aftermarket shocks
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Do yourself and your pocketbook a BIG favor and do some research on HyperPro spring replacements. I've done shock replacements on several other bikes and IMO if you aren't a real kick butt road racer type, the HP springs are really good.
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Yes. The unit fitted to the Girlies was Ok for the job but not what you would describe as a good quality item. My old 900 Tiger's OE shock was better!
The problem I had was the limited range of damping beacause I wanted something that would cope with occasional unladen riding off-road and heavily loaded touring 2-up on fast bendy dual carriageways. The OE shock is not designed to be rebuildable so I fitted a Hagon unit with optional remote preload adjuster & standard spring rate. There is a much wider range of damping adjustment on this shock and it is better than the OE unit however it is not 'the best' out there and opinions differ to what is (Ohlins, Wilburs, etc.)
For a bike like the Tiger 955i which is never going to worry a well-kitted Ducati on a race track smooth twisty road, the Hagon unit suits well. I haven't done anything to my front forks because the run-out (05/06) 955i Tigers are fitted with a modified shuttle valve mechanism that suits typical road riding (but it's never been a problem off-road).
I still reckon the OE unit on the Steamers was better but at least the later bikes did away with silly linkages.
Jon
Yes,but the question you have to ask yourself is how much you want to spend,i've always viewed after market goodies as only on loan,because at some time they'll get sold and hence the better the spec the easier they are to sell after.
The bench mark is separate preload/compression/rebound,but that spec isn't cheap,as nice as it is to use.
I agree with winger here except I look for what I believe will work for me as if the bike will last forever rather than resale. The high priced shocks usually have compression broken into high and low speed compression; however, since I'm no Rossi and won't ever be, I look at shocks in what I believe is a more practical way. #1 is to get the right spring for you which is where you set preload at in the first place. #2 is it has to have decent rebound adjustment because from all my readings on suspension, rebound adjustment is more important than
compression. #3 Do I really need high and low speed compression adjustment. Throw in, am I that good to actually accomplish anything if I had the knobs to twist. Just a point, most of us don't run race tracks so the road and suspension setting have to be averages for what we think is all around riding. Do you really fiddle with your suspenders every time you ride? I'm sure some do, but do you?
The problem with buying aftermarket suspension it's a learning curve which can be both steep and expensive at times,in reality you could do with knowing at the begining what you know after some years,after market suspension is an addiction when you have got used to it there's no going back to production 'that'll do stuff',having spent years trying to convince a friend to buy some for his bike when finally succeding,he's that pleased, he tells me i should have been trying harder!!!
DD is correct about high and low speed ajustment,but Ohlins have only just introduced it on the the very latest TTX and that is not available for the Tiger(955) anyway,with Wilbers it's an extra and even then is only available if you pay for the optional reservoir to prevent overheating,i have Ohlins on my Tiger,1100s and Wilbers on a Ksport non has high or low speed ajustment.
Were we do differ is on the compression and rebound ajustment,if you going for an aftermarket shock(and the expense) i see no point in being able to control the rate of rebound on the shock when you cannot do the same with compression,because when you get used to riding with it, after a time beleave me you'll be able to tell the difference,even my wife can riding on the back.
Now this is were i hold my hands up and say i've learned from my mistakes,i've used Ohlins on my Tiger and 1100s for years,i bought Wilbers for my Ksport and didn't do my homework i assumed all aftermarket shocks came with separate compression and rebound!! clang!!!,having had the luxury with the others it drives me nuts that i only have one ajustment as on the stock shock on the Tiger,yes it's by far a better quality unit,but spoiled by me not doing my homework !!!,it's an optional extra.
Having said all that,as Ohlins for the Tiger have been unavailable for years,i'd still still look at at Wilbers as a serious option they are good middle of the road quality without the bells and whistles if you don't want them,and they only make them to order,so you have to specify weight/riding style so they come with the correct spring to start with.
DD is correct about high and low speed ajustment,but Ohlins have only just introduced it on the the very latest TTX and that is not available for the Tiger(955) anyway,with Wilbers it's an extra and even then is only available if you pay for the optional reservoir to prevent overheating,i have Ohlins on my Tiger,1100s and Wilbers on a Ksport non has high or low speed ajustment.
Were we do differ is on the compression and rebound ajustment,if you going for an aftermarket shock(and the expense) i see no point in being able to control the rate of rebound on the shock when you cannot do the same with compression,because when you get used to riding with it, after a time beleave me you'll be able to tell the difference,even my wife can riding on the back.
Now this is were i hold my hands up and say i've learned from my mistakes,i've used Ohlins on my Tiger and 1100s for years,i bought Wilbers for my Ksport and didn't do my homework i assumed all aftermarket shocks came with separate compression and rebound!! clang!!!,having had the luxury with the others it drives me nuts that i only have one ajustment as on the stock shock on the Tiger,yes it's by far a better quality unit,but spoiled by me not doing my homework !!!,it's an optional extra.
Having said all that,as Ohlins for the Tiger have been unavailable for years,i'd still still look at at Wilbers as a serious option they are good middle of the road quality without the bells and whistles if you don't want them,and they only make them to order,so you have to specify weight/riding style so they come with the correct spring to start with.
Thanks for the replys, The reason I posted this is because after years of riding bikes with compression and rebound damping on the rear shock I'm having trouble adjusting to the tiger with only rebound damping.
I've looked at the Hagon and the Nitron but both only have a compined rebound and compression damping adjustment and I wonder how good this is?I also would like to have the remote preload adjuster because now I have a bike with a pillion seat the misses comes out now and again but this pushes the price up to £500 ish,I haven't even thought about a Ohlins shock(which I've had on my last two bikes)because of the price.
I've looked at the Hagon and the Nitron but both only have a compined rebound and compression damping adjustment and I wonder how good this is?I also would like to have the remote preload adjuster because now I have a bike with a pillion seat the misses comes out now and again but this pushes the price up to £500 ish,I haven't even thought about a Ohlins shock(which I've had on my last two bikes)because of the price.
You didn't say if you have a 955 or a 1050,you certainley can't get an Ohlins for a 955,i'm not sure about a 1050.
Were the Wilbers gets complicated,in standard trim it's a spring to suit you and a combined compression and rebound,if you want them separate thats an extra,the problem being,you also have to have the reservoir and that comes on a separate pipe,so if you have the remote preload as well,you end up with two pipes and have to have the preload ajuster on one side and the res on the other,as opposed the Ohlins and others which are integral,and just the preload ajuster.
The trap most folk fall into(including me with Wilbers)) is looking at price and not checking the spec,re your question about the combined ajustment,certainley with the Wilbers it's a trade off,like an upmarket stocker,if i road one up all the time to be honest you can get away with just about any old tosh,when two up soon shows the differences,there's also another Dutch suspension company that makes a decent shock who's name evades me(not WP) that might be worth a look.
Hyperpro!!!
http://www.hyperpro.com/
And if your real quick i'd look at that Hagon thats just turned up,cost does play a part and thats cheap!!
Were the Wilbers gets complicated,in standard trim it's a spring to suit you and a combined compression and rebound,if you want them separate thats an extra,the problem being,you also have to have the reservoir and that comes on a separate pipe,so if you have the remote preload as well,you end up with two pipes and have to have the preload ajuster on one side and the res on the other,as opposed the Ohlins and others which are integral,and just the preload ajuster.
The trap most folk fall into(including me with Wilbers)) is looking at price and not checking the spec,re your question about the combined ajustment,certainley with the Wilbers it's a trade off,like an upmarket stocker,if i road one up all the time to be honest you can get away with just about any old tosh,when two up soon shows the differences,there's also another Dutch suspension company that makes a decent shock who's name evades me(not WP) that might be worth a look.
Hyperpro!!!
http://www.hyperpro.com/
And if your real quick i'd look at that Hagon thats just turned up,cost does play a part and thats cheap!!
If you look at post #2 above, you'll see there is some deja vu all over again. Ohlins does make a shock for the Tiger 1050, and so does Penske, two of them double and triple clickers. Yes HP does too but IMO, if you spend more time riding than playing with suspension the HP Combi kit is a very inexpensive option and I know a bunch of Tiger riders who are very satisfied with them. There is a very successful race suspension tuner by the name of Dave Mose who sells instructional DVD's on suspension. He spends lots and lots of time working on getting rebound right and not a whole lot on compression. My impression from all that I have read, and I have not ever spent the extra money to get high and low speed compression adjustment, is that is best used for dialing in a specific "track." As I mentioned before, for us mere mortals, we ride a half dozen or more different types of road in ONE outing. Which to you set up for? If you buy a good but not super expensive shock (or spring on a decent shock core) you just might be surprised at how much you like it.
Well i set my bike up for travelling Europe with kit two up,so road wise anything motorways to the motocross back roads of eastern countries.
To be honest Marko999,save your money mate,if your used to Ohlins there's no hope,I had a similar situation last year when i bought my K1200 with 1800 miles on the clock,i'm not sure who refused to stop riding the bike first my wife or me,aftermarket suspension is an addiction,spend your time trying to buy Ohlins at a decent price,the retail varies a lot depending on were you buy,as an alternative give Maxton a call.
To be honest Marko999,save your money mate,if your used to Ohlins there's no hope,I had a similar situation last year when i bought my K1200 with 1800 miles on the clock,i'm not sure who refused to stop riding the bike first my wife or me,aftermarket suspension is an addiction,spend your time trying to buy Ohlins at a decent price,the retail varies a lot depending on were you buy,as an alternative give Maxton a call.
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Well I bought a 1050 recently and noticed right away that I was going to have problems with the suspension. So I took the advice that was given previously here and bought the HP spring kit for front and rear. What a great diffrence the kit made. The bike feels like a completely diffent bike now for me. If anyone wants to upgrade and not have to spend a small fortune I would highly recommend going this route. Now if you plan on doing serious traks days you might want to go for the full adjustable shocks, for others this is more than enough IMO.
I put a Wilbers on my 955i and was quite happy with the results.
One of the problems with asking about aftermarket suspension is that anyone who has done it almost certainly only bought one. Its not like you have a chance to try the bike with Hagon, Ohlins, Wilbers and just a spring upgrade to compare which suits you best.
One thing I would do is give racetech a call and see if there is a chance that the stock shock can be rebuilt and upgraded. They can actually do this on a surprising number of shocks and the cost is far less than a complete new shock. If they can't do it you're not out anything.
One of the problems with asking about aftermarket suspension is that anyone who has done it almost certainly only bought one. Its not like you have a chance to try the bike with Hagon, Ohlins, Wilbers and just a spring upgrade to compare which suits you best.
One thing I would do is give racetech a call and see if there is a chance that the stock shock can be rebuilt and upgraded. They can actually do this on a surprising number of shocks and the cost is far less than a complete new shock. If they can't do it you're not out anything.
Hi,last week I went to the classic show at stafford and had a chat with the Hagon Bloke on there stand, he told me they fit the spring that suits your weight and the type of riding you do,eg solo, with boxes and with a pillon.The quality of the shock looked good and the price wasn't bonkers, £425 with the hydraulic preload adjuster,
I asked triumph for a price of a Ohlins rear shock and they came back with a price of £845, I won't be buying one.
I read in MCN that the new 800 tiger will come with non-ajustable front forks and a rear shock only ajustable for pre-load,i won't be buying one
I asked triumph for a price of a Ohlins rear shock and they came back with a price of £845, I won't be buying one.
I read in MCN that the new 800 tiger will come with non-ajustable front forks and a rear shock only ajustable for pre-load,i won't be buying one
If you went to Stafford,you'll have walked past me a few times!!Hi,last week I went to the classic show at stafford and had a chat with the Hagon Bloke on there stand, he told me they fit the spring that suits your weight and the type of riding you do,eg solo, with boxes and with a pillon.The quality of the shock looked good and the price wasn't bonkers, £425 with the hydraulic preload adjuster,
I asked triumph for a price of a Ohlins rear shock and they came back with a price of £845, I won't be buying one.
I read in MCN that the new 800 tiger will come with non-ajustable front forks and a rear shock only ajustable for pre-load,i won't be buying one
The quality of the Hagon,is e'rmmm ok,better than stock but a league away from a Wilbers,I assume you have a 1050 because Ohlins haven't made a shock for a 955 for years.
Doesn't work like that,because of what spec you want,there are too many variables.
He's your man,good dude,got his screwed on and knows suspension,and if you know your offroad UK history a well known guy in years gone back.
http://wilberssuspension.co.uk/
He's your man,good dude,got his screwed on and knows suspension,and if you know your offroad UK history a well known guy in years gone back.
http://wilberssuspension.co.uk/
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705 Posts
The Tiger XC has upgraded suspension (longer travel F & R, larger diameter forks) and IS adjustable. £500 extra though!I read in MCN that the new 800 tiger will come with non-ajustable front forks and a rear shock only ajustable for pre-load,i won't be buying one
Jon
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28 Posts
I'm having my rear shock rebuilt with a custom big body and seperator pistion. Should be a huge improvement pover stock. At the same time he is converting the fron fork internals to cartridges
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