The Rear Shock Upgrade Thread

[CrazyCam]

Yeah I figured that would be the easiest fix too.
If the stock shock had adjustable pre-load, like the Daytona, it'd be easy to dial the shakes & shudders out of the rear.

The striple has adjustable pre-load on the back.

That's all that's adjustable, but, at the first service, I got them to wind off some of the pre-load, and it felt a good bit better to me.

I dunno if there is a "standard" setting that they put it to from the factory, but, for normal road use, it was far too tight for me.

YMMV.

[Old Scratcher]

My owners manual said only the Daytona's rear shock was adjustable.
I must admit I haven't checked, & was just going by the book.
I'll have a talk to my Triumph mechanic & see what he reccomends.
Thanks for the info

[Diego]

My owners manual said only the Daytona's rear shock was adjustable.

You may notice on close examination that it only says the damping is adjustable. Triumph actually considers preload not to be a user adjustable item on either the Daytona or the Street. (The reason for lack of a spanner in the toolkit, I suppose.) Dealers will usually oblige.

One thing to be aware of: there is more to the feel of the rear end than the shock. Be sure to maintain correct tyre pressure meticulously. It seems to make a lot of difference on this model.

[Edit:] And now, of course, it appears this may be the solution for some of us:
http://www.triumphrat.net/street-tri...ck-recall.html

[Thirdway]

I HAD TO upgrade my Scrambler's suspension, for the sake of my back. I'd have sold it otherwise. It wasn't until I uograded the suspension, & unleashed the fine handling charecteristics of the bike, that I realised that the bike could handle a lot more speed, & I started upgrading the engine. So the engine mods were discretionary. The suspension mods were essential.
Similarly, the Street is killing my back, & I can ride less & less distance on it, before the pain gets unbearable. Will the replacement shock cure this? Maybe, but I'm going to have to wait 3-4 weeks to find out, & I could be a cripple by then. & if it doesn't cure the pain, I'l have to wait weeks more for the upgrade. So I'm cutting to the chase, & getting what I wanted in the first place.
My choice. I agree.
My point is that instead of wasting money on a replacement shock, that I'm just going to junk, that Triumph would do their customer service record a pile of good, if they looked at alternatives to help their more discerning customers.

I'm still looking at the alternatives, but I like the Maxton's, at this stage. & I'll probably look at getting the forks revalved too, as it's supposed to help cure wrist ache, which is the other pain this bike gives me.

Though I also agree that the bike's still a bargain, even with upgraded suspension. I'm just peeved, because this is exactly the problem I asked about in these boards, when I first started contemplating buying a Street. & I was assured that the suspension was more than up to the task.
So I feel doubly let down

PS The suspension upgrade is the only mod I plan to carry out on this bike. The rest of the package is perfect (IMO) & I can't think of anything else that I'd want to change.

PPS I just checked out the reactive website. I don't like to be sceptical. But you don't think that their enthusiasm for the Axiom system, has anything to do with them being the UK distributor for them?
I like the look of the Axioms. But I think they might be overkill, for a bike that's not going to see much tracktime. I don't mind the performance of the stock forks. They already exceed my abilities. So anything more would be a waste. I'm only looking at the Maxston fork kit, because they specifically say that it helps alieviate wrist pain.

Mods: really have to apologise as this thread is going overland, but it is pretty interesting, so can we continue, or move it to another thread without losing the continuity.

OC thanks for your reply.

Reactive do revalve standard forks without using the Traxxion units (there are a lot of Suzuki riders running modified forks). The reply from Greg at Reaction was that they had found it immpossible to get the STs forks working the way they wanted and were suprised the Maxton had managed it.

Your thoughts on the use of the bike as a track tool are the same as mine. essentially the ST is a fine handling bike, I dont race so its more about improving control and comfort. Like you I find the forks 'smash' off bumps and transmit those shocks to my wrists which is not a problem on a smooth road, but really starts to hurt on the roads I use. Luckily my back is in top nick and as I mountain bike a lot I am used to using my legs to take the shocks, but I find the back just does not settle down after it has become unsettled (its fun in a weird way, like an out of control fairground ride).

Maxton tell me that the rear linkage is a clone of the Honda 600 system and far better than the unit fitted to the Speed Triple. They reckon the Honda linkage is the best mechanical system available to date. They also rate the Street triple highly, except for the budget suspension.

[triffin]

I've been reading all these posts about shocks and what people think about them and to be honest i think some of you are influenced by public opinion and here say...

A shock is a simple thing; it has a spring wich should match your weight and it has dampening; compression and rebound wich you want to be just right.
Finally you dont want it to be sticky so it absorbs bumps has to be smoothly.

Springrate is most important as it influences geometry. Usually standard springs on any bike are to soft..(ive replaced several in the past)...however, after adjusting my ST's shock to max i get perfect static sag numbers. I weigh arround 90kg's clean on the hook. So the springrate seems to fit even over average europeans.

The shock also feels pretty well dampened (even though i have a recall standing out for my bike...but maybe thats just a matter of time). I can feel compression when i push the bike down and i can certainly see rebound compression as the bike comes up.

After reading a LOT about setting up shocks and experimenting with them myself (when i did have a fully adjustable bike) ive come to the conclusion that even if you have a grade-a shock you need to set it up perfectly to use its advantage. It is a hard task for a normal rider to feel the differences between dampening settings. Yes when there is realy TO much of anything you can feel it but otherwise the effects are minimal...unless youre a racer with a lot of experience who rides on the edge.

Preload offcourse is easy...just messure the sag and you know when youre done.

So please tell me in a nutshell..whats the true problem with the standard shock?

So far i dont have any real complaints...besides the front fork springs being a bit to soft for my weight.

[Thirdway]

I've been reading all these posts about shocks and what people think about them and to be honest i think some of you are influenced by public opinion and here say...

A shock is a simple thing; it has a spring wich should match your weight and it has dampening; compression and rebound wich you want to be just right.
Finally you dont want it to be sticky so it absorbs bumps has to be smoothly.

Springrate is most important as it influences geometry. Usually standard springs on any bike are to soft..(ive replaced several in the past)...however, after adjusting my ST's shock to max i get perfect static sag numbers. I weigh arround 90kg's clean on the hook. So the springrate seems to fit even over average europeans.

The shock also feels pretty well dampened (even though i have a recall standing out for my bike...but maybe thats just a matter of time). I can feel compression when i push the bike down and i can certainly see rebound compression as the bike comes up.

After reading a LOT about setting up shocks and experimenting with them myself (when i did have a fully adjustable bike) ive come to the conclusion that even if you have a grade-a shock you need to set it up perfectly to use its advantage. It is a hard task for a normal rider to feel the differences between dampening settings. Yes when there is realy TO much of anything you can feel it but otherwise the effects are minimal...unless youre a racer with a lot of experience who rides on the edge.

Preload offcourse is easy...just messure the sag and you know when youre done.

So please tell me in a nutshell..whats the true problem with the standard shock?

So far i dont have any real complaints...besides the front fork springs being a bit to soft for my weight.

I suspect it's what we call 'British Roads' these days. Having spent some time on Hollands highways and byways they always seem to be in good condition. Roads in Britain are getting quite serious once you get off the Motorways and A roads (and TBH they are quite appaling in places).

On a smooth road the bike copes perfectly well (other owners that have the luxury of a fully run in bike have had problems when really pushing on). On a bumpy road the back end is pretty awful (although I have not had the shock replaced as yet under the recall). The front really bangs off bumps and collapses when you brake hard, again, on a smooth road this is not an issue as you can just be easy with the controls, but just try braking while you hit a bump

[Old Scratcher]

I suspect it's what we call 'British Roads' these days. Having spent some time on Hollands highways and byways they always seem to be in good condition. Roads in Britain are getting quite serious once you get off the Motorways and A roads (and TBH they are quite appaling in places).

On a smooth road the bike copes perfectly well (other owners that have the luxury of a fully run in bike have had problems when really pushing on). On a bumpy road the back end is pretty awful (although I have not had the shock replaced as yet under the recall). The front really bangs off bumps and collapses when you brake hard, again, on a smooth road this is not an issue as you can just be easy with the controls, but just try braking while you hit a bump

Yep, same thing in Oz too.
The roads around Cairns (where I took my test ride) are smooth & well made. But as soon as you get into the hinterland the roads are a mish-mash of badly repaired potholes. & the poor old shocky just can't cope.
The thuds & whacks are what hurts my back the most, but it's the way the back wheel chatters up & down over corrugations which I find the most annoying.
However, it's a testament to the rest of the bike's handling geometry, that this doesn't upset the bike's line. & it still whips through corners with gusto. It's just disconcerting & unnerving to feel (& hear) my new pride & joy going through such torture.

PS Note to Mods. Can we re-open the recall thread? I have more to say about the recall than the upgrade. & the two topics are so closely related, I think it's pedantic to sepparate them.

[Diego]

PS Note to Mods. Can we re-open the recall thread? I have more to say about the recall than the upgrade. & the two topics are so closely related, I think it's pedantic to sepparate them.

As I wrote before, we will re-open the recall thread. It's not as if we're creating two separate threads, though; they were separate threads to begin with.

At some point the recall fever is going to die out, whereas upgrading is an ever-popular topic. No point wasting good upgrade information in a thread that's going to be a dead-end someday...or giving it potential to come back as an infamous zombie thread.

[Shakey]

I'd be curious to hear from any rider that has done a track day with their Street Triple using the stock suspension. Most all of us are not in the position to really push the suspension on a good track surface which is where any real weakness would show up. I try to avoid pot holes and ruts in the road, but when the bike hits the occasional bad stretch it pretty well jars my teeth. I suspect though that no amount of suspension tuning would affect the outcome on a truly nasty road surface. My recall shock should be installed by next weekend (the part arrived within three days of the shop ordering) or as soon as I can get the bike to them. I haven't really noticed any degradation of the original yet, but I'm having them swap it out just to be safe. On good roads I've been really pleased with the bikes overall handling. I still have a Daytona shock I may, or may not use. It all depends on how the stock equipment reacts after having 1500 miles or so on it. An update from Jamie, or some of the other riders using the Daytona set up might be good. I'm interested in feedback regarding the affect on steering geometry at high and low speeds and any other insight they might offer.

[Fart Knocker]

Replaced the stock shock with an OEM Daytona. Spring is much better for my lard*** at 230 lbs, but need to tweak the damping before I would give my full approval of this mod. The stock shock for me would wallow at the exit of corners and the weight transfer would be extreme making it not want to finish the corner.

Now it feels just the opposite where it makes the rear feel "loose" at the exit like the bike want to come around. I think some tweaking on the damping will help this.

Thats the nice thing about the Dayona shock, you will gain some adjustability.