Triumphrat

RonD · 11-26-2007

I was at a motorcycle show on the weekend and came across a guy selling ikon shocks and fork springs second hand.
the correct ones for my bonneville so I took the punt and I will install them soon but would like some information .
1-grade of fork oil
2-ikon recomend a 12mm spacer with the fork spring I noticed some people on the forum dont fit one why?
3-Iam 5/10" average build and on the rear shocks I am thinking about damping force adjusted to about position 2, and adjusting the preload of the springs to the lowest position

those of you with this set up your thoughts would be much appreciated..

smac · 11-26-2007

I had ikon's installed at 6000k.
My fork oil was so clean i left it alone.
No spacer.
I adjust my damper depending on solo, dual or baggage travel.

Kurtis · 11-26-2007

From the horse's mouth:

Quote:

Our suggestion for the spacer length is that it should be 35mm. Naturally this can be varied a little to taste however with the adjustable pre-load on the Thurxton forks we found most needs were dealt with by the 35mm spacer and adjustment if necessary.

We did not experiment with different oils etc with this bike but used the original fluid details given this is what most riders would be doing.

Regards
Geoff

This however was for the thruxton fork, but the principle would translate easily enough. I actually made 35mm spacers before contacting Ikon, so I was happy to find they recommended the same size. I removed the standard spring and spacer, and made new spacers to a size that made the free lengths of the spring and spacers identical.

Because I have adjustable preload, I've probably taken about 10mm back off the ride height once installed as it felt a bit more chopperish afterwards on factory settings.

The fork oil I'm using has OE airgap, but is a 50/50 mix of 10 and 15 weight, so it's sort of 12.5 weight. It's tidied up the front end a bit. When you hit the brakes it no longer falls faster than a bomb dropped from mars, but it's still a bit rubbish when pressing on a bit.

In conjunction with the shocks they work fairly well though. It's more composed in fast corners and it changes direction quicker. I'm glad I changed it, but it still needs some work, hence the Honda forks.

RonD · 11-26-2007

thanks -smac and Kurtis for your information, I will space the ikon spring out to the same total length as the stock spacer spring length, and maybe turn up a 12mm spacer that ikon recomend for the bonnie after i have a look at things.- thanks for your replies to my post.

BellaCorse · 11-26-2007

Here's a simple trick: With the front end fully extended, remove a stock fork cap. With the cap completely unscrewed, but still resting on top of the spacer, measure the gap between the top of the fork tube and the underside of the cap's flange (surface that mates to top of tube).

Now swap your spring and stack all the parts together and remeasure the gap. If needed, cut (or lengthen) the spacer to match the stock component's gap.

This technique works great when swapping Thruxton preload fork caps to other models.

/Mike

Quote:

and made new spacers to a size that made the free lengths of the spring and spacers identical.

Ooops, just read that. You're way ahead of me.

RonD · 11-26-2007

Thanks - Mike thats sounds like the way to go. and now the only thing to figure out out is what weight fork oil to run .

Brooksie · 11-26-2007

http://www.newbonneville.com/html/ikon_shocks.html
I'm 5'10", 175 lbs. I had the stock engine set at 2 on the dampening dial and 1 on the preload. Worked very well, but seemed a little soft when I beefed up the engine, so I set the preload to 2. Handles great. You'll love the differnece. The Ikon progressive springs I bought did not require the spacer to be replaced. I just took out the old springs and spacer and slid them in.

RonD · 11-26-2007

thanks brooksie-this maybe a very good investment iam excited..