I just finished installing the Gold Valve Kit with compression and rebound in my 2014 DL1000 forks yesterday. Let me know if I can help answer any questions.
Yes they do provide you with a replacement valve body for both the compression and rebound. Some of their applications are only the compression with the rebound being optional (or not available); however, the prescribed kit for the 2014+ V-Strom 1000 includes BOTH the compression and rebound valve bodies.
The kit comes very well packaged and includes all the parts necessary to build your custom tuned valve stacks. Also included are access codes to get your customized valve stack info from their database. These codes only work once. There is a note included that you can call their technical service department if your stack doesn't feel quite the way you like it. I imagine that they will help you to switch things around for a softer or stiffer feel...
By removing both the Suzuki valve bodies and replacing them with the gold valves, you are making your own "drop in" cartridge. The additional work to swap out the valve bodies isn't that much above what is required to remove and replace the cartridge. You will also need to assemble the valve bodies yourself. I did that part of the job during the previous days on the kitchen table so that when I got into the forks, it would be just a swap and reassemble job.
That aluminum spacer on the bottom of the stock Suzuki compression valve body is not needed for the RaceTech gold valves, since their compression valve has that aluminum spacer integrated into their part. Instruction # CD5 says to remove it, but that is not really needed. You just tap out the entire valve body and you don't reuse either the stock valve body or that spacer. In the photo for Compression Valving (immediately following CD5) you see that the aluminum base piece of the compression gold valve integrates the required thickness to account for that stock spacer.
I found that the instructions they offer on-line (go to the product search page and plug in your make/model/year to be sure that you are looking at the most relevant set of instructions) were pretty good. Be very particular and pay attention to everything as some of the info is subtle yet critical. For example, for the Vee2 kit there are two different diameter check valve discs (rebound valves vs compression valves). The instructions don't make a point of this, but do say "Make sure the shims that go next to the Gold Valve completely cover the ports on both sides of the piston!". The instructions don't identify which diameter check valve goes where, but if you look closely as directed you will see how it must go.
Also, instructions CA3 and CA4 gave me pause and I started to wonder if I had missed something, but determined through other instructions and pictures that CA3 and CA4 are actually out of order and are not even necessary for cartridge assembly because those pieces are already part of the assembled rebound rod (as depicted in VR2 and CA5). According to the VR2 picture (and my forks as found) the white spacer goes on first, then the spring, then the rebound valve body is screwed on the end to trap them on the rod. When it comes to assembling the cartridge, you simply tap in the compression valve body to one end of the cartridge tube, and tap the rebound rod / valve assembly into the other end.
I only have about 50 testing miles (single rider, no luggage) on the gold valves, and so far they are a vast improvement. I made a point of running over the worst, most annoying sections of road involved in my daily commute to see if they were better or not. The one patch (freeway on ramp) that previously would have my handlebars jouncing like a pogo stick and really bugged the crap out of me, were completely unnoticed with the gold valves. I had to go through there a couple of times because it was so much better that I forgot to pay attention and didn't notice anything the first time. Transitioning in and out of driveways and going over uneven man-hole covers was also greatly improved. In fact that same freeway entrance has about a 2+ inch high bump where the asphalt transitions to cement. The forks take it minimally noticeable now until the shock thumps over it. I then moved to a mile stretch (each way) of very poorly constructed asphalt surface street (Lightning McQueen's first attempt at road repair was better - Can the city get their money back? Or at least force them to fix it? I sure hope they have black-listed that contractor). While the gold valves provided a vast improvement here as well, there was still a hint of that oscillation so I ran that section over and over while increasing and decreasing the fork rebound clickers and even tried some different shock settings. The best setting that minimized the post bump jiggling was with the fork rebound screwed all the way in. Might be worth tightening up the rebound stacks at some point, but even my cars don't like that section of road. I'll probably leave that until next summer so I can get a feel for the effect of warmer temperatures on the fork oil's viscosity.
Worst part about all this is that I'll probably have to pony-up the cash for their GS3 shock as well. If the fork gold valves made it that much better, imagine what the shock will add to the system. I would like to get the forks dialed in and then see if they can manipulate the inputs to their database to generate the exact fork stacks I end up with... then replicate those inputs for the shock setup. That should lead to the best match front to rear for the setup that works best for me.
