Rear suspension replacement
1 - 12 of 12 Posts
Joined
·
89 Posts
The maximum weight is not just down to the rear suspension. You need to make sure the rear sub frame is strong enough. Start with a much heavier spring, the shock isn't bad. Remember its the spring that supports the weight of the bike not the damping.
Joined
·
72 Posts
I'm going this route:
http://hyperpro.com/hyperpro-for-honda-crf1000l-africa-twin/
The standard spring is too short, I only weigh 75 Kg and need 25 pre-load clicks to get 30% sag. That leaves 5 more clicks when I add a small pillion and 2 panniers.
It handles like a pig loaded. Honda recommend 2.0 bar front tyre pressure, it runs wide in mountain turns, enough for my pillion to notice. KTM recommend for their 990 Adventure, 2.4 bar, probably a safer pressure for the road. I ended up increasing the rear pressure to 3 bar otherwise it got very scary on Spanish motorway curves as the tyre ended up steering the bike as it followed imperfections in the surface.
Still a nice bike though.
http://hyperpro.com/hyperpro-for-honda-crf1000l-africa-twin/
The standard spring is too short, I only weigh 75 Kg and need 25 pre-load clicks to get 30% sag. That leaves 5 more clicks when I add a small pillion and 2 panniers.
It handles like a pig loaded. Honda recommend 2.0 bar front tyre pressure, it runs wide in mountain turns, enough for my pillion to notice. KTM recommend for their 990 Adventure, 2.4 bar, probably a safer pressure for the road. I ended up increasing the rear pressure to 3 bar otherwise it got very scary on Spanish motorway curves as the tyre ended up steering the bike as it followed imperfections in the surface.
Still a nice bike though.
Joined
·
208 Posts
I believe replacing the spring on the OEM shock will be a waste of money. I have my suspicions of the OEM shock in its current state. The recommended standard spring preload setting is 7 clicks from minimum. I am 75kg and already I have the preload at 27 clicks from minimum to get a balanced setting with very little extra weight on the bike. The rebound damping setting is recommended at 11 clicks from Maximum. I am already at 8 clicks from Max and setting the rebound at max makes little difference. As such putting on a stronger spring would probably overcome the rebound damping at max setting.
There are two options, either replace the shock fluid with a heavier oil, or replace the shock as a unit. I have a Wilbers shock on my Triumph and imho it is a superior item to the oem Honda unit. It is managing the ride on a much heavier bike and has lots of spare adjustment to use. I will get by for now with my oem but I suspect that I will have to do something about it in the not too distant future.
There are two options, either replace the shock fluid with a heavier oil, or replace the shock as a unit. I have a Wilbers shock on my Triumph and imho it is a superior item to the oem Honda unit. It is managing the ride on a much heavier bike and has lots of spare adjustment to use. I will get by for now with my oem but I suspect that I will have to do something about it in the not too distant future.
Joined
·
219 Posts
Does anyone know What are the factory settings on the front forks ? I was messing with it and made it feel rough , but don't remember the original settings . 0
Joined
·
28 Posts
Owner' manual pg 121: Spring preload - 5 turns from soft (DCT 8.5 turns) / Rebound - 2 1/4 turns from max / Compression damping (bottom of fork) - 8 clicks from max.Does anyone know What are the factory settings on the front forks ? I was messing with it and made it feel rough , but don't remember the original settings . 0
Alex with Konflict MotorSports just got his AT and will be diving into his own suspension for upgrades. Here is his link. I have used him and he is awesome. He has recently build suspensions for a couple Dakar Rally riders from the states. This bike is his cup of tea. You want better ride, then think about him.
http://www.konflictmotorsports.com/
He is in Kent, WA. He works hand in hand with TouraTec suspensions for GS's, and Super Teneres'. I will have him do my front forks first to suit my riding and weight. YES it makes a huge difference.
Regards,
Jeff
http://www.konflictmotorsports.com/
He is in Kent, WA. He works hand in hand with TouraTec suspensions for GS's, and Super Teneres'. I will have him do my front forks first to suit my riding and weight. YES it makes a huge difference.
Regards,
Jeff
Joined
·
480 Posts
I like the manaul adjustment on the AT suspension and generally don't have a problem with it. I am at 38% sag at the rear with 125kg load at max preload though. To me this is too soft, even for normal weight riders with gear (mentioned elsewhere on this forum). I thought it would be useful to chart the rear sag settings Vs preload. This might give others, at a more normal weight (!), plus panniers/racks/luggage/tent etc. a view of what their sag might look like. e.g. 75Kg rider and 50Kg pillion/luggage.
I have a HyperPro spring coming today, it should just raise me 20mm across the board and allow me to reach 30% sag on a preload of 35 clicks. I can't fit it for a couple of weeks but I have no doubt as to their claim on the extra 20mm. When further loaded or with pillion I will just have to work on a higher sag % front and back, that is not a disaster in itself unless I am riding aggresively off-road (which I don't). At least the Hyperpro will balance the front and back somewhat which is the main goal.
I initially considered the Touratech +20mm kit which is front and back springs but I never had a problem achieving 30% sag at the front. That kit uses the exact same Hyperpro rear spring so it was a no brainer to just swap the rear spring at a very much lower cost than the whole kit. Rugged Roads obliged in this respect.
I have a HyperPro spring coming today, it should just raise me 20mm across the board and allow me to reach 30% sag on a preload of 35 clicks. I can't fit it for a couple of weeks but I have no doubt as to their claim on the extra 20mm. When further loaded or with pillion I will just have to work on a higher sag % front and back, that is not a disaster in itself unless I am riding aggresively off-road (which I don't). At least the Hyperpro will balance the front and back somewhat which is the main goal.
I initially considered the Touratech +20mm kit which is front and back springs but I never had a problem achieving 30% sag at the front. That kit uses the exact same Hyperpro rear spring so it was a no brainer to just swap the rear spring at a very much lower cost than the whole kit. Rugged Roads obliged in this respect.
Attachments
Joined
·
89 Posts
Thanks for the graph, so assuming you are using about 30% of travel as your correct loaded sag, how many turns of the preload adjuster was that?.
Joined
·
480 Posts
For 30% and in the case of a 125Kg load, It would be pretty much maxed out at 35 clicks. Having said that 125Kg is a large enough load so for most lighter/medium weight riders with lots of luggage 125Kg still won't be achieved so it will leave plenty of adjustment for them.
I am not too fixated on 30% sag though, I did need less sag at the back sure but I can decide on a sag target of 35% for example with the preload at postion 10, I can match this at the front. Now if I take a pillion/extra luggage I have another 25 clicks of rear preload left, again, maybe to maintain a 35% sag target.
It is more inportant that I can adjust pre-load front and back for balance, i.e. the bike not being too much nose up or nose down, so the bike is handling well. In this respect it doesn't matter if I am sitting at 28%, 30% or 35% sag. It is just with the Honda spring it was far too excessive at the rear (for my weight) and my sag values were a good deal higher, I was losing too much suspension travel on the comprssion stroke.
I am not too fixated on 30% sag though, I did need less sag at the back sure but I can decide on a sag target of 35% for example with the preload at postion 10, I can match this at the front. Now if I take a pillion/extra luggage I have another 25 clicks of rear preload left, again, maybe to maintain a 35% sag target.
It is more inportant that I can adjust pre-load front and back for balance, i.e. the bike not being too much nose up or nose down, so the bike is handling well. In this respect it doesn't matter if I am sitting at 28%, 30% or 35% sag. It is just with the Honda spring it was far too excessive at the rear (for my weight) and my sag values were a good deal higher, I was losing too much suspension travel on the comprssion stroke.
1 - 12 of 12 Posts
