I give up -- New Shock ordered

[GregC]

went for 3 day trip to WV, riding was great but suspension is just not cutting it and I give up ... have ordered a new Ohlins shock and RaceTech fork springs for my 2015 DCT. I have the stock spring cranked down to where there's not much spring left ... I considerably exceed the target design 170lb rider that shock was designed for. It galls me to have to spend 10% of the price of the bike for suspension that should be included at some level based on the rider buying the bike, as in, they should at least give you a stock spring based on your weight, but what are you going to do?

Wanted to confirm once tech spec ... each fork tube takes ~514cc of oil? That seems like a lot and wanted to be sure.

Not buying preload caps or emulators at this point, just the Ohlins, the fork springs, new seals and oil (since I only ride solo and the total weight doesn't change other than the occasional packed pack for multi-day trip). Bought the Ohlin shock and springs for Solomoto ... seemed best price and free shipping.

Will let you all know how it goes. I have Dave's (dduelin) excellent post on doing the forks so I should be good to go.

 

[dduelin]

Yes, 514 cc per leg and that should be a level of 104 mm.

Fix the rear and the front will beg for cartridge emulators.

 

[Nofear2trek]

went for 3 day trip to WV, riding was great but suspension is just not cutting it and I give up ... have ordered a new Ohlins shock and RaceTech fork springs for my 2015 DCT. I have the stock spring cranked down to where there's not much spring left ... I considerably exceed the target design 170lb rider that shock was designed for. It galls me to have to spend 10% of the price of the bike for suspension that should be included at some level based on the rider buying the bike, as in, they should at least give you a stock spring based on your weight, but what are you going to do?

Not buying preload caps or emulators at this point, just the Ohlins, the fork springs, new seals and oil (since I only ride solo and the total weight doesn't change other than the occasional packed pack for multi-day trip). Bought the Ohlin shock and springs for Solomoto ... seemed best price and free shipping.

I have an appointment next Wednesday at Racetech's Service Department for them to install their 95kg fork springs and my Rally-Raid Hydraulic pre-load dial adjustable rear shock with the harder spring 150Nm (NC750X & NC700XD Tractive Rear Shock & Preload Adjuster-RRP 805).

View attachment 34784

I bought my Racetech springs directly from them with a decent military discount, but the rear shock was an additional $65 for shipping from the U.K.

I'm looking forward to Racetech tuning everything (fork springs, gold valves and adjustable fork caps along with the new rear shock) for my weight (215 lbs. dripping wet) and riding style. Then later evaluate the suspension while bounding thru southern Utah at the Flying Monkey rally in a few weeks.

Ray

 

[Lee Dodge]

If the roads you ride on are bumpy, I would spring for the cartridge emulators. The NC high speed compression damping is very harsh. Like dduelin says, once you fix the shock, the forks shortcomings will really stand out.

 

[GlennC]

Lee Dodge is very right. My personal opinion, don't even think about replacing springs at either end until you've fixed the damping - and don't even think about fixing the rear until you've fixed the front.

You may not realize how bad it is, but the NC's stock front damping is awful to the point of being dangerous.

The front is MUCH more important on any bike!

(Of course you might do springs and damping at the same time).

 

[GoRovers]

What's a cost-effective way to address the front fork damping problem? Is the "improved" 2016/17 front fork truly better than earlier years?

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[dduelin]

USA bikes do not get the new Showa Dual Bending fork. The suspension is the same as 2012-2015 models.

Cogent Dynamics makes a relatively inexpensive kit to upgrade the NC700X fork. If works by adding a device that has a stack of thin metal shim blocking large holes that the fork oil must pass through when the fork compresses. When the fork compresses relatively slowly the Cogent upgrade fork acts stock which isn't a bad thing because the slow speed compression damping is very good. It's the high speed compression damping that needs improvement. When the fork compresses quickly the fluid cannot pass through the provided holes (orifices) quickly enough and the shock of the bump instead of being absorbed by the fork is passed into the handlebars directly to the rider. If the Cogent Dynamic drop in cartridges are installed the thin metal shims deflect or bend open during a quick compression and the bump is absorbed by the fork instead of slamming the rider.

These devices are called cartridge emulators and various fork and suspension tuners make them. Race Tech, Ricor, Cogent Dynamics come to mind. I chose Cogent Dynamics after riding an NC700X that was used as the tuning mule for their emulators and rear shock. Mind you I had over 25,000 miles on the stock suspension before upgrading. I'm light at 150 lbs and the stock bongers were adequate for me a long time.

There are other options in the market - this is what worked for me: Installation and review of Cogent Dynamic DDC fork upgrade.

 

[Antarius]

Also don't be afraid to play with oil level in the forks. Don't remove more than 5cc of oil at a time, but don't be shy. Less oil will mean a softer suspension, more oil will mean a more progressive and stiffer suspension.

Personally, for me, 505cc of oil in each leg was absolutely perfect. I use almost all of the travel now on the biggest of bumps, and all but about 1" on every day riding. It's about as good as its going to get without a true cartridge fork -- and I have racetech emulators.

As far as the shock, good move. You wont regret it.

 

[GlennC]

Antarius, how do you measure the volume of oil accurately? I've always used the level rather than volume of fluid for lack of a simple way to measure fluids to ~1-3cc or so accuracy.

 

[Antarius]

Antarius, how do you measure the volume of oil accurately? I've always used the level rather than volume of fluid for lack of a simple way to measure fluids to ~1-3cc or so accuracy.

The "correct" way is to measure the gap, as you said. And I do the same when I first get or service a new bike. What I do after that though is note how much I've put in so the next time I service the forks I don't have to muck about with measuring the gap and merely put in the amount that I know works for me.

Generally I start with the CC amount that the manual or fork service indicates. I make sure the fork is completely empty and I measure using a graduated cylinder, and a syringe for the final 50cc or so to make sure it's accurate. Then I measure the air gap and make sure that's consistent with what the manual would expect -- it almost always is. Yes, this takes more time the first time, but then I have the data.

Then I go ride the thing. And in my experience, for the way I ride and the roads I ride on, I almost always find that I end up opening the cap and sucking out fluid to soften the fork a little bit compared to the recommended setting. At that point I don't bother measuring the air gap, I know how much oil is in the fork and next time I rebuild them I just put that amount back in.

That's just what I do, for my street bikes. Works for me and makes it easy enough. My race bike, I always measured the gap each time.

 

[gudvaibrescion]

Ohlins & Andreani fork kit best choice for NC700X !!!

Hi, i've mounted Ohlins S46DR1 code HO 070, and the Andreani (OHLINS level) fork kit (fully adjustable...) for NC700X, this combination change completely the dynamic in better... to try, it's another bike now ... here costs 1K euro all ;-)

 

[Deleted member 1183]

Hi, i've mounted Ohlins S46DR1 code HO 070, and the Andreani (OHLINS level) fork kit (fully adjustable...) for NC700X, this combination change completely the dynamic in better... to try, it's another bike now ... here costs 1K euro all ;-)

I tried the Andreani fork kit and it did not work for me. There was too much compression damping that could not be adjusted out and I also lost some fork travel due to the Andreanis. As such I cannot recommend this kit for the NC700X

 

[gudvaibrescion]

I understand your point of view, but are we speaking about these following? or only andreani's springs?

 

[Deleted member 1183]

I am not including the Shock which I assume is excellent. I am only referring to the Andreani fork cartridges.

 

[GregC]

I’m finally getting a chance to install the ohlins shock and race tech fork springs this weekend - I’ll update after it’s done.


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[GregC]

So - done. Fairly straight forward. Did front fork springs, new front tire (PR4) and ohlins shock. A few missteps along the way requiring some disassembly and reassembly, but not too bad never having done it before (although my bro helped who basically knew what to do generally and we figured out the NC700).

Verdict - big, big improvement. What I notice most is wwwaaayyy better handling. I’m 6’ 240lbs and basically had little actual shock absorbing left on the stock setup. Feels like a new bike, seriously. Seems to drop into turns by just thinking about it. Potholes get absorbed by the forks without me “squinting” as I hit them.

I still think it’s ludicrous to have to spend 10%+ of the retail price of the bike to make the bike “fit” (and that’s just parts). But it has greatly improved the bike.


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[GregC]

One other note - the new fork seals I bought (All Balls seal kit from Motosport) did not fit - too big by a mm or so. Could not be fit properly so i reinstalled the original seals. They were in fine shape and I cleaned them well (bike has ~15k miles).


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[GregC]

One final thought/question - is there any market for used OEM shocks for the NC700x?


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[670cc]

One final thought/question - is there any market for used OEM shocks for the NC700x?


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Maybe, but don't expect much for it. I had a stock shock go bad at 27,000 miles. I already had a spare so I installed it. I guess if I hadn't, and wanted to get by cheap, I might have bought one. My other NC has a $700 shock on it so no need to have two expensive ones.

 

[Nofear2trek]

Maybe, but don't expect much for it. I had a stock shock go bad at 27,000 miles.

During this past summer, while listening to a Rally seminar concerning suspension, I was surprised to hear that rear shocks are expendables (like chains, sprockets, and tires), and they should wear out at about 20k miles.

With over 30k miles on my latest NC700XD, that information prompted me to order and have installed an upgrade rear shock. I decided on a Tractive Hydralic Pre-load Adjustable Dial rear shock from Rally-Raid, with the spring rated for my (American) weight, (see post #3 this thread).

I’m still evaluating this new Racetech front/Tractive rear suspension combination (I’m going to another off-roading Rally next week, followed by a cross country trip), but so far I’m very impressed and happy with it.

Ray