Honda CNC Billet Preload Adjusters

[Seabee Bob]

NEW HONDA NC700X NC700 CNC BILLET ALUMINUM PRELOAD FORK CAP ADJUSTERS ADJUSTORS US $99.99

- Fine tune the front suspension of your motorcycle no matter the race track or back road

- Made from 100% 6061 T-6 Aluminum and finished with Anodize Coating

- Improves handling dramatically and allows for quick adjustments

- Initial Preload Adjustment begins at 7.5mm past stock

- Maximum Preload Adjustment finishes at 21mm past stock

- Comes with (2) Preload Adjusters

- Easy installation - no fork removal and fork oil draining involved


Adjustments can be easily made with a 10mm wrench or socket

 

[LA_NC700X]

I want it and I want it now!!!

 

[turbodieseli4i6]

Tagged for later reviews. Thanks for the post Seabee Bob!

 

[Seabee Bob]

You are welcome turbodieseli4i6!

 

[Craig92DA9]

I don't understand how these would dramatically improve handling. Someone mind educating here? Don't be shy, the more techie the better =) The way I understand it (on a car anyway) Is by increasing preload You are basically trading suspension travel to gain spring rate.

 

[sdouble]

I don't understand how these would dramatically improve handling. Someone mind educating here? Don't be shy, the more techie the better =) The way I understand it (on a car anyway) Is by increasing preload You are basically trading suspension travel to gain spring rate.

Don't think that the preload adjuster is what is missing to that bike. I mean, if you are very light or vey heavy, it may help a bit to adjust your sag, but you'll face anyway bigger issues as wrong spring rate or inadequate hydraulics settings.
In general, on the NC700 as on all budget bikes, the hydraulics of the front and back is not well managed. However, the spring rate seems ok to me for average weight driver. What I mean by average weight driver is about 150 lbs.

 

[Beemerphile]

Don't think that the preload adjuster is what is missing to that bike. I mean, if you are very light or vey heavy, it may help a bit to adjust your sag, but you'll face anyway bigger issues as wrong spring rate or inadequate hydraulics settings.
In general, on the NC700 as on all budget bikes, the hydraulics of the front and back is not well managed. However, the spring rate seems ok to me for average weight driver. What I mean by average weight driver is about 150 lbs.

Agree. The spring rates were OK for me at 195 lbs. too (before I threw the stock springs in the ash can). If they were not, I would adjust the sag to spec by substituting a different height spring spacer. These adjustable gizmos start out at +7.5mm, so unless you cut the stock spacers you are starting out with a stiffer front suspension. When you load a bike for travel, most of the weight ends up on the rear suspension, so rear pre-load (which we have) would be most important. Even there, I found 30 lbs. of rear rack load to only lower the suspension 1/4 inch. That would mean that a single pre-load adjustment could still remain within an ideal range with a 60 lb. change in load. So unless you add and remove a passenger, what you carry isn't going to move you out of ideal range. I found the biggest fault of the NC suspension to be excessive high-speed damping causing a lack of suspension compliance over rough pavement. Sometimes this gets interpreted incorrectly as "too stiff" springs.

You can correctly adjust front spring pre-load once and for all (unless you or the bike gains a bunch of weight) without even riding the bike by measuring the spring sag unladen and laden and adjusting it to 1/4 to 1/3 of the travel. For the NC, this is 1-1/2 to 2 inches. If you wanted to adjust it to 2" and use the adjustable pre-load gizmo to have the full range easily available to you for fine tuning, go for it. But, if you buy the gizmo thinking it will improve your suspension and you haven't even measured your sag yet, well, you ain't gonna be pleased.

 

[sdouble]

Agree. The spring rates were OK for me at 195 lbs. too (before I threw the stock springs in the ash can). If they were not, I would adjust the sag to spec by substituting a different height spring spacer. These adjustable gizmos start out at +7.5mm, so unless you cut the stock spacers you are starting out with a stiffer front suspension. When you load a bike for travel, most of the weight ends up on the rear suspension, so rear pre-load (which we have) would be most important. Even there, I found 30 lbs. of rear rack load to only lower the suspension 1/4 inch. That would mean that a single pre-load adjustment could still remain within an ideal range with a 60 lb. change in load. So unless you add and remove a passenger, what you carry isn't going to move you out of ideal range. I found the biggest fault of the NC suspension to be excessive high-speed damping causing a lack of suspension compliance over rough pavement. Sometimes this gets interpreted incorrectly as "too stiff" springs.

You can correctly adjust front spring pre-load once and for all (unless you or the bike gains a bunch of weight) without even riding the bike by measuring the spring sag unladen and laden and adjusting it to 1/4 to 1/3 of the travel. For the NC, this is 1-1/2 to 2 inches. If you wanted to adjust it to 2" and use the adjustable pre-load gizmo to have the full range easily available to you for fine tuning, go for it. But, if you buy the gizmo thinking it will improve your suspension and you haven't even measured your sag yet, well, you ain't gonna be pleased.

My feeling with the NC700 is that front and back are pretty well equilibrated. I mean, both front and back move down and up all together when you sit onto the bike. This is not the case with all budget bikes. I remember my old SV650, about 5 years ago... it was a different story.
On the NC700 I would not play with the oil level or oil viscosity. I think the engineers from Honda optimize the low quality device they were dealing with. THe only way to improve both front and shock is :
1) to insert emulator in the front
2) remove the stock shock and put an aftermarker product. Ohlins is by far the best choice if you can afford the high level Ohlins product.

 

[Beemerphile]

THe only way to improve both front and shock is :
1) to insert emulator in the front
2) remove the stock shock and put an aftermarker product. Ohlins is by far the best choice if you can afford the high level Ohlins product.

Hmmm. We still agree. That is exactly what I did.

 

[Craig92DA9]

You can correctly adjust front spring pre-load once and for all (unless you or the bike gains a bunch of weight) without even riding the bike by measuring the spring sag unladen and laden and adjusting it to 1/4 to 1/3 of the travel. For the NC, this is 1-1/2 to 2 inches. If you wanted to adjust it to 2" and use the adjustable pre-load gizmo to have the full range easily available to you for fine tuning, go for it. But, if you buy the gizmo thinking it will improve your suspension and you haven't even measured your sag yet, well, you ain't gonna be pleased.

Thanks for the good info beemer, so I take this to mean that fully loaded you do not want your suspension to sag more than 1.5-2 inches from its unloaded height, is that correct? Also, I have not ridden with a passenger yet, is it necissary to adjust the rear pre-load for a passenger? I weigh 165lbs so I doubt adjusting front pre load is anything i should concern myself with. I will likely upgrade the suspension entirely as you did.. only after I pay it off =)

 

[bamamate]

My opinion, it isn't worth the time to adjust the rear preload for an occasional passenger for short rides. IF I was planning on spending 4+ hours in the seat with a passenger then I would take the time to make the adjustment. I ride my daughter around town without adjusting. I’m 165lbs (11st 11lbs, 74.8kg) and my 5’10 daughter is ~145lbs (10st 5lbs, 65.8kg). She doesn’t read this forum so I can share that info I can tell that it needs adjusting but I’m only puttering around with her on there so I don’t adjust it.

Hey UK guys, did I do the stone conversion correctly? I'm used to skipping stones and Rolling Stones but not converting to stones.

 

[Beemerphile]

Thanks for the good info beemer, so I take this to mean that fully loaded you do not want your suspension to sag more than 1.5-2 inches from its unloaded height, is that correct? Also, I have not ridden with a passenger yet, is it necissary to adjust the rear pre-load for a passenger? I weigh 165lbs so I doubt adjusting front pre load is anything i should concern myself with. I will likely upgrade the suspension entirely as you did.. only after I pay it off =)

That is correct. Set up for whatever your "normal" load is. By the "ideals", one should adjust the rear pre-load when a passenger is added. If it is easy enough to do, I would do it. It used to be that rear shocks had pre-load levers and it was easy to step it up a notch or two when you were going to carry a passenger. The stock NC700 setup though requires you to unlock a locking ring and crank up the spring with a special pin spanner, and re-lock the adjuster. Most people are not going to do this every time they take on a passenger. If I normally, or very often, carried a passenger, I would set the sag with the passenger weight included and just suffer the stiff springs when I was solo. If I normally traveled without a passenger, I would set it up that way and suffer a mushy ride when I had a passenger. The difference would be if I was taking a passenger on an extended ride where I wanted maximum comfort and safety. Then I would make the adjustment. Some higher priced aftermarket shocks have remote preload adjusters that are very easy to operate. If you run with and without a passenger or with and without heavy touring loads, you might want to spring for this. I did not do so when I bought my Öhlins shock because I never carry a passenger and my touring load stays within the 1/2 inch of sag change. If I set it up for 1-1/2" of sag, I am under 2 inches with up to 60 lbs. of payload. I would not foresee any real need for a change in front pre-load as I use the bike and I therefore do not see much utility in the front pre-load adjusters.

 

[bikerguy]

Well I Honda cb1100 adjusters on, it was about 3/8" more tension on the spring at the minimum setting. Instantly it felt better, less dive and a more solid feel, sag was reduced around a 1/2" As good as it was, I cranked them down to the first line, which I think I will leave them there. The front felt more planted to me with little dive under braking. Ride was still compliant and sag was reduced another 1/4' or so. Total sag I would say was around a 1 to 1 1/4", with me aboard, my weight 225lbs.

 

[max cooper]

I just love those pig tails and braids, don't you?

You are welcome turbodieseli4i6!

View attachment 1213

 

[turbodieseli4i6]

Thanks for the reminder Max.

 

[PPWW]

Pig tails? Where?

 

[StratTuner]

THe only way to improve both front and shock is :
...remove the stock shock and put an aftermarker product.
Ohlins is by far the best choice if you can afford the high level Ohlins product.

Can someone recommed an aftermarket rear shock that's at the low-end of the cost scale?

I suppose I should qualify that... low cost but better than stock? (that may be asking too much, I realize!)

 

[ray]

Hyperpro shocks

 

[Beemerphile]

Well I Honda cb1100 adjusters on, it was about 3/8" more tension on the spring at the minimum setting. Instantly it felt better, less dive and a more solid feel, sag was reduced around a 1/2" As good as it was, I cranked them down to the first line, which I think I will leave them there. The front felt more planted to me with little dive under braking. Ride was still compliant and sag was reduced another 1/4' or so. Total sag I would say was around a 1 to 1 1/4", with me aboard, my weight 225lbs.

That is why I would leave them out. The same thing could have been accomplished with a longer spacer.

 

[johnakay]

You are welcome turbodieseli4i6!

View attachment 1213

forget the beer I want those two!

both mine are fine and both of us together weigh 378 lbs.
the only time that I feel any thing is when we go spirited riding that sometimes bottomed out over bumps.
most of the time I find its ok and we ride two up most of the time.
buying cheap shock's won't be much better than standard. been there,done it and got the 'T' shirt.
they tend to go off pretty quick in my experience.
on normal roads I think you'll be fine.