Thinking of buying G/S X

Well I bought one - it's really rather nice :thumb2

See what you mean about the suspension though. At the bottom of my lane there's a little corrugation on the tarmac, never felt it on the GSA - rode over it on the Urban and it felt like I was riding a pneumatic drill. Just weighing up the options between the 'M' shock (£342) and the basic Wilbers (€399)

I've been trying to decide which shock to buy, just can't seem to make my mine up... :nenau
 
Between the M-Shock and basic Wilbers I'd go with the M-Shock, for the simple reason that you really can feel the difference in ride quality when you adjust the damping, and can easily dial it in to how you like it or are riding on the day. My wife has hers set very much for comfort, but on the odd occasion I ride it, I can add a few extra clicks of damping to firm it up a bit and add stability whilst I'm still sat on the bike it's that simple. The basic Wilbers will be a definite improvement over standard, but I'd definitely miss the ability to tune the ride to my personal needs / taste.
 
I keep looking to buy one. Having not bought from a dealer since 2001 does anyone know what a BM would knock off a S/H machine. Spotted a couple of Scramblers for around £8.5k.

Cheers
 
Ive also bought a faulkners 800lb/in rear spring so I now have 3 springs to compare
12kg/mm standard with 20mm preload
14kg/mm with 10mm preload
and 16kg/mm with 5mm preload

In summary after swapping around:
12kg too light as it hasn't enough low speed compression damping and too much high speed compression damping, it is often using too much travel and onto the bump stop, also feels unbalanced front to back.
16kg slightly too strong a spring, low speed compression is perfect but ride is harder and big bumps especially too harsh. The higher speed handling is very good.
14kg seems the best compromise for me, doesn't feel harsh and has good balanced handling front to back. Bigger road bumps/potholes fine.

Ill still buy an aftermarket better shock but at least I now know a ballpark for spring rate that suite me.



You should really change the spring on the rear shock as its not matched to the damping or the stiffer front end.
I bought a 900lb/in, 8in long 2.25in dia faulkners race spring from demon tweeks for £38 in black. I put 7mm preload on the spring when fitting.

https://www.demon-tweeks.com/uk/faulkners-race-springs-2-25-internal-diameter-2002515/

This improved the back suspension for me. The stock rear spring is woefully too light and you just cant sort the damping and preload out without a stronger spring.
With the YSS cartridge emulators in the forks (with less oil) and the stronger rear spring the ride/handling is a big improvement over stock and only cost £100.
 
I have fitted wilbers over the years, Revs Racing are great to deal with,
The shock quality is great and built to rider weight etc,
Currently running a fully adjustable mattris rear on the classic 9 t.
It was cheap and set for my weight ,
The cartridge emulator valves do a great job of sorting the scrambler/ urban type forks,
They are available fitted by the supplier or do it yourself,
 
Had a fiddle with the rear shock today, found there was way too much sag for my 110 kgs in full kit. Reset it to 40mm ish and set the damping to 1.5 turns out from max. It’s had a positive effect, better though firm ride although still struggles with holes and ridges. Turns in better too. Dropped tyre pressures 0.2 bar front and rear and is now a little less rigid. A worthwhile change overall
 
As an addition to the above had the opportunity to test the adjustments over a longer distance yesterday, on a variety of fast-ish but undulating B and C roads. It's now apparent the previous kidney squashing whacks being endured were being caused by the rear shock bottoming out, now adjusted I'd say the benefit is significant - ride is much improved and turn in is appreciably better. More by luck than jusgement the damping setting seems al good too. Aesthetically another benefit is the gap between seat and rear tyre is restored so I look like Steve McQueen again :D

Any harshness is now much more noticeable from the front end which after much 'interwebbing' and a call to Revs Racing may be being caused by a significantly smaller air gap in the forks than may have been expected. I can see some progressive springs and different/less oil in the near future to compensate. Will update :thumb2
 
After owning a turban for just over six months it still makes me smile
I’ve had the seat reupholstered and raised by two inches.and a Wilber shock on the back. Still not sure what to do about the front. I think I’ll leave it alone for now and see how I get on with it. But it’s more noticeable now after changing the rear. I have to keep telling myself it’s not gonna be like my old GSA but it’s more fun to ride
 
The standard factory oil height setting in the urban forks is high which doesn't help the front. But they also are very rudimentary with old fashioned damping rods which means they have a harsh compression fixed setting.
Any suspension specialist would be able to fit cartridge emulators (racetech, YSS or others), a lower oil level and vastly improve the forks for sensible money. This doesn't even need the fork seals, sliders and bushes disturbing and the forks become adjustable.
It would also be worth springs to match rider weight.
The correct 36mm YSS emulators are only £70 !
 
I'll take a photograph of the damping rods that came out of mine. Basic isn't even close! Springs, oil and air gap aren't going to make much difference to the damping... And that's where the harshness comes from.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk
 
For those who may be interested... This is why your rwu (basic) forks feel shit.
There is one of these damper rods in the bottom of each fork leg. Damping is reliant on controlling the oil flowing through the holes.

The item on the right is FAR more advanced. Probably costs more to make too.
32880f2ae80caa898bcd526d3cb117f8.jpg


Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk
 
Any (brighter than my own) suggestions on how to raise the rear wheel to swap shocks over? Both bike lifts too tall to get under sump, both car jacks too unstable. Bike too heavy too lift onto stand etc etc

Arse
 
Abba stand is best bet but expensive if you only need it once. Where abouts are you?
 
Strap the back of the bike to a joist/ rafter in the garage, (if you’ve got one)and pull it up until the rear wheel is off the floor. Cable tie around the front brake leaver.
 
Just.ridden home from the Channel Ports on a eerily deserted and dark M20....seemed like a good opportunity to let my Urban loose so to speak

:eek: the wind blast put a stop to that before the engine started losing oomph, surprised how much go it’s got :thumby:
 
Get one of these fitted, it helps with the wind blast
 

Attachments

  • D6F9767C-ACDB-4861-AFD4-BB7DAAFE8348.jpg
    D6F9767C-ACDB-4861-AFD4-BB7DAAFE8348.jpg
    231.3 KB · Views: 265


Back
Top Bottom