K75RT / Watsonian-Squire shock query ...

Bobbin-Man

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I'm looking for some advice regarding shocks for the leading link forks on my dad's K75RT/Watsonian-Squire RX4 combination ....

He's recently decided to do a bit of a refurb and in doing so ordered some new front shocks, more due to the old ones looking pretty grim than any functional reasons. Only 20,000 miles in 22 years but it's taken its' toll and some bits do need renewing, I could suggest the same about him at 80 but he's already had a couple of joints done so I'll keep quiet!

Originally the front was fitted (from new) with Koni shocks, he contacted Watsonian who suggested Hagon shocks, he then (I think) contacted Hagon who took a load of details about the setup, weight etc, and have supplied him with some pretty budget shocks (£130/pr). These have been fitted fine but he's questioning whether something is not quite right about the new Hagons ... he's described it as shaking/vibrations of the screen/fairing over bumps, I used the word "crashing" and he tends to agree. I've not ridden it but in fairness I've not ridden it enough previously to be able to pick out any differences anyway.

I've suggested his issue is likely that the shocks are just not the specification/quality of the original Konis, I don't know much about either brand so I'm a little I the dark. I do know that at the price point he's at you don't get much for your money, my GS is shod front and rear with Ohlins but he's no intention of spending that sort of money! He's mentioned Ikon shocks which have the same code numbers as the original Konis, but again I have no experience of those.

Any suggestions?

Stu.
 
By 'crashing' do you mean they are too soft,fully compressing and bottoming out?

Or do you mean that they are too firm and barely compressing thus giving a jarring effect?

I ask this because a friend spent a fair bit of money on a set of allegedly custom specced Hagons for his Ural combo (imagine the cost for five units) because his late model Sachs units were too firm and with the Hagons fitted the thing was almost unrideable on anything that wasn't billiard table smooth.
They were so over sprung and over compression damped that they couldn't be seen to compress at all and the feeling was like the shock absorbers had been replaced with solid steel bars.

I got him a set of earlier Ural OEM units and the machine was transformed.

Likewise,a few years ago I got a set of Hagons for my GL1100 which they said they would custom spring fit to suit a two up and loaded machine.
The ride was horrendous unless the bike was ridiculously overloaded.
Solo it feels like a hardtail front and back.

I wouldn't be surprised if your Dad's troubles are due to the Hagon units.
 
Thanks Tarka. I suspect you're right, I haven't been able to take a look at it yet, he has it over in Trefriw in the Conwy Valley, but it does sound like it's probably over sprung and over damped. He was impressed by the questions they asked but much less impressed with the result! Colwyn Bay Motorcycles who look after it for him did a great job of fitting them but I think he needs to start again with some better units.
 
Hagon are generally OK to deal with - suggest in the first instance, rather than throwing more money at it (assuming it is the shocks of course rather than any other issue) is to contact them and describe the issues, and ask them to reclaibrate - as a decent suspension outfit they would want you to be happy with the end result, and if they might have got their sums wrong, or perhaps not understood the sort of ride that was required, they would almost certainly do it FOC I suspect.
 
I can’t comment on the Hagon shocks but I’ve bought a couple of sets of Ikon shocks over the years and they’ve been fine on the bikes I fitted them to. Build quality seems equal to original Konis I bought several decades ago so if the original ones worked well I’d be very tempted to go for a set of Ikon replacements.
 
Still not sorted this shock problem ... shocking I know but it has been winter and I'm back on the case now!

Has anyone any experience with 2win shocks from the Shock Factory? I followed a link from the Protech shocks website which for twin shocks led me to the Shock Factory. They specifically mention sidecars on their site (which is promising) and I know there's been a lot of positive comments about Protech on here. It's tempting to send the original Koni shocks to them and get them to copy the specification.

Stu.
 


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