International Dealer News IDN 155 June/July 2020 | Page 24

INDUSTRY EXTRA
THE WOLF OF
With origins going
back to 1980, Matris,
"home of the Wolf", is
marking twenty
years of being
headquartered in
Vicenza (since 2000).
Aquintessentially Italian
suspension company,
Managing Director Alberto
Turcato says: "Three words
describe what Matris is all
about: creativity, research
and development! The last twenty years
have seen us combining experience,
research, the technical-mechanical evolution
of materials and a revolution in precision
production techniques. These days it is
titanium, aluminium alloys and special
steels that are the basis of competitiveness
and that are at the heart of the designs,
quality and safety offered by this
company."
It was back in 1980 that the founders of Matris
began to collaborate on the design and subsequent
production of hydraulic suspension systems for super
sportsbikes - at that stage the primary objective of
the company.
HYDRAULICS
Suspensions have evolved from simple "assemblies"
of components by means of which the chassis is
connected to the wheels of the vehicle to
sophisticated hydraulic "systems" that allow chassis
engineers to take motorcycle design further than
ever, with advanced and sophisticated developments
in damping allowing engineers to achieve ever
greater control and reliability over the movements of
the chassis with regard to the wheels.
In addition to their increasing power and
performance, or rather in conjunction with the
increases in power and performance seen in the past
40 years, most sport and non-sport bikes increasingly
adopt rear swingarms with progressive single shock
linkage systems - these systems allow a wide range
of controlled movements due to the improvements
that have been achieved in the dynamics of
monoshock responses to the energy flowing through
them.
Consequently, hydraulics and their control have
become of primary importance to optimise
suspension performance, and this is where Matris is
focussed, applying "entry level" and "top high-end"
valve systems to its products for "good" and "best"
hydraulic control of the suspension.
The 1990s saw Matris introduce its revolutionary
steering damper with external volumetric reservoir
tank and "Speed Sensitive" damping system - still a
reference point for steering damper design to this
day.
In the 2000s Matris added new ranges of rear
monoshocks and hydraulic fork cartridge kits, a
Matris is owned and operated by Technical Officer
Tiziano Simonato (left) and Commercial Officer
Alberto Turcato.
specific line of twin-shocks for classic and custom
bikes, the high-end pressurised USD F43SP complete
fork and the "entry level" mono and twin line.
The product range then saw the development of
more new technology - the innovative "quad-valve
system" (F15K) and "sealed" F25SA fork cartridge
kits. Most recently, 2018 saw Matris introduce a new
rear shock series for maxi scooters to mark 40 years
of continuous development and improvement.
Since then the Matris R&D department has been
working on a wide variety of front fork applications
SDR top level steering damper
24 INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - JUNE/JULY 2020
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