Lansdown dampers and rear shocks

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commando6868

commando6868

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Last week I took a ride thru the White Mts. of New Hampshire, first good ride with the new Landsdown dampers up front. They worked very well, no harsh bottoming out or rebound. The rear Hagons are not working so well, they are getting worn. What's the best bet for rear shocks? I am not worried about looking stock, the bike is way past that. I have Craven bags and sometimes load up with camping gear. I am 170 with gear on and probably another 70 pounds fully loaded. Road Rider tires and stock rims on a 75 MK 111
Anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks
 
Can't help but have exactly the same question. I have the Fauth fork mod which does quite well but the rear Hagon's have always been much to stiff for me - I'm about the same weight - 165 "dry."
 
Mike,

I have Hagons on my 850 and they are working out nicely for me.

The springs may be too stiff on your Hagons, simple as that, when you bought them.

I would contact a Hagon reseller and ask them about installing lighter springs.

I also have a new Triumph Bonneville with Hagons to replace the stock shocks, I weight about the same as you guys and was told to specify 118 pound instead of 120 springs, glad or I did or they would be too stiff.
 
"I weight about the same as you guys and was told to specify 118 pound instead of 120 "

2 lbs difference in spring rate actually makes a difference? I would never have thought so... ;)

When I bought the Hagons a few years back I just ordered a set of them from Old Britts. I can't recall if I didn't realize there were different rates or I just ordered the oem rate - figuring that was fine. I just looked at the OB website and I see listings for Hagons with various spring rates. Obviously I should have paid more attention/done more research back then. :(

I'm not at the bike at the moment to look at the shocks - are the springs easily removable?
 
If the Hagon's are like the old originals on mine, there is a split collet at the top. Take a spring compressor and pull the collet out and swap springs if you can get them.
 
Mike

The classic Hagon I was told come with two spring rates available, I think you have the stiffer ones

I would not assume the difference is only two pounds as that seems insignificant

I guess that is just how Hagon labels the spring rates

I weigh 175 and the 118 or lighter spring is perfect for me
 
I put Ikons on my bike and love them. I am a big guy, so probably weigh what most of you do with camping gear loaded on the back. I talked with Ikon (USA) and the spring on the shock was chosen based on riding weight. But they are fully adjustable. I saw a thread here in the past in which somebody was not happy with their Ikon shocks, complaining they are too harsh. So I don't know if there is a problem with accommodating a wide range of weight, or whether it was an issue of getting them adjusted.

I would talk to the company rep about it. I found the service to be exceptional, the product is beautiful at about 300 bucks for the set.

Russ
 
Old Britts has 3 Hagon springs available - 127, 110, and 99. I have no clue which ones came on my Hagons but with me sitting on the bike the rear shocks don't sag at all. Is there a way to tell one spring from another...any marking? If I knew what I had I might be able to make a guess as to what I should try...
 
My rear shocks are bottoming out, so it is possible that different springs will help. Someone will know how to tell the spring rates on the Hagons, I haven't sen any markings.
Thanks for the info on Ikon and Works Performance, I will check them out, call the reps and explain what I need. It looks like it will be starting at about $400.00 for the Ikons.

Mike
 
I'll disassemble the springs from one of the shocks this coming weekend and see if I can find any markings that identify the spring rate. I THINK they are 126 (heaviest) simply because they don't sag at all with me on the bike. I have to bounce on the seat to get any movement out of the suspension. But assuming they are 126s, I don't know how to figure out whether 110s or 99s would be correct for me. I'd prefer NOT having to buy both sets to try them out...
 
What I've done without taking springs out was put feed bags or other weighs on and measure the compression then divide that in half.
 
commando6868 said:
Last week I took a ride thru the White Mts. of New Hampshire, first good ride with the new Landsdown dampers up front. They worked very well, no harsh bottoming out or rebound. The rear Hagons are not working so well, they are getting worn. What's the best bet for rear shocks? I am not worried about looking stock, the bike is way past that. I have Craven bags and sometimes load up with camping gear. I am 170 with gear on and probably another 70 pounds fully loaded. Road Rider tires and stock rims on a 75 MK 111
Anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks
Click to expand...

commando6868,
Hagons....
Try turning the adjuster one notch more....up... from the bottom position! It helped for me.
Cheers,
Thomas
CNN
 
I found a site that claims it can calculate spring rate http://www.sonicsprings.com/catalog/cal ... #calculate

But when I entered the appropriate data, it came up with a spring rate of about 47 lb/inch (after conversion from kg/mm). That's less than 1/2 the rate of the lowest spring available for the Hagon. Makes no sense. I entered the bike weight - I used 470 - and my weight with gear - 175. I don't get it. What did I do wrong?
 
Yep as rear springs will rate about twice the fork springs. The Ohlins $hock$ I'm eyeballing have a fair range of rates, mine would be 80-120 on fairly light pilot and cycle.
 
The good thing with Ikon is that they are rebuildable, I have had Koni shockes on my Norton for 33 years now and have just rebuilt them for the first time , the parts are supplied by Ikon now and I have just brought a set of new Ikons for my 1960 Manxman, when my Koni shock blew a seal I brought a cheap set of Hagons, was not impress with them at all, I got the new seals and rebuilt my old Konis real fast, wasn't a hard job at all, but I put heaver shockie oil in them then had to change my nomal settings, I went from 5w oil to 10w, spend the money and get decent shockies and you will never look back, the Ikons are ajustable dampers as well as the springs, I run my dampers on the sport settings with light preload on the springs, have never had them bottom out, only when the seal blew.

But remember there are so many good shockies around these days, you pay for what you get, I push my Norton to its limits always and expect my shockes to work their best and with the Lansdowns up front and the Featherbed frame I have a very well handling Norton.

Ashley
 
mike996 said:
Old Britts has 3 Hagon springs available - 127, 110, and 99. I have no clue which ones came on my Hagons but with me sitting on the bike the rear shocks don't sag at all. Is there a way to tell one spring from another...any marking? If I knew what I had I might be able to make a guess as to what I should try...
Click to expand...

The Hagon’s for the first few years, after they brought out Girlings, had colour code markings on the springs, but this practice appears to have fallen by the wayside with Hagon now.

http://www.vintagebritishcables.com/GIR ... 958-75.php
 
I looked more carefully at that calculator site and you guys are right - it's just for front fork springs. I didn't pay any attention - just followed a link and entered data.

Bernard - I had no idea there were so many different springs available! I tend to think that for me a set of 90s (Old Britts has them) might be the ticket since I have 0 sag now even with me sitting on the bike. OTOH, the bike can just barely clear the numerous speed bumps so any sag at all in the rear would mean it will drag. So maybe I'm stuck with what I have in order to avoid constant bottoming on the speed bumps... :(
 
I find the Hagon shocks mediocre at best, but better than most shocks in the sub $200 range

another option besides IKON shocks if your looking for a quality shock are the GAZI shocks - i put a set on my laverda SF2 and they are really nice - fully adjustable w/ rebound adjustment too (i got the sport lites) and fully rebuildable. I haven't fitted GAZi's to my commando as i have work performance shocks on it already and combined with John's fork mods (which i have) they ride real nice - Works are real good shocks too but a bit more pricey than the Gazi or IKON

http://www.gazisuspension.com/shock-abs ... e-sl400300

http://www.gazisuspension.com/shock-abs ... c-sc400320
 
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