Suspension Overhaul: Traxxion Dynamics vs. Race Tech

Tagging @970mike (see the next few sentences) and @Igofar. Some years ago Igofar was immensely helpful over the phone (more than once!) and I took literally pages of notes. I consulted some of those notes as part of this operation. Thank you again, Igofar!

In this thread -> https://www.st-owners.com/forums/threads/oil-leak.161577/post-2309209 <- I posted some pictures of the output shaft seal boot and the cover.
My "a drip of oil every now and again" was clearly coming from there. I also took the opportunity to replace the SMC.

I'm calling this the "ST 2.0" project -- new tires, new brakes (new pads, clean/replace grease in the caliper sliders, new SMC unit, full brake fluid flush, etc.), new suspension, better routing of the preload adjuster, new exhaust clamps, and more.

TODO: not today, but maybe soon I have a rubber rear fender extender thing from a certain accessories vendor in the UK, but I haven't installed it yet.
I hope to have the bike back together again and on the road today.
 
I suppose I should follow this up. For 3.5 years and 25,000 miles I was extremely happy with the suspension upgrades and recommend them thoroughly. My rear shock started leaking very recently, and it is very probably headed back to GMD Computrack for refurb. I'm not unhappy. Such is life! I can assure you I don't baby this machine. If it matters, I went with a 1300# spring. I've been happy with it. In Northern California this year, with probably too much stuff in the bags and top box (and me), I hit up a few mountain roads that were impressively rough and the bike did amazingly well, bottoming out only once. It handled everything I threw at it for the next 7,000 miles without complaint, despite weather and conditions and road surfaces and miles of gravel or dirt and whatnot.

I will decide in the next few days if I'm going to go with Penske or a re-refurb of my OEM shock (or a new-used shock I bought from a fellow lister).

If you are on the fence, just do it. Traxxion Dynamics or GMD Computrack or others.
 
I'm confused.
You're saying the aftermarket shock was worth it, but you may go back to OEM?
Why not install the refurbished Traxxion shock?
 
I explained that badly. Let me try again.

3.5 years ago I had my OEM shock rebuilt with fancy gold valves and a new spring and whatever else they did to it. It has been great since then. A few weeks ago, I noticed an oil spot on the ground and after some investigation determined that it was the shock. While not enthusiastic about the situation, it is what it is. So I am a plan A plan B plan C kind of person. Here they are:

Plan A - have the rebuilt shock refurbished again. It probably just needs new seals. However, if something else is wrong, then we'll go with plan B or plan C. Cost: ~400
Plan B - have the spare OEM shock rebuilt and the spring from my old one transferred. Cost: More than 400, but a good bit less than plan C.
Plan C - Penske or Nitron, etc. Cost: 1200+. I would not want to lose an easy-to-use preload adjuster, although it's not that big of a deal.


I hope that clarifies things.
 
I had traxxion rebuild my shock, revalved and new spring. It was a nice improvement. Well worth the money. Still I felt the suspension could be better.
Then I installed a Penske double clicker from Traxxion in my other ST1300. An equal step better than the rebuild. It has adjustable ride height. I have it set just high enough for the axle to clear the muffler. Steering is light. More neutral in turns.
Traxxion guy said the valving they can do with the stick shock is limited. That the leverage of the swing arm on the shock is high and that the Penske’s valving has a broader range to control that movement better.
All that matches up with my experience.
For cruising down the road and easy touring and improved handling the revalved oem is fine.
The Penske is better for all around riding stands out more so, and more worth the money as speeds in the turns increases especially when there are bumps and undulations thrown in.
As far as preload adjustment, I finally did get a look at that. There are two set screws in the adjuster ring that the L rod tool fits in to. The shock has to come out to access at least one if not both set screws.
 
As far as preload adjustment, I finally did get a look at that. There are two set screws in the adjuster ring that the L rod tool fits in to. The shock has to come out to access at least one if not both set screws.
Click to expand...
And that right there is probably a disqualifier for me. I like the idea of going with an aftermarket shock (for the reasons you have articulated above) but the inability to adjust stuff "easily" is a must-have. Supposedly the Nitron (and maybe the Penske) support a remote adjuster for preload, but I am absolutely not going to entertain a process that involves removing the shock to adjust things.
 
NobodySpecial said:
And that right there is probably a disqualifier for me. I like the idea of going with an aftermarket shock (for the reasons you have articulated above) but the inability to adjust stuff "easily" is a must-have. Supposedly the Nitron (and maybe the Penske) support a remote adjuster for preload, but I am absolutely not going to entertain a process that involves removing the shock to adjust things.
Click to expand...

ST1300 PAN EUROPEAN (SC51) – M61085H – Hagon Shocks

hagon-shocks.co.uk hagon-shocks.co.uk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom