses)

I think I’d just buy the Lyrik ultimate tbh – much easier route and it’s decent.

If you do go the Yari route and you can get a bargain Yari then isn’t the Fast ‘YariUp’ a better upgrade over Moco than the Novyparts option? I did look into this for my Yari a while ago but bought a charger 2 rct3 upgrade for it instead (rc2 wasn’t out at the time). I also tried an MRP ramp control cartridge but hated it. Even full open it made the fork feel hard and spiky. I think at 170mm travel I ended up running just the 1 bottomless token in the end.

Another thing to perhaps consider is a coil spring conversion – could you get Yari / up rated damper / smash pot type conversion for the same as a Lyrik Ulimate? That might end up being very decent.

I’ve recently upgraded my Yari to a new air shaft, 2.1 charger damper and SKF seals all for around £300. It’s a completely different fork (unsurprisingly), rides so much better than with the MoCo damper, especially on the rough stuff. Well worth it IMO

If I wasn’t upgrading an existing fork, I’d have just bought the Lyrik ultimate tho

HH, the rebound is a shim stack on MoCo but the compression if far more agricultural. That’s why there are at least 3 companies I know of who offer a drop in compression upgrade.

Chickadeehill offer a shim stack that replaces the orifice plate on the bottom of the MoCo by clipping into the bottom of the plastic “spring”.

MST offer a replacement for the entire MoCo.

Novyparts offer similar to MET but with a custom stack.

@joebristol. Fast don’t seem to be offering their dampers at the moment which is why I’d not considered them.

My other option is to get an old Avalanche damper reworked to fit the Yari. Even reworking it might cost more than the current plan though.

I thought the MRP ramp control was something a bit different from the AWK/IRT/runt type devices.

@mulv1976 it does seem that it might actually be possible to get a Yari and a 2.1 RC2 charger for less than a Lyrik, which seems a bit mad.

@Onzadog in that case it’s worth doing. They feel great now. The new longer 2021 air shaft doesn’t make any difference other than height but the new Yaris may have that in already? I doubt the SKF seals make a great deal of difference either. I got my damper from bike24 for about £240

Yeah but the ultimate comes in red ☝️

The ultimates do look a lot better

I doubt the SKF seals make a great deal of difference either.

I on the other hand can feel the reduced stiction on smaller bumps with SKF seals.
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My frame is green – red forks might be a bit much.

Ah maybe. My Yari’s started life as black RC’s, but I’ve had the lowers sprayed red, got the rct3 charger, 2019 debonair airshaft and the (annoyingly green) skf seals in it. They’re on a Raw frame though so they’re the main colour highlight on it. They’ve been 17”MM travel, 160mm travel and they’re now 140mm travel!

Depends what shade of green your bike is I guess as to the red thing.

I’ve recently upgraded my Yari to a new air shaft, 2.1 charger damper and SKF seals all for around £300. It’s a completely different fork (unsurprisingly), rides so much better than with the MoCo damper, especially on the rough stuff. Well worth it IMO

Yeah, the Charger damper is a huge upgrade compared to MoCo. All the other stuff (Debonair air shaft, fancy seals) makes a much smaller difference IMO.

It seems crazy that you might be able to DIY a mix-and-match fork for less money than buying off the shelf. It wouldn’t say Lyric on it, though.

The plan wasn’t so much to save money (or get a Lyrik sticker in it) but just me wondering if it was possible to actually build a better fork for reasonable money. Pulling together some of the best ideas from other brands into a stiff, light chassis.

I’ve just ordered a Fast Yari-Up (YU) and an MRP ramp control (RC) to fit to my Yari, while i wait for the long term reviews of the EXT ERA.

The YU and the RC worked out to cost the same as the Charger 2.1 RC2 (near enough). This was following recommendations from another thread on here a few days ago suggested that the YU was a better damper overall than the Charger. I don’t know if it will be better than the Charger, i just know the MoCo damper was beating the hell out of me on rough stuff at 417 bikepark last week.

I spoke with TF Tuned when I was considering Yari Up vs Charger 2 rct3 a couple of years ago.

I think the advice was the charger 2 is likely to resist heat better on very long rocky trails and keep air / oil apart better.

However the Yari Up has more adjustments and if you like tinkering you could end up with a better feel on the compression side of things than with the charger.

The YariUp isn’t a bladder type damper like the charger – I believe it seals against the inside of the stanchion.

MRP didn’t work for me – I think either I’m not heavy enough – or don’t ride forks hard enough. Essentially the minimum setting on the ramp control has more ramp up than the single token I ended up with in the fork at 170mm travel. Now I’m running 140mm it might actually work for me.

It looks like Fast now use closed cell foam donuts around the Yari Up shaft to avoid emulsification of the oil. Not that I ever had any issues of that type in my avalanche damper.

I’m quite keen to keep damper oil and bushing oil separate now as I intend to try and get hold of some supergliss 100k.

Do the 2020 or 21 Yari not come with the skf seals then? I thought it was literally just the damper that was different.

considered doing the yari + the yaruiup mod before I got the mezzers. now I’m glad I went with the mezzers

I’ve no doubt the Mezzer may be a better fork, I hear a lot of good things about it, but long term I’ve decided I’ll be better off with a fork that’s almost as good, but actually has some support in my country of residence.

@cleetonator

How are you getting on with the Yari upgrades? Did you try them one at a time or drop them both straight in?

I’m still having a nightmare with Hotlines and these Mezzers but once that’s sorted, it will be time to move on a new fork so I need to come up with a plan soon.

I bought a very cheap Yari, then fitted the Smashpot coil, alongside a ‘Yari-up’ damper upgrade.

All in all a totally different fork. I’ve never had a Lyrik, coming from a Zocchi 55 coil fork previously, so can’t attest to the difference between my modded Yari and a new Lyrik.

The fork is very supple as I’m running a softish spring, whilst resisting my bulk the smashpot means heavy landings are amazing.

It took a bit of fettling with oil weights to get both the Smashpot and damper side dials being effective where I needed them to be. The standard oil didn’t give the right range of tweaking from the dials.

Anyway, it’s a bad ass fork now, set at 180mm.