Tweet
My new suspension (long)
Well, I finally got it all together. I have RaceTech Gold Valve Emulators, Traxxion Dynamics custom wound front springs, and Progressive Suspension rear springs and shocks. I rode it about 150 miles today, mostly technical stuff on these mountain roads. The muffler and sidestand never scraped, and the bike feels like a new one. I'm not saying it's a CBR1000, but it is a tremendously improved XS11 Special. I have the sag pretty close to dialed in.
I did all this the hard way. I ordered the emulators directly from RaceTech I ordered springs online from Traxxion Dynamics, and the rear shocks from someplace else. The emulators came right away, and the front springs never showed, so I installed the emulators with the sacked front springs. The Progressive shocks were the heavy duty variety. I liked the emulator improvement, but overall, it was awful. 2 up put my headlight in the trees, the back end was mush, as was the front. I called Traxxion and they had cancelled my order due to a misunderstanding. I went to see them and they made me some springs straight away. My springs showed in 10 days. I ordered 140/200 rate springs for the shocks from 650 Central, and they showed up in a few days. I came home yesterday and immediately set to installing my new parts. This mess set me back somewhere around $700.
To do it again, I would do it differently. I would take the forks to Traxxion and let them handle the whole thing. They have the same emulators at a little less money and they do the install and tuning. They also have straight rate sprung shocks that are fairly economical and they would have been right the first time. Swapping springs on the shocks wasn't cheap. Going to Traxxion for everything would have saved me maybe a couple hundred bucks and eliminated all the headache. I recommend them.
The back end is pretty harsh on a concrete highway. I wouldn't do progressive again. It's either mush, or too hard. I'm sticking with the heavy spring for the improved handling.
The front end is tunable. I adjust the emulator spring for compression rate, and the fork oil viscosity for rebound. The sag is controlled by the length of the spacer. Over all, I'm very happy with it.
I did all this the hard way. I ordered the emulators directly from RaceTech I ordered springs online from Traxxion Dynamics, and the rear shocks from someplace else. The emulators came right away, and the front springs never showed, so I installed the emulators with the sacked front springs. The Progressive shocks were the heavy duty variety. I liked the emulator improvement, but overall, it was awful. 2 up put my headlight in the trees, the back end was mush, as was the front. I called Traxxion and they had cancelled my order due to a misunderstanding. I went to see them and they made me some springs straight away. My springs showed in 10 days. I ordered 140/200 rate springs for the shocks from 650 Central, and they showed up in a few days. I came home yesterday and immediately set to installing my new parts. This mess set me back somewhere around $700.
To do it again, I would do it differently. I would take the forks to Traxxion and let them handle the whole thing. They have the same emulators at a little less money and they do the install and tuning. They also have straight rate sprung shocks that are fairly economical and they would have been right the first time. Swapping springs on the shocks wasn't cheap. Going to Traxxion for everything would have saved me maybe a couple hundred bucks and eliminated all the headache. I recommend them.
The back end is pretty harsh on a concrete highway. I wouldn't do progressive again. It's either mush, or too hard. I'm sticking with the heavy spring for the improved handling.
The front end is tunable. I adjust the emulator spring for compression rate, and the fork oil viscosity for rebound. The sag is controlled by the length of the spacer. Over all, I'm very happy with it.
Comment