Good reasonable priced rear shocks

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Andover Norton told me that they are made in Taiwan to Andover's specs. They really wouldn't say who made them. I put a pair on my 73 Mk1 and they seem to be ok. I weigh in at 210 pounds.
 
I put some cheap Chinese shocks on the back of the 920. The plan was to upgrade them soon, but I was curious as to how bad these things would be.

My thoughts on shock absorbers are that they were invented to make riding on a rough road a much less jarring experience. Later on people figured out how to make shocks that could allow you to go around corners faster.
Those aren't necessarily the same ones that will give your aching back a plush ride over a road riddled with potholes and rough asphalt patches.
My Thruxton R has expensive Ohlins at back ($1400).
I've played with them a bit. It certainly corners well but is a bit harsh on a less than perfect road. I think you have to live with that with sport suspension.
The Commando with its original shocks is easier on the back but wouldn't be the ultimate on a track. It's not going on a track so the plush ride is more important for me.
Anyway, I rode the 920 at speed over some fairly patched up asphalt yesterday. The expensive Showa Big Piston front fork didn't like it at all.
This fork is off a late model GSXR 600, an excellent track machine, not a great touring bike though.
Will play with the settings some, but I think that's what you get with sporty suspension, especially when fitted to a light bike.
The cheap Chinese shocks on the back?
I didn't feel a thing, they soaked up all of those bumps.
I had to ride over it again to make sure my butt was correct.
Yes, lots of jarring motion coming from the clip ons, dead smooth at back.
Now, how many weeks and miles will I get before they fail?

Glen
 
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The ultimate goal of suspension is to maintain contact between the tire and the road. The ultimate would be zero unsprung mass and critical damping. This would achieve the goal. Unfortunately, reality intrudes with non-zero unsprung mass which causes overshoot which can only be reduced by over-springing and over-damping. The key is to get those as low as possible. If you never hit the rubber bump stops in your shocks, you could probably use a lower spring rate. Springs seem to be hit or miss. I put Progressive Suspension (the brand) fork springs in my '66 Daytona and they were too soft and worse than the old ones they replaced. The same brand in my Ironhead Showa forks transformed them into great forks.
 
hhh said:
The ultimate goal of suspension is to maintain contact between the tire and the road. The ultimate would be zero unsprung mass and critical damping. This would achieve the goal. Unfortunately, reality intrudes with non-zero unsprung mass which causes overshoot which can only be reduced by over-springing and over-damping. The key is to get those as low as possible. If you never hit the rubber bump stops in your shocks, you could probably use a lower spring rate. Springs seem to be hit or miss. I put Progressive Suspension (the brand) fork springs in my '66 Daytona and they were too soft and worse than the old ones they replaced. The same brand in my Ironhead Showa forks transformed them into great forks.
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I would say that all of my bike's rear shocks maintain tire contact with the road at the speeds I travel at, right from these cheap Chinese shocks to the weirdo Vincent rear and so on.
They all ride a bit differently though and some definitely transfer more of a jar to the rider than others do.
I have on occasion hit a deep pothole, then all bets are off.
It might not matter what is on there then, you are going to get thrown around and the bike will likely be airborne coming out of the pothole.
One day I'll try fitting the go pro to show what's happening back there.
Maybe I'm wrong and the tires are losing contact at times.

Glen
 
The problem is finding quality rebuildable shocks that don't have too much compression damping which kicks you in the butt everytime you hit a bump. Compression damping increases when you add Nitrogen gas pressure and there are only a few girling replicas such as NJB that don't use gas. Ikons get lots of recommendations but they only have 2" of travel. Falcon's are attractive but they also use gas but are still suited for lightweight Manxes etc on the track. I am frustrated in my search for rear shocks for a lightweight (approx 350lb) cafe bike (180lb rider) as in the old photo below. My last shocks were Hagons and lasted but the gas pressure gave too much compression damping in my opinion. Part of the problem is the vertical layout of the Atlas requires a lighter shock than the laydown angle Commando style.

Good reasonable priced rear shocks
 
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I have always used Koni shocks. The spring rate and damping are important because they affect the steering geometry. My bike is light and I use 80 pound inch springs. My mate was watching me ride one day and he noticed the shocks were losing control of the rear wheel. I could feel it, but I thought it was just me. We took the springs off and adjusted the damping and the bike handled much better. With vertical shocks, the spring rate is usually less than with shocks which are on a lean, because the travel is greater with the lean, for the same load. As the back of the bike goes down, the rake on the steering head increases, that steers the bike. If you automatically correct for the change in steering,while you are riding, you can get into a bad cycle, - if the damping in the shocks is insufficient. Damping and spring rate work together, So you need adjustment, Konis are good for that.
 
Modern bikes have a lot of suspension travel both front and rear, so the handling is more responsive to acceleration and braking. It is different in concept. But on roads which are not very undulating, less travel does not usually matter. With a Commando, the speeds are usually lower.
 
Is anyone playing with preload adjusters on stock rears? Mine are at whatever they were from factory I assume, mid point?
 
I've been using the Ikon's for my Interstate for years now and have been quite happy with them.
I have rebuilt the rubber bushes after 60K miles on them. The big plus for them is that they are rebuildable.
 
CanukNortonNut said:
I've been using the Ikon's for my Interstate for years now and have been quite happy with them.
I have rebuilt the rubber bushes after 60K miles on them. The big plus for them is that they are rebuildable.
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Yes me too . I like the new Ikons on my MK 111 too that replaced the good jbl .
 
Torontonian said:
Yes me too . I like the new Ikons on my MK 111 too that replaced the good jbl .
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The hagons on my T140 lost damping very quickly, the original girlings on my '68 bonnie had better damping! The finish was excellent though! I rate NJB for the money ( they are cheap so don't compare with some of the other options on this thread) above hagons, have them on the Rocket 3 . Best period type shocks in my experience are Ikons/konis on the T140 and Laverda but dated compared to the Falcons on the commando and it shows. The Laverda will be getting Falcons soon and will hopefully be able to flog the Konis, which is a positive of sorts for both makes imo!
 
I find that the spring strength has a lot to do with how good the ride is. Springs that are stiff better for making progress, softer ones a much better ride. At some point you chose which is more important to you. NJB is the best trade off twixt cost and ride.
I run Ikons which are pricey but somewhat better.
 
wavey_davey said:
The hagons on my T140 lost damping very quickly, the original girlings on my '68 bonnie had better damping! The finish was excellent though! I rate NJB for the money ( they are cheap so don't compare with some of the other options on this thread) above hagons, have them on the Rocket 3 . Best period type shocks in my experience are Ikons/konis on the T140 and Laverda but dated compared to the Falcons on the commando and it shows. The Laverda will be getting Falcons soon and will hopefully be able to flog the Konis, which is a positive of sorts for both makes imo!
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I noticed that your Falcon shocks were black bodies with chrome spring Dave, which are a little nearer to the old original Girlings visually.

Was this a custom build or perhaps they were that way at one time (they now come with black springs)?
 
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