Ikon shocks on T140

Fast Eddie

Fast Eddie

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According to the Ikon website, the chain guard and rear brake torque arm require moving / spacing in order to fit Ikon shocks to a late T140.

Has anyone fitted these units?

Was it easy or a PITA?

And do they work well?

The Taiwanese girling replicas on my T140 are quite poor performing units IMHO.

Any feedback regarding the fitting and using of Ikons greatly appreciated.
 
Last edited:
You might take another look at Your old Girlings.

Back when we drilled, drained, re-filled with good results. They weren’t transformed into Konis but they were improved. Vinyl tape and a hose clamp to seal.
 
I have just put Ikon’s on my A10 and they made a huge difference to the ride, they fitted perfectly the only negative is they are not cheap.
 
xbacksideslider said:
You might take another look at Your old Girlings.

Back when we drilled, drained, re-filled with good results. They weren’t transformed into Konis but they were improved. Vinyl tape and a hose clamp to seal.
Click to expand...

I don’t have girlings, I have cheap girling replicas, well, replicas in appearance but not function.
Im not wasting 5 minutes of my life trying to turn them into something that functions as I wish !
 
Indeed, the Ikons are expensive, it’s not a much bigger stretch to go for Maxton’s! Which got me looking around a bit more...

In the past I’ve been somewhat underwhelmed by Hagons as I’ve noticed big improvements when changing them for things like Koni / Ikon / Maxton (all of which way more expensive than Hagons, so I’m not Hagon bashing here, they serve a place in the market well).

But now I see they’re also catering for a more sophisticated slice of the market with these adjustable jobs = http://www.hagon-shocks.co.uk/catalog/partdetail.aspx?PartNo=32004TTSS

Has anyone tried them? Are they any good?
 
You get what you pay for, yes Ikons are exsensive but will last a life time and are cheap and easy to rebuild, my old Koni's have been on my Norton for over 40 years now and were only rebuilt about 5 years ago for the first time, $40 for the rebuild kit from Ikon and only took me about 3 hours to do both shocks, I paid $250 in the days which was a lot of money way back then but they have paid for themselfs over and over again.
The new Ikons are just on $540 and really thats not to bad and they look the same as my old Konis, I brought a new set for my project Manxman I am building and had a set of Ikons on my 2013 Thruxton, but they were given to me and worked better than the Gazi shocks I had on it.

Ashley
 
Thanks Ash.

I know the Ikons are good. But on the T140 there are issues with chain guard and brake torque arm clearance. I don’t know how difficult or easy these are to resolve.

So, the combination of cost, and potential fitment issues has me looking around elsewhere.

The T140 is only a ‘knock around bike’ for me so is really can’t justify Maxton’s.

I’d also be open to alternative suggestions from anyone who has tried, and can recommend any quality alternatives...
 
Matchless said:
Why not a pair of Falcons?
Click to expand...

Good question, I like Falcons. But they don’t list a T140 application and I don’t want to get into guesswork / product development with them, I’d prefer to buy something with a proven track record for the application.

And, if you add the adjustability options etc, you’re quickly up to Maxton prices, which I don’t want to spend on this job.
 
Nige have Ikons/Konis (the latter I think, or mebbe put the koni alloy top collars on Ikons, too long ago to remember??!).

I think there are clearance issues, but I used specific springs from Norman Hyde at the time, which were narrower coil slightly and no clearance issues. Might be worth a line to him?

In terms of performance, I have Falcons on my Commando, and did have Hagons before the Konis on the T140. I agree, Hagons wear out in no time, the 30 year old girlings on my T120 had more damping.
Konis are VERY good PERIOD shocks imho!

Happy to take a photo of fitment when I return from trip this weekend?

Dave
 
wavey_davey said:
Nige have Ikons/Konis (the latter I think, or mebbe put the koni alloy top collars on Ikons, too long ago to remember??!).

I think there are clearance issues, but I used specific springs from Norman Hyde at the time, which were narrower coil slightly and no clearance issues. Might be worth a line to him?

In terms of performance, I have Falcons on my Commando, and did have Hagons before the Konis on the T140. I agree, Hagons wear out in no time, the 30 year old girlings on my T120 had more damping.
Konis are VERY good PERIOD shocks imho!

Happy to take a photo of fitment when I return from trip this weekend?

Dave
Click to expand...

Thanks Dave, I see Hyde does still list the Ikons for T140s, I’ll email them and see what they have to say.

Some pics would be appreciated, thanks.
 
Well, Hyde not much help.

David at Hyde confirmed the current shocks do have the fat spring and faffing around with spacers etc is required.

He also offered Hagons instead !
 
Nigel I can't lodge photos on this forum, but happy to send you those photos if you pm me an email address, sounds like you're taking a different route now in any case. Also discovered my konis ARE actually rubbing the chain guard! Only just and just needs mounting tweaking.

I have NJBs on my Rocket 3 and, whilst not konis, never mind falcon or maxton, they seem very decent for the money.
 
The YSS offerings are a bit ugly IMHO.

What I’m really looking for here though is first hand recommendations if possible.

I’m currently awaiting a reply from Falcon.

Pending that, Hagons currently look the favourites.
 
Take a look on the Bike Revival site where there is lots to choose from. They have the Progressive Suspension 12 series shocks @ £259 a pair which I have had on my TR7 for as long as I can remember. They are still good & it handles as well as it always has done. As they have offset bottom eyes there is no clearance issues.
 
storm42 said:
I have them on my Commando, seem OK, if they are the right length for the T140, you can borrow them and make your own mind up. I will go and measure them and the T140 ones.
Click to expand...

That’s very kind Ralph, but Commando shocks are longer (I think).
 

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