[DUG]

Hi
t-100 bonnie, i put ikon shocks on, i live in the bush, the roads are rubish, i've got the preload right down and the damping on one, still rough, granted i have prety stuffed joints, (40+ years in construction, nothin to do wth all the jd & coke!! Lol).
I was going to put new springs in the forks,not sure now, any advise?
Dug

 

[rodburner]

Dug,it's a Bonnie,not a Husky XC. 3" of travel isn't gonna be soft in the outback,no matter what your joints feel like..

 

[steventhechef]

The standard shocks are less than average. The Ikons are better but you'll never float over our bush roads with even the best suspension. Sometimes winding the damping up firms the ride and in turn doesn't give you the bounce affect.

The front spring are rubbish. There are progressive avaiable or look at emulators or cartridges. They make a huge difference but might be too shift in the rebound for you.

Maybe you need a KLR as well ?? More JD and coke will lessen the sensation overall

 

[Askari]

Sympathy!

Hi
t-100 bonnie, i put ikon shocks on, i live in the bush, the roads are rubish, i've got the preload right down and the damping on one, still rough, granted i have prety stuffed joints, (40+ years in construction, nothin to do wth all the jd & coke!! Lol).
I was going to put new springs in the forks,not sure now, any advise?
Dug

Same continent and live up dirt roads. I have IKONs on the back and intimators in the front. Will have to consult the bike but i think i run 2 on the damping. I weigh 100 kg wringing wet and specced slightly harder springs, i like a firmer ride. Go to the IKON web site there is lots of tech info there and it might be worth having a chat with them direct, you might benefit from a spring rate change.
Also winge to your local council and get them to grade the road!!

 

[DUG]

Hi guys
well it won't come as a suprise to you's but i have taken a tiger xc and a gs 800 for a test. Ok back to the subject, not sure what rate the springs are, i'm 110kgs, might be a tad more ,me jeans were a bit tight smornin, missis musta washed em in hot water, lol. I'm goin down the coast this long week-end to pick up a floating disc (mine apears to be warped. I,ll sus it out down the "motor cycle shop" that i bought the koni's from.
Before i go i'm goin to fit a set of buckhorn bars off the roadking, see if taking 'all' the weight off my arms will help (cupple of colapsed verts in the neck, yeah i no, it go's on an on).
I do like askari's air hawk seat tho, have you been for a good ride yet? That would probly take a fair bit of the shock out, eh?
I'm sure with a bit of feed back i'll get thru it.
Sunuff 4 now....dug

 

[Askari]

Yeah sure does!

Hi guys
well it won't come as a suprise to you's but i have taken a tiger xc and a gs 800 for a test. Ok back to the subject, not sure what rate the springs are, i'm 110kgs, might be a tad more ,me jeans were a bit tight smornin, missis musta washed em in hot water, lol. I'm goin down the coast this long week-end to pick up a floating disc (mine apears to be warped. I,ll sus it out down the "motor cycle shop" that i bought the koni's from.
Before i go i'm goin to fit a set of buckhorn bars off the roadking, see if taking 'all' the weight off my arms will help (cupple of colapsed verts in the neck, yeah i no, it go's on an on).
I do like askari's air hawk seat tho, have you been for a good ride yet? That would probly take a fair bit of the shock out, eh?
I'm sure with a bit of feed back i'll get thru it.
Sunuff 4 now....dug

Longest ride was to Nelson from Geelong along the great ocean road. Definately a massive improvement and adjustable if any discomfort occours.
Always a bit of a compromise with springs as you generaly have to cover a fair range. Luggage or misses or both. Hope your supplier can give you some helpful advice.

 

[plodalong]

Hi Doug
You might find going up in the damping actually works better as its probably rebound damping adjustment (normally is) and slowing rebound down might make things less harsh. running aftermarket springs and emulators in my thruxton and they work pretty well but another option is "intiminators". These work with the standard springs and I've had them in two road trail type bikes and they work well for me.

 

[DUG]

Putting advise into action

Hi fella's
well i turned the rebound damping up to three out of four,( four being the most damping, suposedly for two up with lugage), and while i was at i put the preload up the top notch, went for a ride on a nasty bit of road, and guess what, lots better, never to old to learn,eh?
I allso put the buckhorn bars on which means i dont get the shock up to my neck.(not quite you thruxton riders cup of tea, but then i've never had bars lower than flaty's anyway).
Next to sort out the forks, i'm thinking "progressive" springs, and intimiators (or some thing) i prsume they are a damping aid, have to do some home work.
Do thruxton preload adjusters just screw into bonnie forks? Are they usefull?
Crikey i'm full of questions, thanks, dug

 

[ivar]

I will recommend intiminators, they make the forks much more compliant on rough surfaces.

Here's some info on why the stock suspension don't cut it when it gets rougher:
http://racetech.com/page/id/30#15

I have thruxton preload adjusters on my bonnie, they allows me to fine tune the preload as needed. Otherwis you'd have to cut/add spacers to adjust

As for the adjustment on the Ikon shocks; set preload first to get the proper sag, then add rebound damping to compensate for the added preload.
Too little rebound damping in relation to preload, shocks will feel "bouncy"
too much, shocks will "pack up" and not have time to extend before the next bump

 

[Charles Lathe]

Hey Dug,

I have Ikons on the back of my T100. I live in the US and ordered them through Recommended Service in San Francisco because he is the US importer and calls Ikon with all the particulars so they can set them up with the right springs.

Solo, I set them up on the least pre-load and two for rebound damping. Two-up with luggage, highest preload and 4 for damping.

In between solo and full up touring, I dither around with them.

I think they run pretty well this way, but they still hit hard on extra big bumps.

In the RaceTech Suspension Bible, they explain why they don't like progressive springs. The top of my Ikon springs are covered, but I think they are straight wound.

Regards, Chuck

 

[DUG]

Hi Thanks for the feedbac, been looking thru the forum, I think the "Intimators" from Rico with standard springs and Thruxton adjusters might be the go. But just noticed there's no drain holes in the bottom of the forks, so I guess I'll have to pull the forks off, So,,, any one pulled the guts out to drill out the damping holes for the race-tec emulators? How long did it take? Any problems? They appear to be similar (apart from the dilling out) and roughly $100 cheaper. Cheers DUG PS how come koni's are heaps cheaped over in the US than here, we make them? (even taking into account the high au $)

 

[plodalong]

Yes I pulled the forks and drilled them. Probably a couple of hours work and you'll need a rattle gun and an 8mm? allen adaptor to remove the damper rod bolt on the bottom. Toss up between Intiminators and emulators, the intiminators wern't out when I did mine. Some have complained about Intiminators fitted to the Triumphs giving a vibration like an out of balance wheel on smooth roads. I haven't found a smooth road in NSW but it might be a problem. Fitted YSS emulators as they were a bit cheaper than the racetec jobbies with straight rate springs for my weight. Work pretty well but I still wouldn't call them plush.

 

[DUG]

Hi
Got back from a few days on the Bonnie, the bars make a huge differance to my comfort. The ikon shockies feel ok comfort-wise, good handling-wise, now you can feel the front end doing a little dance, especialy with the new front disk!
The forks are the next emuators with standard springs, look into an adjuster for the preload. Rubber gaiters, paint the headlight black, run the wires inside the bars.
Has anyone used one of those wind down steering dampers?
DUG

 

[plasma]

Hey Dug,

I have Ikons on the back of my T100. I live in the US and ordered them through Recommended Service in San Francisco because he is the US importer and calls Ikon with all the particulars so they can set them up with the right springs.

Solo, I set them up on the least pre-load and two for rebound damping. Two-up with luggage, highest preload and 4 for damping.

In between solo and full up touring, I dither around with them.

I think they run pretty well this way, but they still hit hard on extra big bumps.

In the RaceTech Suspension Bible, they explain why they don't like progressive springs. The top of my Ikon springs are covered, but I think they are straight wound.

Regards, Chuck

+1, I have same suspension and I sett them up the same way,seems to work for me.

Plasma.

 

[welshrob]

I have Hagons on the back, they work really well. On the front, I first tried Ikon progressives but I hated them, then I tried intiminators but they were hunting on smooth roads (plenty of threads on here about it) then I drilled them, still hunting but better. Then I tried 15w oil with the recommended air gap and stock springs. I`m really happy with the front end and this is the best (and cheapest) suspension mod that I`ve done so far. I`m 68kg and ride very hard, always solo.

What works on the front end of these bikes varies greatly depending on your weight and how you ride, "what`s sauce for the goose is not always sauce for the gander!" Some people swear by intiminators, others hate them and take them out and throw them in the bin. Like me.

I`ve ridden from Bathurst to the Gold Coast in a day on it, about 1000km`s on some pretty ordinary roads, it was reasonably comfortable but I have the single seat with rack, which is fairly thick.

 

[DUG]

HI
I'm hearing you Rob, you can spend alot of money and time on these things, was on my mind to try heavier oil. maybe some washers on top of the spring.