Hagon Shocks on an 883 Low

[ColinB]

I ordered a pair of Hagon 28/10 'made-to-measure' shocks directly fron Hagon UK, talking to the guy who builds them to order. They were ordered as 290mm long - a tad under 11 1/2" - and for a #130 rider. They're for my wife's bike, and she's 5'1" so it has to be low. I was banking on the correct amount of rider sag bringing the bike down to a good length for her.

Initial impressions were not too good, as plastic spacers and a rubber bump-stop were slid down the central rod thingy to give about 1 1/4" of travel. The piccie at the bottom is more eloquent than me.

I put them on for her on Sunday morning. I was glad of the hollow axles on the 2008 Sportsters because I ended up with the extension bar from a socket set shoved up the axle so I could lever the shocks up to the correct height with off-cuts of wood. Once again the spacers were incorrect widths and washers had to be used!

Just with the weight of the bike they compressed down to 11". With Sue on the bike they compressed down on to the rubber bump-stop!!! With the pre-load up to #3 of 3 we got 1/2" of travel - they were 10 3/4" long.

We went for a ride and Sue was quite happy with them. They did bottom out a few times, but not harshly, and the added (or subtracted) lowness made her more confident and she wants to keep them. She's spent the last 7 years riding a Yam 535 Virago so she's used to no suspension. I, however, am not impressed one little bit - I rode it and thought the original shocks were better, but I'm #25 heavier.

The best shocks for Sue's bike would be my Hagons ( 11 3/4" with rider ) with 1" lowering blocks. However, she's happy, so I'm happy.

[whittlebeast]

I assume that the white ring around the shaft is fairly soft. That is known as the bump stiletto. They are very difficunt to calculate the final result and are more of a trial and error type of thing to tune. Some shocks are built to change those out with the "hardness" of the rubber (or the taper). Be carful removing those as without them the shock may bottom out and the hard parts on the inside of the shock may be the first thing to stop the bike. Never good.

Cool Shocks.

AW

[ColinB]

Thanks. I had thought about trying to remove some of the plastic 'bump-stiletto' after careful measurements. The shock fully compresses down to 10 1/4", so I reckoned another 1/2" would be OK as others (inc. XLXR if my memory serves) have posted a 'just over 9" ' measurement for the full rear wheel travel shock length. I'm concerned about luggage carrying as we do a lot of touring in France during the Summer.

I'll take this one very slowly, tho' my first thought is to get on the 'phone and express my displeasure and see where it gets me.

[sportytrace]

Originally Posted by ColinB

Thanks. I had thought about trying to remove some of the plastic 'bump-stiletto' after careful measurements. The shock fully compresses down to 10 1/4", so I reckoned another 1/2" would be OK as others (inc. XLXR if my memory serves) have posted a 'just over 9" ' measurement for the full rear wheel travel shock length. I'm concerned about luggage carrying as we do a lot of touring in France during the Summer.

I'll take this one very slowly, tho' my first thought is to get on the 'phone and express my displeasure and see where it gets me.

Hi Colin, I've read previously on the triumph forum that when Hagon UK didn't get it right the first time that they were happy to try again and make adjustments. Though that was a couple of years ago. Call them and see what they think; especially if Sue is going to be adding some luggage on there too and is already bottoming out. It certainly sounds like she may need a higher spring rating in the initial travel of the spring. Good luck!

[ColinB]

Originally Posted by sportytrace

Hi Colin, I've read previously on the triumph forum that when Hagon UK didn't get it right the first time that they were happy to try again and make adjustments. Though that was a couple of years ago. Call them and see what they think; especially if Sue is going to be adding some luggage on there too and is already bottoming out. It certainly sounds like she may need a higher spring rating in the initial travel of the spring. Good luck!

Thanks Trace, I'll do this and see what they say - but we want to get as much riding in as possible at the moment. We're having a bit of an 'Indian Summer' over here at the moment, so we want to make as much of it as we can before the bikes (and us) go into hibernation. My days of riding through Winter are long gone!

Cheers.

[XLXR]

What does 28/10 refer to? What spring rate do you have?

This is the common problem with short shocks. After the rider sag, there is not much travel before the bump stops. From the picture it seems as though the rubber bump stops will have at least another 1" of travel before the shock actually stops compressing. Any travel it good travel.

It seems to me they went with a light spring to get a smooth ride and then added the rubber bumper stops to soften up the hit when the shocks bottom out. Nothing wrong with that. I would not be suprised if the rubber bumpers last longer than the shock. It works because essentially you end up with a soft initial spring rate and harder final spring rate. That is what you must have to make a short travel suspension work.

If she is happy, it sounds like Hagon provided exactly what you asked for.

At such low spring rates, the 25 lb difference in your weights will be very noticable and it may not be possible to get it to work for you. I am experimenting with a 150/220 lb spring, I weigh 240 lbs, and I can tell the difference with a 28 lb sack of rocks taped to the back seat.

I highly recommend taking off one shock and let the other one bottom out with a rider on the bike to verify how much clearance you have and what determine what actually is limiting the travel. I measured the 9" distance between the shock mounts on a 07 Nightster and cannot be sure yours is the same.

[ColinB]

Thanks. Good advice, as always.