Had a Shocking afternoon

Boxerboy55

Boxerboy55

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I’ll confess I asked my older lad to lend his muscle to remove the rear shock.

The one that dismantled itself while riding last Saturday.

I reckon the bumpy roads popped a circlip out, letting the shock come apart.

Will return to Maxton for a rebuild. ££££

I’ve traced an OEM shock to keep me mobile.

IMG_2874.jpegIMG_2875.jpegIMG_2876.jpeg
 
As the owner of a few sets of Maxton Shocks almost 100% sure that the alloy shock body shouldn't be splayed out at the bottom ,but has bottoming out heavily caused that and the circlip to fall out and the shock to fail or has the circlip coming out caused the damage.

Either way the shock body/internals and probably the shaft are toast.

Last Maxton I had rebuilt with a new spring was £250 plus
 
Boxerboy55 said:
And that would be a ?
Click to expand...
Clearly not the setup you have got!

It doesn’t take me to tell you that you’ve had a life-threatening failure!

Either your shock was rubbish or, as @Neil W suggests, the physical setup is wrong.

Are you using the OE spring? If you’ve uprated the spring, or a using a lot of pre-load, there’s going to be quite an impact on the failed circlip at full droop. Frankly, I’m surprised that it’s just a circlip and not a stop threaded into the shock body.
 
I had Maxton front/rear on a Honda ST1300 for a while. Essentially the remote rear preload blew twice in 2 years before they refunded me with the original cost.
At that point I gave up and put Wilburs on, night and day difference - I ran them for the next six years and they were superb.
 
Those photos, especially the bell mouthing, look like pretty serious damage. Glad you are still around to tell the tale.

The bell mouthing suggests the cross section of the outer shock tube is too thin walled for the application, the grade of material (presumably anodised T6-6061 alloy) is too soft, or the shock has been massively overloaded and repeatedly hammered.

I would take Greg’s advice and look for something else.
 
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The full Maxton suspension set was fitted in 2016. Custom built to suit me riding solo.

It has performed well for 41,000 miles.

My Saturday ride included the A708 between Selkirk and Moffat and the road surface is atrocious in places.

I had to dodge several potholes as well as dirt on the riding line.

One particular water filled pothole caught me out and the the front wheel crashed into it.
The rear probably followed suit.

The front wheel crash certainly shocked my arms and my fillings.
The GPS bracket even pivoted on the mounting bolts.

I was relieved when I checked the front wheel and tyre and found all seemed ok.

It took quite a while for the rear suspension to turn into a pogo stick.

I agree, the flared finish is probably a result of getting crashed too hard. Game over.
Luckily it tootled home ok.
 
Boxerboy55 said:
The full Maxton suspension set was fitted in 2016. Custom built to suit me riding solo.

It has performed well for 41,000 miles.

My Saturday ride included the A708 between Selkirk and Moffat and the road surface is atrocious in places.

I had to dodge several potholes as well as dirt on the riding line.

One particular water filled pothole caught me out and the the front wheel crashed into it.
The rear probably followed suit.

The front wheel crash certainly shocked my arms and my fillings.
The GPS bracket even pivoted on the mounting bolts.

I was relieved when I checked the front wheel and tyre and found all seemed ok.

It took quite a while for the rear suspension to turn into a pogo stick.

I agree, the flared finish is probably a result of getting crashed too hard. Game over.
Luckily it tootled home ok.
Click to expand...
Reason I got my rear Maxton rebuilt was despite being supposedly built to my spec (mainly for two up use with full luggage ) it wasn't .

The bike was brilliant solo or solo with luggage but two up with luggage it the rear spring was too light and it was always sitting near the bump stop. On the last trip it was on the R1200GSA (the one where the ECU failed in Austria ) it split the bump stop and the seal was starting to leak .

Got it rebuilt for the 1250 with a heavier spring and damping rate for two up and it appears fine (unfortunately the wife needs her other knee replaced and is likely to be going on dialysis in the next 18 months , so no more two up touring unless she gets a new knee and a kidney).
BUGGER
 
albatross said:
Lukasz aka Denzo at T-Tech suspension rebuilds most motorbike suspension to a very high standard…
Check with him…send him some pics and ask what he thinks, he is the specialist…Top Man

About Us – T-Tech Suspension LTD

ttechsuspension.com ttechsuspension.com
Click to expand...
I’d agree with the above ,
T tech sell tractive suspension,top drawer stuff ,but at the upper end of the price range.
I’d go with Hyperpro or take further advise from denzo.
 
Neil W said:
As the owner of a few sets of Maxton Shocks almost 100% sure that the alloy shock body shouldn't be splayed out at the bottom ,but has bottoming out heavily caused that and the circlip to fall out and the shock to fail or has the circlip coming out caused the damage.

Either way the shock body/internals and probably the shaft are toast.

Last Maxton I had rebuilt with a new spring was £250 plus
Click to expand...
I have just paid £240 for full rebuild with an update design of main seal.
My shock had only done 12K miles since new.
Maxton seem on the face value a reasonable company to deal with?
 
Maxton are essentially a competition shock manufacturer and very busy during the racing season, and therefore difficult to get a response or service from over that period as their priority lies with those customers.
There are many excellent reviews for Wilbers suspension on here, and although I have replacement T Tech susp I would have preferred to use Wilber’s from previous experience, but at the time the main importer in Birmingham had just retired. I believe MCT have taken on their place

www.mctsuspension.uk

Motorbike suspension, Motorcycle Suspension | MCT suspension | Stowmarket

MCT suspension, motorbike suspension, Wilbers, Ohlins, Nitron, Ktech, suspension repairs, suspension upgrades; equipment and suspension sales, specialist advice
www.mctsuspension.uk www.mctsuspension.uk
 
Moffat to ST Marys Loch. A few years back I also destroyed the rear shock on my R1100S on that road. A bit too much enthusiasm over some of the yumps :devilish:
 
Apologies if I've missed it, but after fitting in 2016 am I right in thinking it has just been used...for 41k miles until it went pop ? I.E...not been back for a service or rebuild?
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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