1100 shock options

[MattW]

And Im pretty sure Ive read the exact opposite - on this very site. people who have had their original shocks refurbed have.. during the course of this procedure had the springs 'checked' and found to be well within tolerances - so no work was necessary on the springs. in short - its all about the internals.

Perhaps you would be better off talking to these people who have had this work done to confirm this. its been going on for years - since some company had the bright idea of brazing on a valve to make refurbing the hitherto disposable shocks possible.

I don't doubt replacing the springs is a good idea in some cases - but it seems to me an unnecessary expense if the original spring is still up to the job.

While I take your point and agree that in some cases a refurb might be an excellent idea, I'm convinced that it wouldn't be feasible for my shock.

As I mentioned earlier, the damping adjuster on my shock is seized (which I've been told By Steptoe is not fixable), the hose linking the remote is chaffed and the spring is rusty in places with peeling powdercoat. While I'm all for repairing where possible, It's almost twenty years old and I think the cost of refurb would be so high that it's just not worth it - its useful life is coming to an end.

So, having made the decision to replace with a HyperPro, I'd like to take the opportunity to tailor the spring rate to match my intended use (usually loaded and often two up and loaded). The progressive springs available from HyperPro mean that I could slightly uprate the spring while retaining good solo unloaded performance.

Hence my question...

 

[MattW]

Springs n things.

Emailed with the UK Hyperpro importer today trying to get a handle on costs and whether to specify an uprated spring. He told me that a 'weight upgrade' is usually only specified "if the weight exceeds 105kg more than 50% of the time (rider, pillion and luggage)". Now I weigh 80kg so add any luggage (although I've no idea what my loaded panniers weigh?...) and especially luggage and the missus, I'm easily over the 105kg mark. I often use the bike with the panniers and we've an up and coming two up trip to Europe this summer so I think a 'weight upgrade' is worthwhile having.

In addition to the uprated spring the upgrade also includes a damping range adjustment in the shock so the upgrade costs £80 bringing the whole cost including the remote preload to about £670 from the importer (seems to be about the same cost everywhere).

Hopefully an uprate won't 'overdo' it and leave the bike rock hard for solo unloaded use

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

Springs n things.

Emailed with the UK Hyperpro importer today trying to get a handle on costs and whether to specify an uprated spring. He told me that a 'weight upgrade' is usually only specified "if the weight exceeds 105kg more than 50% of the time (rider, pillion and luggage)". Now I weigh 80kg so add any luggage (although I've no idea what my loaded panniers weigh?...) and especially luggage and the missus, I'm easily over the 105kg mark. I often use the bike with the panniers and we've an up and coming two up trip to Europe this summer so I think a 'weight upgrade' is worthwhile having.

In addition to the uprated spring the upgrade also includes a damping range adjustment in the shock so the upgrade costs £80 bringing the whole cost including the remote preload to about £670 from the importer (seems to be about the same cost everywhere).

Hopefully an uprate won't 'overdo' it and leave the bike rock hard for solo unloaded use

if it has adjustable compression damping it goes long way to assisting spring strength - if normal ride height is ok then you shouldn't need a spring and adj comp damp

 

[motobiker]

Springs n things.

He told me that a 'weight upgrade' is usually only specified "if the weight exceeds 105kg more than 50% of the time (rider, pillion and luggage)":

I guess this is why the original spring is so long lasting - its rated to 207Kg. - The maximum permissible weight on an 1100 with a full tank.

 

[Tsiklonaut]

I guess this is why the original spring is so long lasting - its rated to 207Kg. - The maximum permissible weight on an 1100 with a full tank.

Noupe, it's probably approx 50% of that (the standard weight distribution on bikes is 50/50, on offroad enduro bikes it's little more to the rear) since the total load capacity is masured over two wheels and thus over two shocks.

On the spring choice question:

If mostly communiting I'd opt for standard progressive spring, it'll be big improvement over the original in any case. Yet it'd still be little soft for 2up+full gear setting and preloaded to full (as said: since it's progressive it's deffo better than standard spring though). You could compensate a little adding radically more dampening to decrease the bottoming out, yet the shock won't work effectively then. The sag is still off despite you have much harder dampening settings.

Ideally it'd be nice to have two springs, standard that's mostly on and a harder one for longer travelling / holidays.

I.e. I keep the uber-massive 200-300Nm/mm spring I have off the shock when it's stored awaiting for my travels (otherwise it will "tire-out" the rebound "landing" dampeners since it has crazy force applyed all the time when there's no bike's weight on it). I have an hydraulic press in my nearby car-mechanic workshop where I can walk to from home with shock in my hand and have it put on before I go to my travels. Takes less than 5 minutes to do the job (utterly easy job in fact!), +15 minutes to mount on the bike, so not so bad loss before going on travels. And take it off again when finished.

This you could probably use with the same logic when going off to your travels with your wifey or g/f on a fully loaded bike.

OR, take the harder spring and be prepped for a slightly harder ride on solo-setting.

Baware Hyperpros need a good run in too - mine felt stiff in the beginning, after some couple of thousand clicks they were finally run-in: silky-smooth yet responsive as they should.

 

[MattW]

Noupe, it's probably approx 50% of that (the standard weight distribution on bikes is 50/50, on offroad enduro bikes it's little more to the rear) since the total load capacity is masured over two wheels and thus over two shocks.

On the spring choice question:

If mostly communiting I'd opt for standard progressive spring, it'll be big improvement over the original in any case. Yet it'd still be little soft for 2up+full gear setting and preloaded to full (as said: since it's progressive it's deffo better than standard spring though). You could compensate a little adding radically more dampening to decrease the bottoming out, yet the shock won't work effectively then. The sag is still off despite you have much harder dampening settings.

Ideally it'd be nice to have two springs, standard that's mostly on and a harder one for longer travelling / holidays.

I.e. I keep the uber-massive 200-300Nm/mm spring I have off the shock when it's stored awaiting for my travels (otherwise it will "tire-out" the rebound "landing" dampeners since it has crazy force applyed all the time when there's no bike's weight on it). I have an hydraulic press in my nearby car-mechanic workshop where I can walk to from home with shock in my hand and have it put on before I go to my travels. Takes less than 5 minutes to do the job (utterly easy job in fact!), +15 minutes to mount on the bike, so not so bad loss before going on travels. And take it off again when finished.

This you could probably use with the same logic when going off to your travels with your wifey or g/f on a fully loaded bike.

OR, take the harder spring and be prepped for a slightly harder ride on solo-setting.

Baware Hyperpros need a good run in too - mine felt stiff in the beginning, after some couple of thousand clicks they were finally run-in: silky-smooth yet responsive as they should.

Thanks for the input - useful advice

I thnk I'll probably get a slightly uprated spring (not sure what increments Hyperpro use but just one 'stage' above standard).

If the worst happens and it turns out to be too hard solo, I can always buy a standard spring later.