[Dave Burroughs]

Other than putting a watermellon (or sack of gold for those of you who are able) under the seat, does anyone know of aftermarket rear shocks that will softern the ride. Perhaps from another model of two wheeler? I love the Bergman for everything but the ride (owwwww my back!) I have just returned from 1100 miles of adventure and loved it as long as the roads were smooth.

Columbus Berg-Man

 

[pauljo]

Dave,

Welcome to BurgmanUSA!

Yes! I have Ikon shocks on my 650. The Ikons have a slightly stiffer spring than the stock shocks, but they are progressively wound (softer toward the top and tighter toward the bottom). The big thing, is that they have four position adjustable damping. I have my spring preload set in the softest position and my damping set at three. This gives a better ride than the stock units for me. Adding a bit of weight in the rear - like a Givi trunk (or a watermellon) helps even more. Of course the Givi trunk is more useful than a watermellon...

There is also a French company that makes an air shock - Fournales. I don't know if they have a USA distributor yet. Chris at Eurotech Motorsports (the US distributor for Ikon shocks) was going to contact Fournales - but I don't know if they worked anything out.

http://www.eurotechmotorsports.com/ has more info on the Ikons. You'll have to call or email them to get pricing, order, etc. Chris usually answers his emails same day, and he is a good guy to work with.

If you search my posts on this forum, you'll find more info on the Ikons, including the part number for the shocks that fit the 650, and some information about a spacer that they need to supply with the shocks.

There are also a couple of posts by other folks regarding the Fournales.

Enjoy your Burgman!

 

[Dave Burroughs]

Thanks Paul

Thanks for the information concerning the shocks for the Burgman. Were they expensive? When you indicate that they have a better ride, does 'better' equate to softer? or better handling and control?
I'm fairly happy with the handling, not like my BMW but pretty good. The Burgman can use a bit more pitch control and a softer ride, perhaps from an increase in shock travel and as you mentioned, progressive springs with adjustable damping. I'll look into the IKONs.

I have made lowers for mine to keep my feet warm in cold weather, I could send you pictures if you are interested.

Columbus Burg-Man
Dave

 

[pauljo]

Re: Thanks Paul

Thanks for the information concerning the shocks for the Burgman. Were they expensive? When you indicate that they have a better ride, does 'better' equate to softer? or better handling and control?
I'm fairly happy with the handling, not like my BMW but pretty good. The Burgman can use a bit more pitch control and a softer ride, perhaps from an increase in shock travel and as you mentioned, progressive springs with adjustable damping. I'll look into the IKONs.

I have made lowers for mine to keep my feet warm in cold weather, I could send you pictures if you are interested.

Dave,

The stock Burgman shocks are reasonably good for OEM units. Their main deficiency is that they are under-damped, so if you hit a rapid succession of bumps, they do not recover quickly enough, and rapidly lose their composure. Uneven railroad track crossings are a good example of a situation that the stock shocks didn't handle well. I think this might be what you are refering to a "pitch control". The Ikons can fix that. Even though they are not longer travel, and have stiffer springs, sufficient damping action can improve the ride quite a bit. Handling is about the same, unless you encounter bumps mid-curve - in which case they work better.

If you've ever seen a Koni motorcycle shock, that is exactly what these are. Koni sold out their motorcycle shock business to this company.

You'll have to call Eurotech Motorsports for the current price - I believe it is in the $300 bracket. I got mine for less, because he had one set that he had purchased back when the dollar was more favorable overseas. The shocks are made in Australia.

You might post the pictures of your lowers in the Gallery. I'm sure folks would like to see them.

 

[wasions]

I now have just over 5300 miles on mine, and the shocks seem to be sort of 'wearing in'. Either that, or my butt has molded to the seat shape. I'm around 160 lbs, and ride with the shocks set on the middle position pretty much all the time (faster cornering without dragging stuff), but I still tend to drag the centerstand at times when the wife is aboard (she's a gem - for not beating on me during those times :wink: ), or going over a rise or series of bumps in a corner. I think in my case, IKONs wouldn't be worth the expense (along with custom exhaust, etc., etc.). Call me (mostly) satisfied. (I bought a big windshield. )

 

[DonRich90]

Paul - The only complaint I have with my new (500 miles) 650 is the jarring bump over frost heaves across the road. Sometimes it's enough to bounce my 260 lb butt off the seat and cause me to slide slightly down the seat and I have to keep readjusting my seating position.
Do you think Ikons would help? My shocks are set on the stock position (2, I think). Would adjusting them help?

 

[wasions]

I usually ride feet forward (Harley *sic* style), but on where those heaves are prevalent, I ride feet-on-pegs (well, straight down) and raise my seat off the seat. I'd guess a lot of us old dirt bikers do that without thinking about it.

 

[pauljo]

Paul - The only complaint I have with my new (500 miles) 650 is the jarring bump over frost heaves across the road. Sometimes it's enough to bounce my 260 lb butt off the seat and cause me to slide slightly down the seat and I have to keep readjusting my seating position.
Do you think Ikons would help? My shocks are set on the stock position (2, I think). Would adjusting them help?

Yep, we have lots of those around here too. And they are on those country roads where I am zipping along at 60 mph plus. Really annoying.

Just got back from a 100 mile ride with my wife on the back of the 650. The only thing she complained about was some jarring when going over those things. (Only one complaint ain't bad though... :wink: )

The Icons help with that, but they don't provide a total cure. In particular though, I seldom get launched off the seat anymore when I hit those.

There are a couple of things to consider.

My rear suspension has been enhanced, but the front forks haven't been. So the rear suspension is handling those frost heaves better, but the front forks are still underdamped. Changing to 15 weight fork oil in the front could help some more. Maybe Allwalk could seek out some of those frost heave ridges after he changes his fork oil & tell us if it helps.

The other thing is that the scooter wheels are smaller in diameter than my motorcycle's wheels. A 19" front wheel smooths those things out much better than a 15" front wheel - and there isn't much we can do about that. So we can experiment with shocks, fork oil, seats, even tires (Is a Pirelli better than a Bridgestone with frost heaves?), and we can expect to get some improvement, but I doubt that we'll ever be able to glide over those things like they aren't even there on our scooters...

Experimenting with your stock shock preload is easy - and you should do that. I could change the adjustment on those things just using my hands (look out for the hot muffler though). I think that for frost heaves, what you want is the softest preload that you can run without bottoming out. So I'd start with position one, and work upwards as needed. I weigh 225, and I ran the stock shocks in positions 1, 2 and 3 - and didn't really see a drastic difference in ride quality. For aggressive cornering, with your weight, I'd think you'd want them on at least position 3 - so I'd avoid overcooking any curves while you are checking out the lower positions for ride quality.

 

[DonRich90]

Thanks, Paul! I'll play with the pre-load settings this week.