[psulick3]

I know someone is going to tell me that I should search the site for all this information and I HAVE, but I am curious if I have narrowed down the available choices to what would work best for me.

I recently put about 150 miles on my new Thruxton and I believe I have confirmed my initial belief that the stock fork setup is rubbish. Although I am new to this bike, I have been riding for 8 years and, due to my problematic toy obsession, this is the 6th bike I have owned. I have ridden dozens of others as well. I feel confident enough to know what I like and what I do not.

For my size (6' 175lbs.) and riding style (street only, mildly aggressive, occasionally two-up) I think the best upgrades are race tech emulators and either hagon progressive or ikon springs with the option of a fork brace if desired. Suspension god's, opinions? Pros and cons of this setup? Hagon vs. Ikon? I have been reading a lot of posts that say progressive is BS... What am I missing? What have I not considered? Should I just call Race Tech and do whatever they tell me?

I am planning on installing myself then taking the bike to a local shop for tuning by a pro. Probably the best idea as I don't know much about the actual tuning of suspensions. I have always had it done for me. I know I know... Newbie jerk off... I know...

Also, down the road (i.e. after I get a new exhaust that reminds me that I am not riding a vespa), I am thinking about the Ikon 7614 aluminum shocks. The red spring would look slick with my red Thrux. Reviews on these bad boys? With the front suspension? Is their anything to matching fork spring brand to rear suspension brand? Probably not, but I thought I would ask...

I'm sorry to be so repetitive and thanks so much in advance. This site is an amazing resource. The majority of the posts on a similar BMW site that I belong to revolve around what kitschy travel bags to attach to your 1200GS and where all the 5 star hotels in the blue ridge mountains are located.

 

[Hated by ALL]

f3 fork tubes and internals..race tech gold valves n springs. good stuff..I believe 96/97 is the year you want. They run the same diameter tubes with far better internals.

 

[propforward]

The Ikon springs are great, I love them. You might also want to consider "works" suspension. I have heard great things, and I understand they can really help you tune the suspension - sounds like what you want to do. I just wanted something better, so I am happy with just a straight install of the Ikons.

EDIT: Incidentally, where are all the 5 star hotels in the Blue Ridge Mountains located?

 

[TB-T100]

I went trough many of the same questions last year. After extensive research I had a pro (the best guy there is here in Norway) do the following:
- rebuilt front legs, with valves, linear springs (to match my weight), oil tuned to my preference
- Custom set-up Öhlins in the rear with progressive springs (to match my weight) oil tuned to my preference

Several people that I trust recommended that I stay away from progressive springs in the front. Yes, yes, I know that lots of people on this board recommend them. It all comes down to what you want. I wanted a set-up for me and my riding style, with an emphasis on handling. If you prefer comfort over handling - go for the progressive ones.

All in all, the change was phenomenal. Now, it handles very very well. Previously, it was very spongy.

Greetings,
Thor

 

[rotaryracer]

Based on many, many wasted hours driving the keyboard and searching for info, here's a quick summary of what I learned...

- CBR F3 95-98 will do the job; the later forks supposedly are better than the early forks. Some have had good luck getting unbent sets off eBay, some not so much. The forks will extend about an inch past the top of the upper triple tree which can let you move your clip-ons above the tree for comfort. Stock bits in this fork are already an improvement, or you can get Traxxion or Racetech springs and valves. If you ever go to a 17" front wheel, this will also let you keep your stock geometry by dropping the fork down a bit further in the tree...unless you have an '09, then you *might* have issues with fork tubes and the full handlebars.

- Traxxion makes a nice little kit to replace the stock damper rods with pre-drilled replacements and includes Racetech emulators. They also make linear rates in varying sizes based on your weight and riding style...you're the same weight as me and I went with a 0.90kg rate for the street; stock is 0.72kg.

- IKON, Hagon, Works, HyperPro, etc. progressive springs are supposed to be a marked improvement over stock...then again, Bic pen springs might be an improvement. The only call-out I'd make is that you probably don't want to do progressive springs with emulators as the two will fight each other and make tuning very difficult. Progressive springs with new fork oil are a great upgrade and reasonably priced.

- IKON, Hagon, Works (lower end) all make nice emulsion shocks, although I've heard mixed reviews about IKON's durability - some have had leaking/seal issues, others swear by 'em. Race Tech makes a gorgeous set of piggyback shocks but you'll need to mount the reservoirs yourself. Ohlins are always a crowd-pleaser and you pay for that privledge, but they are supposed to perform very well. Bitubos (both emulsion and piggyback) are available from Traxxion (higher price, better service), Herdan (much lower advertised price, two weeks to respond to email), and PAKBikes (no idea on price, never responded to PMs).

- There's a thread up right now in the Club Cafe about fork brace, steering damper, or both. Seems like twisty canyon carving is where you want the brace, high speed stability is where you need a damper. There are a few braces out now (Hyde, Superbrace, BC) although the Superbrace is a nice piece of kit and has a mounting point for gaiters, if you want 'em.

I'm getting ready to do suspension this winter while the bike is laid up for storage, hence my interest. Here's what I ended up going with...

- Traxxion damper rod kit with Racetech emulators
- Traxxion linear springs
- Bitubo WMT piggyback shocks in 365mm length
- Superbrace with gaiter mounts
- 20W fork oil

I bought the Traxxion stuff and the Bitubos on eBay using the 25% Live.com search rebate - worked great and saved me some bucks. The Superbrace I got from Brent at NB. I will use the time when everything's ripped apart to install Euro gaiters and a set of Tommaselli adjustable clip-ons.

Hope this helps...

Jason

 

[Matchgrade]

Traxxion damper kit, .90kg linear springs, emulators, 20wt. Maxion fork oil. It's the best thing I've done for my Thruxton. I'm 5'9"/ 185lbs.
I got everything directly from Traxxion (good customer service).

 

[psulick3]

Thanks Everybody

I have been taking a look at the traxxion stuff. Seems like a pretty decent solution. If I didn't go traxxion and got Race Tech emulators and Ikon springs, I assume I would have to drill holes in the stock dampers?

 

[Haggis]

This thread belongs in the stickies. That's where it will go in a few days.

 

[SHRuuM]

s, I assume I would have to drill holes in the stock dampers?

You assume right and unless you have a drill press and feel confident drilling into a taper, AND, do the right amount of holes, with the right size bit, for oil flow, I highly recommend busting open the wallet and spend the extra 100 bucks. Besides you'll save that in time on the back end when you just drop 'em in.

 

[rotaryracer]

I have been taking a look at the traxxion stuff. Seems like a pretty decent solution. If I didn't go traxxion and got Race Tech emulators and Ikon springs, I assume I would have to drill holes in the stock dampers?

IKONs are progressive rate springs, not linear. I'd recommend Racetech or Traxxion linear rate springs with emulators, or IKON/Hagon/HyperPro springs *without* emulators. By the way, the emulators that Traxxion includes with their damper rod kit actually are Racetech emulators.

If you want to save 25% off the Traxxion damper rod/emulator kit, do the following:

1. Go to www.live.com
2. Type 'Thruxton' in the search box, hit enter
3. Click the gray boxed ad link "You may be eligible for 25% off your eBay/PayPal purchase"
4. You get linked to eBay, make sure there's a little green ribbon icon at the top that says you'll get 25% off
5. Do a search for Traxxion, click the link for the emulator kit
6. Click Buy It Now, pay for it with PayPal on credit card
7. Go to My eBay, under messages, look for a mail that says "You've got cashback"
8. Click the cashback link, either setup a new Microsoft Cashback account or use existing
9. Wait 60 days, get 25% of purchase price refunded to your PayPal account

Once you're done, repeat for the Traxxion springs...and Bitubo shocks... This is a Microsoft-sponsored rebate and doesn't cost you anything (except a little time) and Traxxion still gets their full cut. Not sure how long it'll last and the percentage sometimes changes so your mileage may vary....

Jason

 

[psulick3]

I think I'm there...

Let me start by thanking everyone who chimed in. I really appreciate the advice. I just pulled the trigger on some Hyperpro progressive springs and a Superbrace. I want to see how things go for a while. I might eventually go full Traxxion, but I want to try this for a bit. If worst comes to worst, I will be out $140 for the springs. I am also more confident in my installation abilities this way... Baby steps.

I will chime back in with the results.

Now on to the rear shocks and the Predators...

BTW, no to be a huge d^%k, but I rolled the bike off the dealership floor in November and after all my planned upgrades I will only be $200 over MSRP. Gotta love recessions

 

[psulick3]

reaction

I've finally been able to put some miles on the new fork setup and I am very pleased with the results. It isn't perfect, but it is a marked improvement. With the fork brace, the front end feels far more stable and confident going into and coming out of turns. The Hyperpro progressive springs have done a lot to reduce the rebound effect that the stock springs gave after hitting bumps and potholes. There is still a lot of nose dive under even moderate breaking, but I'll live. For my purposes, I think this setup will work nicely. I tried riding around with the brace on and off and could really notice the change in structure.

For a relatively inexpensive and easy way to improve the stock thruxton front end, I think this is pretty good. All told the installation took about 2 hours, but I had to take the trees off to install fork gaitors, if not for that it would have been 45 minutes or so. Very simple. Thanks for all the advice!

 

[SHRuuM]

There is still a lot of nose dive under even moderate breaking, but I'll live. For my purposes, I think this setup will work nicely. I tried riding around with the brace on and off and could really notice the change in structure.

You gotta do the whole Traxxion setup, emulators AND pre-drilled damper rods. This will give pre-load tweaking at the emulator and you'll still have the overall pre-load on top of your forks for more fine tuning.

 

[propforward]

Now on to the rear shocks and the Predators...

Fine idea! I think I'm going to get a pair of Ohlins for mine towards the end of January, I think Triumph performance USA has them. I already have the predators, can't wait to try them out.

 

[Thrux-ton-up]

I'm rolling on the F3 setup from a 97 with Race Tech Gold Valves and springs. Traxxion helped me with the set-up 4 years ago back before they had their emulators. I'd give the emulators a go now - I've heard lots of good stuff about them. The F3's if you have a spare set - do work excellent and give you lots of adjustment on the rebound damping and the Race tech valves give you plenty of options on the compression side of things.

 

[bonnepatrol]

Bonneville t120

Hey John, I realize that your Thruxton has the F3 conversion, but what did you decide to do with the forks on your red n' white killer bonneville?

I'm rolling on the F3 setup from a 97 with Race Tech Gold Valves and springs. Traxxion helped me with the set-up 4 years ago back before they had their emulators. I'd give the emulators a go now - I've heard lots of good stuff about them. The F3's if you have a spare set - do work excellent and give you lots of adjustment on the rebound damping and the Race tech valves give you plenty of options on the compression side of things.

 

[Armen]

John,
Who makes that rear rotor and where did you buy it?
Any chance you compared the weight of the stocker and the wave?
thanks muchly,
-Armen

 

[CHRIS211083]

HI, Ok the thruxton suspention isnt great however i found a really good setup. I fitted Hagon (base model) rear shocks and this made the front feel really bad, however i then turned in the pre load to just off max and the front and rear are now very good, very good indeed. It will never be race tech or cartrige type. however it is now setup properly and its comfy. the best bit is it only cost the price of the rear shocks. Im 6'5 and 135kg,so my suspention works harder then most. Have fun and good luck.