Three Sisters warrant new Hagons

[montmil]

This afternoon, Thursday, the Brown Truck Guy dropped off the new Hagons. Clean and shiny with bright chrome springs, unlike my current rusty pit Progressive springs.

Yesterday, I changed out the fork oil from BMW's 7.5wt to Bel-Ray 10wt and found a noticeable difference during a short test ride. The front end feels more secure, if that non-technical explanation makes sense to anyone other than me.

Right now, the thermometer on the shop wall says 106 degrees with the fan running. Think I'll get up early tomorrow to fit the new Hagons and go for a test spin on a few twisters just north of town. Want to get back mid-morning before it gets too warm to seriously play outside.

Hoping for WSB performance but will happily settle for the old gal just maintaining a safe and steady track through mildly sporty turns and bumps.

Monte

[montmil]

I'm back to the house and it is done. New Hagons have been fitted, the fork oil was changed to 10wt and this morning I've been out looking for bumps, dips, sunken manhole covers and fun curves.

I was in the shop at 0500 this Friday morning. Me and a big cup of coffee. And no, Bengt, the funeral home is not open this early. It has been a morning of discoveries.

After removing the first old boinger from the '81, I measured the eye-to-eye distance and discovered that Blackie has been a low-rider bajito. The shock measured 12.25 inches/286mm. Walked over to the Mexico Bike and confirmed those shocks are 13.0 inches. Eyeballed the top of the rear tire to fender gap and discovered an obvious difference.
   Also discovered the old shocks had narrower mounting bolt bushings than the new Hagons and had been pinched closed a bit. Shock mounts needed some love. Tweak, tweak some more, tweak to just right.

Took off on a short ride and immediately discovered an improved responsiveness in the flickability of the motorcycle. The correct length rear shocks decreased both the rake angle and altered the position of the front tire's contact patch. Tthe bike feels a bit more sporty. I am pleased with the alterations.

For those interested, here's a nice article about motorcycle steering dynamics.
http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/school-SectionFiveB.htm

And there's one last discovery. A few weeks ago, I fitted a 1983 version center stand to the '81. Trying to get some relief from the dead weight lift required just to get the bike on its stand. The improved design BMW stand helped a lot but there was still some weight-training involved each time I parked.
   The surprise happy discovery is the greatly reduced effort needed to roll the bike up on the center stand. Three-quarters of an inch additional rear shock length was the real issue!

Monte

[Bengt_Phorqs]

All I can say to your success is a great big Yeeeeehaw!  Now go treat yourself to a big jelly donut.  The mortuaries should be open by now and the coffee will be hot. There's a really nice one up in Saint Jo up the road from you and that should make for a nice ride.

[Bob_Roller]

In your installation, did you happen to notice if the Hagons are rebuildable or not ?

I was checking the shocks from Ikon last week, the shock for the twin shock R65's shows an eye to eye dimension of 12.80 inches .

Anyone know what the original OEM shock dimensions were ?

I could have sworn that I saw a dimension of 14.25 inches somewhere for OEM shocks .

[Ed Miller]

Monte, what spring pre-load position should the shocks be in when you measure the length?  I would guess fully released in the softest position, but I don't know.

My Icons are rebuildable but I need to make a tool to unscrew a retaining plate, a pin wrench that I can force to stay in place whilst I loosen the plate.

[montmil]

In your installation, did you happen to notice if the Hagons are rebuildable or not ?
I was checking the shocks from Ikon last week, the shock for the twin shock R65's shows an eye to eye dimension of 12.80 inches .
Anyone know what the original OEM shock dimensions were ?
I could have sworn that I saw a dimension of 14.25 inches somewhere for OEM shocks .

Monte, what spring pre-load position should the shocks be in when you measure the length?  I would guess fully released in the softest position, but I don't know.

I saw nothing, Bob, that would indicate the Hagons are rebuildable. If they were, I'm thinking Dave Quinn would provide that information on his website as an additional sales tool. Compared to several other shocks I've looked at, the Hagons are a fine dollar value, rebuildable or not.

12.80 inches is close but just a wee bit shorter than OEM. It would probably take a very sensitive and experienced individual to notice any definable difference; I think.

I have a pair of original R65 rear shocks complete with the neat built-in, spring preload adjustment handles. They are 13.0 inches.

Ed, I don't believe it makes much difference as to preload position. If the shocks are off the bike, the spring will extend the shock's shaft to its maximum extension. If on the bike, just jack up up to max preload and you'll have full extension without a doubt.

Monte