Rear shock info and recommendations needed.
 

Its been a while since posting. Ive since fitted a ktm 640 sm WP forks to the Ten. A massive improvment but it has highlighted the failing rear shock. Massively. I currently run a hyperpro progressive spring on the stock sachs unit and im looking to upgrade the whole lot. I like the progressive spring it suits my needs of touring, towing, and laning Very well.
URL=http://s607.photobucket.com/user/starboyz636/media/IMG_20150405_220425_zpshvgp9sdh.jpg.html] http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/t...pshvgp9sdh.jpg[/URL]

I contacted a bike shop that listed all the shocks id been looking at Nitron, hyperopro, wilbers, and hagon. This is the reply i got. Ive read loads of Posts and seem less informed than when i started. Im after a sturdy shock that will stand up too some offroad abuse.

Hi Jon

This is a particularly unusual case, in most circumstances we can supply a replacement shock or shock better than original, but in this circumstance there appears to be a problem where the design is outside of normal design characteristics.
Wilber's produces a shock for this particular bike where there is a 20mm less stroke than the original, because it gives a better on the road ride, but is considered not suitable for anything other than light off road usage, based on the principle of giving a better ride onroad at speed than anything else.
They have no design for dual purpose in this case or off road.

http://www.bits4motorbikes.co.uk/Wil...ml?listID=1712

Hagon have exactly the same issue.
http://www.bits4motorbikes.co.uk/Hag...k.html?ID=1712

The problem is about acceptable quality the original design is not of a standard that either manufacture consider acceptable as an improved or satisfactory product to make with the same specifications.
Both manufacturers work on improving the characteristics of a general ride by sacrificing the characteristics of an off road ability. This of course in general is sensible. But inconvenient given your needs.

The other manufacturers will not respond as easily, but we expect any such response from them to be the same.
In simple terms because of a design limitation of this particular model we are of the opinion that no manufacturer has the design specifications to produce a dual role shock for this bike and no manufacturer that we are aware of offers trails version shock for this bike.

So in an extremely odd turn around the only dual purpose shock available is the original
SHOCK ABSORBER ASSY, REAR
11D-F2210-00
�344.64 + Shipping

which is not necessarily particularly useful, but we have ended up back at the beginning!

I'm sorry to say that there are no other options available with this bike.

So im all confused. I dont reli want to sacrifice suspension travel, my budget is around the �500 mark.
Are there any shocks out there that are the same piston travel as the stock unit. And are suitable for offroad. Ideally i want to keep my progressive spring as its excellent at handling my daily Changing loads. ( picking up a cooker with the trailer at 8pm. Trail riding the day after at 6am)
I was looking mainly at the hyperpro / yacugar unit. Any body got any experience with this shock offroad does it come with same travel as the standard unit, is it robust? or am i looking at loading up my credit card and stump for a full blown nitron race shock.

Does that even have the full travel available?? I understand suspension quality is better than lots of travel. Thats why im asking. Whats your experience.

Thanks in advance.
Jon

Hi Jon

Don't need as much money - i'm really happy with the simple Oehlins rear shock - available at off-the-road for about 480 Euros.

It's like day-night to the original shocks - even more with some luggage on the back.

Would recommend it anytime again.

cheers, Andy

ps: Looks nice the KTM-Fork:woo: on the T�n�r�.

Hi Andy, they are amaxing compared to the forks that came stock on the Ten. Took some time to dial in just right but im getting there.

I Had looked at the ohlins but it was this info on OTR that put me off.

The essential distinctions of this new �hlins shock without external reservoir and the higher prices version are the missing outer reservoir and the missing compression adjustment. Also the travel of this shock unfortunatelly is about 35mm less compared to the stock Yamaha shock!

This budget �hlins shock is our recommendation for all Tenere driver who use the bike on tarmac or flat roads and who very rarely go off-road.

Thats alot to lose from the travel. I go laning maybe 2-3 times a month with 300 -400 mile days through wales. i cant really push my budget to the more expensive unit Allthough i may just keep saving if its the best option.

Hi jon660,

You and i are in the exactly same place, i have fitted YZ forks and now wish to improve the rear.

Apart from Ohlins �735 shock from what i can tell they have all reduced travel.

I am currently waiting to hear from the Yacugar importers to confirm the same stroke as standard. Another forum member has told me they are the same just want confirmation. They are �600.

Wonder if theres a deal to be had if we buy 2 ???

I will let you know when i hear back.

http://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=23742

You're link about the Wilbers shock says it is not for off-road use but here is stated that you can order it for offroad use: ????????

http://www.kedo.com/ssl/php/function...eite%2F200.pdf

Hi Bonzo, it would indeed seem we are in the same boat. I have had a look at the nitron unit on rugged roads and am awaiting a response as to the shocks stroke. I have installed the 265mm version of the WP forks so wouldnt realy want to lose any rear travel Either. Lets see if we can get a discount for.2 units ;-) are the yacugar shocks fully adjustable?? Ive seen the hyperpro unit with rebound but cant find info on the stroke.

Link to shock
http://www.yacugarmotorcyclesuspension.co.uk/frs.htm

Hi Jon..
Really interested in the fork upgrade, if you don't mind me asking where do you get all the info from for the conversion?..

I didnt really have any, but heres a quick summary as im replying from my phone.

i guessed that the stiffly sprung 640 supermoto forks might have been a match for weight of the Ten. I got hold of a pair of forks. Minus crowns. A brake brake, 4 pot brembo. A pair of exc crowns. A.21 inch wheel. Tried to fit it all together and whoops.nothing fit. The axle Clamps where wider than the crowns. So i had to swap the SM foot for a EXC one. Then the brake wouldnt fit or.clear the spokes of.the 21" wheel. So i had to source a 2 pot brembo. Then a 320mm disc and caliper adaptor. I used the standard tenere lever.

Bulit it all up everything seemed good. Now onto the steering stem. Too fat to short and too imperial. ******.

Bought a lump of.31.8mm 7075 T6 ali. Made new steere. Pressed it into exc crowns shoved it in the bike. Bleed brake.

Test drive............ Too stiff reduce preload spacing from 25mm to 10 drop oil heighy height 10mm. Better. Drop oil 5mm more perfect. Raise bike 20mm at rear With Projection linkages to. Steepen the head angle a little..

Job done.

Which one Is The �600 Model??

The F-RS

Looks the business, if its the same stroke (or near as damn it) id be very interested. But for an extra �30 ish and postage the ohlins can be had from off the road.de

http://www.off-the-road.de/en/XT-660...26b93b4183fe97

Google reckons 859 euros is �622 ish

Decisions decisions,

Ive just heard back from John Troost at hyperpro. And there 460 shock also has a reduced stroke. Heres what he had to say.
Hello Jon,



I guess you have the non ABS version then?

The stroke in our damper is 80mm, so also shorter then original.

If preferred, we can make the shock longer though, to regain the stroke. But then also the bike will get higher.



Regards,

John Troost

Hyperpro

Ive asked if the 461 shock. (same as the yacugar FRS unit by the looks of it) can be made to fit the tenere. He has forwarded the question too one of their engineers.so will get back too me soon.

Just heard back from Yacugar and they dont make an F-RS shock for the Tenere.

They do E-RS which is same stroke as standard �400
An emulsion shock for all applications.
* Precision machined and quality checked.
* Fully serviceable for a life time use.
* Spring pre-load & rebound adjustment.
* Optional length adjuster and hydraulic pre-load adjuster.
* A top quality, fairly priced shock absorber.

Limited adjustment.

It appears its either this one or Ohlins at �700 +

I have the Yacugar ER-S and it's been working like a dream on and off-road for the past three years. AFAIK it has the same travel as stock and comes with a progressive spring which, like you, suits my needs as the weight I carry varies a lot from day to day.

They are available for �349 from several places. I bought mine from FTR.

The Yacugar shock is identical to the Hyperpro 460/360. They are both made in the same place except the Hyperpro gets a purple spring. So basically if your buying go for whichever you can get the cheapest.

FYI Ohlins do a cheaper shock for the XT which also costs about �350 although it is apparently "not recommended for off-road use"??

http://www.off-the-road.de/en/XT-660Z/Suspension-wheels/OEhlins-shock-XT-660-Z-Tenere-without-reservoir.html

I wonder about Nitron. They build some nice custom shocks for Africa Twins

Give them a call.

This makes me wonder about my shock aswell. it is a one off from WP. I dont have any information about the travel, i got it with the bike, and it's not stated on the bill

I Think ill give nitron a call if im unsuccessful with hyperpro. When i spoke to The guy at hyperpro he said there 460 was 80mm stroke, unless requested that it be custom built to retain the origional stroke. But this would increase the length of the shock by 20mm. Im asuming they just physically cant get the stroke with a single tube design in the length of the standard shock.

I had a think about it and i wonder if the reason for the reduced travel in the single tube shocks like the Ers and 460 is the limtied space available.

With a piggyback shock the nitrogen and some of the oil can be stored in the piggyback with the seperating piston that keeps the the oil and nitrogen apart. To fit all that in a single tube requires space. Hence the reduced travel. The stock shock does pack a fair stroke for its size.
And the only other shock That deffinatly has near as damn it 95mm of stroke is the ohlins. Which is a piggyback design.

Just a theory. Im no suspension expert.

Hyperpro are goimg to get back to me.on monday to let me know whether a 461 can be custom built for the ten.

Fwiw, I have a piggyback Ohlins on mine after the OEM's dismal performance spoiled an otherwise great ride a few years ago. Never looked back. It has compression and rebound settings, though not separate hi/lo compression adjusters.

This business of building shocks with less than standard travel is weird imo. I can set the Ohlins up tight for on-road, or plusher for off-road. As far as I know, the piggyback version offers close to standard wheel travel, judging by its comparable length of exposed shaft at full extension.

Expensive, but the best thing I've done to my bike. Disgraceful that it's necessary to do so on a comparatively expensive ride.

I have asked about Nitrons and was told they have reduced travel.

Pretty much decided to go for the ohlins, do the job right. spent long enough investigating this. its frustrating to not have choice but at least there is a much better than standard option.

I think ill be doing the same Bonzo. Theyre considerably cheaper if bought from off the road. In. Germany, if paid by paypal the exchange rate works out at �645 + postage. Cheaper than anywhere ive found in the uk.
Thanks for everyones responses.

FX shock
 

Hi. I was also looking at rear shocks and found this one:
http://tfxsuspension.com/shop/bike/t...k-motorcycles/

I think that also JaumeV is using this shock on his special tenere. And if it suits for him then it must be good.
But I'm not sure if this shock is keeping standard rear suspension high.
Cheers

Just had this information from hyperpro when i asked the reason for the reduced stroke.
They are also able to build a 461 shock (yacugar FRS equivalent) for the ten with seperate compression adjustment. And hose mounted reservoir. And 85mm stroke.

The shock is 5mm longer than standard. Im awaiting a price.

Shock info :


This has to do with the way the lower part is constructed.

In the original shock, this is made out of simple steel and builds quite low.

To have a proper adjustment (like in our shock) you simply need more room.

Since the length of the shock stays the same, the stroke gets shorter.

I�ve included a (development-)picture of the original shock and ours, and then you can clearly see the difference.

Feel free to use the pictures in the forum if you like.

The ohlins does not have this, since they (I guess) use the TTX type shock, which has the adjuster on the top housing.

Some additional info: the original shock has very little to none compression damping.

Putting an aftermarket shock in, will give you quite a bit more compression damping, so the forces are dampend much better and the need for the full 95mm stroke is therefore not that present anymore.

Together with our progressive spring it will give more control over the rear.

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/t...psavgkvhls.jpg
http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/t...pspikwendp.jpg
http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/t...psoozeiner.jpg

Hope someone can help me out with this.

At the moment I have a standard rear shock with Hyperpro progressive spring on my Tenere. But on bumpy gravel roads (with side and topcase loaded) it bottoms out.

So I'm looking for a new rear shock and I am willing to pay about 600 euro's max.

I use the bike mainly for holidays with panniers and topcase. The countries I visit during my holidays have a lot of gravel roads or bumpy roads. Like Scandinavia, Russia. But I ride at low speeds. So no need for a Paris-Dakar setup :-)

I really like the idea of a hydraulic preload adjuster so it's easy to adjust the shock when riding with or without luggage.

Until now I have seen 3 options:

- the simple Ohlins from Off-the-Road
- the Hagon with hydraulic preload adjuster
- NTR Sport+ from Rugged Road which is custom built specifically for your specs/riding.

Which shock would you choose/recommend?

Hi Arjen, sorry for the slow reply, anot having tried any of the shocks you mentioned i cant comment. But the top model Ohlins shock i fitted has been exceptional, 2 up with full, heavily loaded luggage is handled very well. I have yet to put the bike in a situation that the damping has had any trouble managing.

This includes laps.of.my local enduro venue, (cowm leisure) and two up green laning.

If you can raise the extra funds you will not be disapointed.
It even manages towing my trailer very well with a few clicks of compression damping. :thumbsup[1]:

My bike was the test-mule for the first Nitron shock and I can confirm it has a shorter stroke than the OE Sachs shock.
It's never hampered me in any way.

After reading reviews I decided to buy the Nitron shock which I will fit coming wednesday.

I bought it from Rugged Roads. Very good service!