Commando suspension improvements?

I ride on a lot of cobblestone streets here (around San Miguel de Allende, Mexico) and there are a lot of speed bumps near any small town/village (or large town/city, for that matter).

I have the Fauth Front fork mod and the standard Hagon shocks that are sold for the bike by most suppliers. THe shocks are set at their softest setting. Are there Commando suspension components/mods that might be better at dealing with the cobbles and provide a smoother/more compliant ride on rough surfaces? I guess I'm wanting a modern suspension without looking like it's a modern suspension.

I have been using the AMSoil Shock Therapy (light#5). It helps and stays clean for a season. Lean how to post as you would on a fine horse?

Its the rear spring rate in travel zone that are annoying you. If too stiff then tail hops about and jars pilot and front isolastic side slap. Suspension travel is what makes rough cobbles and holes smooth out more than dampening action. Progressive spring that's easy to move within a couple inches, ie: about an inch each side of sag point, then stiffen up fast beyond that. Btw how do Fualt's forks feel for ya on Mexican quality surfaces. What grade=thickness of fork fluid you like so far?

I can "post" but that get's old when I'm are doing for 20 minutes .

The Fauth mod is excellent compared to the oem setup - no topping/bottoming out and just a generally much better front ride. I use ATF, which is what Greg Fauth recommended. I haven't tried anything else - I figure just about anything else would be less responsive since it would be thicker but I'm open to suggestions - I'm no suspension expert. I have stock front springs.

Are there any progressive springs for the Hagons or a "better" rear shock?

I know there are better shocks but I find the Hagon quite smooth without have to spend too much. I might thing you/we are dependant on the basic geometry of the motorcycle. That is to say that it is what it is and even the best shocks will have their limits unless some frame and swingarm modifications are performed, ala GP.

Mike996, what motorcycle around you are more comfortable and what kind of equipment works for them?

In the Fault kit on rough stuff I found ATF a bit thin but better than fork oils, then I ran out so tried power steering fluid to find it the best yet. Only trouble is pure ps fluid is very hydroscopic so if forks not used regually the springs rust into the stanchions, so next time I'm adding some ATF or mystery oil or simllar for some rust protection. I may try brake fluid as getting low on power steering fluid used for what sold for. Try putting a fairly heavy load on the rear and see if it makes nicer, if so then try another set of shock springs one notch range softer than stock. A number of venders carry these. I found Hagons pretty decent if spring preload set unloaded. I set Fauth sag 2 inches off top out so about 1nch taller than factory resting stance pilot seated for ~ 4 inches of smooth bump take up w/o bottoming. At some point you will run into the isolastic hinge no matter the forks or rear suspension so be alert and play with fr to rr air balance - generally on the lower side to take up the lumps and dips and lips.

Ye olde Gas girlings worked well , with the 110 Lb. springs . Still fairly firm so a bit of load no problem . The rear didnt pull down .

The standard one way damped girlings ' jack ' the back down , if theyve any damping left . as its rebound damping , so a bumpy bend
the rear tends to lower & bits on the side start to drag .

The dreaded swing arm pin C L A M P E D would assist no end , mandatory & compulsary for scratching to avoid rear end steering .

Traditionally S T P was added to the ATF if used for damper fuid . Besides friction reduction the increased viscosity is the idea .
5 to 25 % , useually 10 maybe 15 % , or 8 % .

Cant see a decent steering damper doing any harm too .For faster touring in hill country .

I gave up on steering dampers for two reasons, though it did help for the normal riding around sense of stability on rough and loose stuff, it made too much effort for me to enjoy on good pavement and it restricted fork motion for fast enough pilot or bike self correcting action when surface and suspension and traction conditions splash together now and then no fault you the pilot. I know cobble stones and brick work roads and know how polished their tops get so can slip a tire width w/o even trying. Will keep the STP or Lucas oil treatment idea Matt to thicken up ATF some what.

"Mike996, what motorcycle around you are more comfortable and what kind of equipment works for them?"

EVERYBODY I ride with has either a KLR, a VStrom, or another company's equivalent (my wife, for example, rides a BMWF650GS). One of the riders occasionally rides an old Triumph 500 twin but usually he's on his KLR and when he's on the Triumph, we always stop at least once per trip while he repairs something.

Please, DO NOT advise me to buy one of those (KLR, etc) I have NO interest whatsoever in that type of motorcycle. The Commando has no issues at all as far as riding on the regular roads we ride - it's just when we hit the small towns/cobblestones that I feel like I'm going to lose some fillings. If it was just a couple of minutes of it, it would be fine. But the other day it was nearly 30 of going through town/cobblestones and that's not unusual. Rides also often include dirt roads for 5-10 miles, some of them rather washed out.

Again, I am NOT "wishing" for the Commando to handle that stuff as well as KLRs - that is impossible and I understand that but I would like to know if there is some improvement available. If not, I'll just continue to deal with it. Heck, that's why they make safety wire!

Re steering damper - I have been thinking about re-installing a damper I removed several years ago after correcting a bunch of problems that required the PO to put it on. It doesn't need it at all at any speed on decent roads and the steering is quicker without it but I think it would reduce some of the chattering on the cobbles. I'll probably put it back on early next week and see how it acts on the cobbles on our next ride - prob Wed.

Some good info here:

fork-springs-best-source-t13607.html?hilit=fauth

Nobody else mentioned it so I will. What tire pressure (and tires) are you running and have you played around
with different pressures to see if that would make any difference at all.


GB

FWIW, I bought some Ikon shocks a couple of years back. The difference they made in the bike where huge. Of course I was replacing worn out OEM shocks. But they will build a shock for you based on your weight and riding conditions. It might be worth a call to the Ikon dealer in CA for a chat.

http://www.ikonsuspensionusa.com/servle ... late=about

As far as tire press, I have been running 28F 30R (oem size 4.10/19 Avon RR on F/R). That's higher than the pressures suggested in the owner's manual but I have found that less than that means the frame/centerstand bottoms on some of the speedbumps.

Re progressive springs - I see that Clubmans offers two different "levels" of progressives - 15/35 and 35/50. What does that mean, exactly and what determines which spring to select? I weigh 165 lbs and the bike never carries a passenger.

Re the Ikon shocks - I'll do some research/calls re that.

Really appreciate the infer/suggestions!

I will be in TX at the end of the month and could ordder/have parts shipped there and bring them back to Mexico.

Ok Mike we have very similar conditions and very similar weight and very similar reasons to end up with 30 rear and 28 PSI front. The progressive springs you mentionarer for the forks, almost everyone whoose tried them say they suck for hard braking and bottom too easy on rough stuff. I encourage you to try the off the shelf fork springs to compare with the valve spring rate spacer + factory spring I found about perfect and much better than the MX-Dirt-Trial bikes I tried in very serious raw ravines and stump and hole covered Ozark back woods play ground chasing surprised deer out the way.

What I think you will like the best [ in addition to Greg Fuaht fork kit] is a breast and head linkage. I found my un-link tammed Cdo's [ 2 Combats] tended to skips around on the tires and tends to pivot near its CoG some couple of feet off tire contact, which tends to lift tires off surface, where as the modern rides tended to keep pivot on the tire contacts so tipping action keeps tires in touch better, so feels more controllable reserves than a wiggle worm un-tamed isolastic splashing unpredictable vectors for surprise reactions and traction loss at one end or both at once. Head and breast links can be fitted w/o much dismantling. But I'd give those 2 little mild so so handling helper links up in 2 shakes of a billy goats tail for a * Robust Rump Rod *.

My Ms Peel stopped the weird unsettling pivoting- tip action above the tire contacts to a wonderful weird stability that can skip and drift and slide w/o changing lean angle to matter so not tending to trip out from under, which can take ya down or ruin the turning aim to miss the big crap a few inches apart or if hitting crap just absorbs it and picks up instant like nothing happened. Its pretty wild to feel this work to save ya then leaves ya unsure how to emotionally react - but just carry on into over through or around the next instant of feeling alive cheating death and destruction so comformable road racing will bore ya to tears, expect not enough power to wheelie past the ton. Peel will not have that limitation in the future.

To ride rough or loose stuff one must learn to avoid using front to steer, but only use bar force to tip bike into desired leans on enough throttle to keep front unloaded much as possible. Ignore the counter or straight steering thinking process the front will auto matically follow the road and counter or straight steer depending on how hot you add throttle to the turns and slight leans to weave into most secure path or just lock forks stiffly on same or slight increasing power, to keep bike posture-lean angle the same until across the looser or rougher spot and can relax bar grip again to let forks self correct and carry on. You might try to sit back on bike to unload the forks even more and why I do that, completely opposite of the modern corner cripples that load the front to turn, there by having to let off power on unloaded rear loss of thrust saving hook up. sheeze.

If ya get into it like me you may become as nutz as me paying attention ONLY to what angle and power the rear tire is taking ignoring Fauth fantastic forks except to assist the rear to lean or just allow to get out the way of rear lean and power steering. You don't have to be in tire spin and going ridiculous speeds to pull this off but do have to slow up in the opens to allow entering each and every turn slow enough you can be on decent throttle going around to keep the front as unloaded and out of conflict with the Rear That Rules The Roost! As confidence builds up a threshold may be crossed so the relaxed let off in the opens is rather faster than your friends on such limited rides are entering or leaving the ticky spots.

On the tougher slopes and loose lumps sections I get into lower gear to rev up some for the crank gryo stablization and to match engine pulses to better rear grip hook up, ie" in slight slippage in the 10% slippage zone of best hook up. On the toughest places I have to slow to a crawl with feet out and teeth gritting like everyone else w/o crash cages.









With just that I can thumb my nose at the too tall too bouncing too rough riding too vibrating to unstable modern mismashing clunkers that sound like ATV's instead of a real heavy twin with some torque on tap.

OK...here's another question:

Do stock fork springs "wear out?" IOW, could my original (I assume) 1973 springs be performing poorly compared to a new set of oem springs?

I have some old stock fork springs, the spring "snakes" spirals on compression, this cause's the spring to rub against the inner wall of the stanchion.
Repeated over years this rubbing wears the spring edge, causing quite a "flat", all this metal goe's is into the oil.
Great amounts of fine ground shards mix with the oil to produce a effective grinding agent.
Mixed with water...not the best lube in the world is it? yearly drain and refill highly recommended!

I don't think the springs can wear on in the sense of loosing much of their spring rate but agree with JRB that they can rub their outsides raw on the insides of the stanchions, But what I've found is the pure friction wear is rather minor, AS long as the surfaces don't rust, which vastly accelerates the spring and stance interface wear. What I found that helps on rough stuff is farily weak spring rates for a couple of inches then spiking up spring rates on last inch or so of travel. There is some air spring in the forks, for about 1/4 mile off road and maybe a mile on road, then pumps air pocket out so forks stance lowers and can hydrolock if fluid a bit too full. 175 ml is max I fill forks.

For normal power commando w/o a rump rod I have settled on 110-4.20 tires at both ends. For extra spunky Combat tri-lined I like 120 rear for wear and less tendency to slip out on loose leans under some power. 120 tire on my factory Combat makes it feel like a hiking boot on, but only if I try to race around on it, not much noticed if just riding around w/o police notice or rishing traction states.

It would be educational to try Landownes fork kit. Trouble is so so many things splish and splash in a rubber baby buggy Cdo its very hard to impossible to detect what is doing what until everything modified. I do not play very much on loose or rough stuff on my factory Combat as so unstable it crashes me time to time out the blue just trying my best to get home easy and safe as possible.
If you can believe it my spiffed up SV650 is even more unstable on loose rough stuff so have lost any desire to ride it anymore and never ever take across pasture but to creep and crawl, often with feet down where I can ride failrly stable on my factory Combat. A fork brace is definitely a help even if best fork innards they twist and rebound to interfere with pilot and surface inputs.