[Jim]

pauljo, did you ever get them installed yet. I'm real courious about them, a road report would be great.

Thanks in advance

Jim

 

[pauljo]

Not yet. The upper mounting hole is too large (they are made to fit several other motorcycles, some of them need the larger hole). Ikon is sending me bushings that will adjust the hole to the correct size. Once those arrive, I'll be able to mount the shocks.

 

[pauljo]

Well, I finally have the Ikon shocks installed. EuroTech Motorsports had one set on the shelf that they had bought a while ago while the dollar was stronger overseas, so I got a good price on them. But being first, isn't always easy....

The shocks arrived about a month ago. They need a spacer, or bushing, to fill in the top mounting hole and reduce it to the 10mm size the Burgman needs. The spacers were not provided.

Chris at EuroTech contacted the distributor in Australia. They airmailed the spacers to me, but it took 2 weeks - the package got held up for a week in Autrailia due to some airline security precaution.

The spacers they sent were the right diameter, but they were too long. I could not properly assemble the washers & locknut at the top mounting point of the shocks.

Chris had me ship the spacers to him, and he machined them on his lathe and sent them back to me. Length was reduced from 25mm to the proper 20mm length. We did UPS 2 day air shipping both ways, and he did the machining promptly, so the turnaround was less than a week. (He offered to ship them back overnight, but I didn't see the need for the extra expense.) Chris was top notch in his efforts to help me out.

Following the instructions that came with the shocks, I initially set the preload to the lowest position (of three) and the damping to the 2nd setting (of four). I thought that the ride was too springy (under damped). I removed the shocks, increased the damping by one setting, and tried them again. Much better. I think for 2-up riding, I'll just have to jack the preload up 1 position.

Note: Although there are only 3 preload settings, the difference between each setting is much more than the difference between the 5 positions on the stock shocks. So the range of preload adjustment is at least equivalent to the stock shocks, but in greater increments. The main advantages are the progressively wound springs, and the ability to change the damping rate.

I was only able to do short rides around the neighborhood between thunderstorms & rain showers. We have cement streets here, and they have a nasty thumpity thump effect as the aging slabs no longer line up perfectly. The Ikon shocks handled that much better than the stock ones did.

Today it is supposed to clear off, so I hope to get a longer ride in. Based on what I experienced on the local rides, I think I'm going to be happy with the results.

 

[Jim]

Thanks for the update, I'll be waiting for 2 up higher speed reports

 

[pauljo]

I went on a 75 mile ride this morning. Temperature was 38 degrees F at the start, about 43 degrees at the end. Wind was about 12 mph, with annoying gusts from the side at about 23 mph (moderate for this area).

I did some Nebraska interstate at 65 - 70 mph in order to get to the Loess Hills in Iowa, which has some fairly fast, hilly, curvy 2 lane roads.

The two lane Iowa roads are general good pavement, but they frequently have lateral ridges running across where cracks have been patched. These ridges were quite annoying with the stock shocks. The Ikons handled them a lot better.

I passed through the small town of Missouri Valley, which has several very bad railroad crossings (very heavy freight train traffic through there). You'll get several tracks very close together - very uneven road surface. The stock shocks would totally lose it over those unless you slowed to crawl speed. The Icons handled that pretty well at about 25 mph (I would have gone no more than 10 mph previously). The front forks were still fairly unhappy with the rapid pavement chop, but the Ikons kept their composure. Note: at one crossing, the big 4wd pickup truck in front of me slowed to about 10 mph, so you know that road surface is nasty.

Then I got out in the country and into the curves. Taking sweepers at about 70 mph. The 650 felt great! I hit one of those lateral ridges in the middle of a curve, leaned over at 70 mph. The scoot stayed right on line. Pretty impressive. Alas, just before I got into the really good part of the run (tighter curves), my fun was abruptly ended by a washed-out bridge. Could have taken a detour over gravel roads, but with my rear tire nearing the point of replacement, I decided not to.

Back tracked, and got on the Iowa interstate to head south toward home. Higher speed limits in Iowa, so I was cruising at 80 mph, and bumped up into the low nineties on a couple of passes. Wind gusting from the side, annoying, and required some minor steering correction to stay on course - but very manageable. And that is with the Ikons set to lightest preload.

Ended up on one of those infamous cement thumpity thump 2 lanes as I neared home - and the Ikons again showed a significant ride improvement over the stock units.

I can't give you a 2-up report. I rarely carry a passenger. But I'm confident that with the preload bumped up to the middle position, these shocks would do just fine.

Overall, under all conditions encountered on the ride, the Ikons provided superior ride quality over the stock units, and handling in the curves was excellent. I like them.

Now - if I could just find some progressively wound fork springs.... :wink:

 

[Jim]

Sounds Great and Thanks for the report
Do you have any photos you could post?

 

[pauljo]

No photos this time. They look very much like the stockers - black spring over chrome body. The only visible difference is that the springs are wound tightly at the bottom, and looser as they extend upward, which gives the progressive spring rate. There are adjustment wheels at the top for damping rate, but they are covered by a black rubber boot - hard to take a picture of - and they are of course hidden up behind the body pannels.

On second thought, here you go!
Chris has got some good pictures of the shocks on his website.

http://www.eurotechmotorsports.com/

 

[spacey]

Ikon shock absorbers

Hey dudes,

Why not get it straight from the horses mouth...

http://www.ikonsuspension.com/

nev

 

[pauljo]

Today my 650 seemed to be riding somewhat harsh. Part of the problem was that I had set the air pressure in my tires yesterday when it was about 60 degrees F. Today we got up to 85 degrees.

So I came home and let a couple psi of pressure out of each tire. But I also changed the damping on the Ikon shocks from 3 to 2 (1 is least amount of damping, 4 is highest). I went riding again, and the ride was much more comfortable.

Ikon recommends damping position 2 for both 1-up and 2-up use. Position 3 is recommended for "spirited 2-up riding". When I initially installed the shocks, I thought position 3 felt better. But now I am thinking that position 2 is more compatible with the stock front fork action. I'm going to leave them at the lower damping setting for a while and see how it goes.

 

[pauljo]

Keeping tire pressure right here in mid-America is a challenge. Yesterday our temp reached the mid 80's. Today, the high temperature will be in the 60's. The temperature range can bounce back and forth a lot from day to day... Worse, it can be 60 degrees in the morning, when it is convenient to set tire pressure in the garage - and 90 degrees by early afternoon. This can affect the ride of the scooter significantly.

Maybe I should fill the tires with helium! Now that should make it ride lighter over the bumps! :twisted:

 

[Jim]

Intresting, I noticed that with the stock units as well. Riding 2 up on a setting of 4 (out of 5) was usually the best. Last week I had to go to #3 for a better ride. Maybe the cooler temps and all that rain (27" so far since may 1) in the midwest is affecting it somewhat or mabye there "breaking in" so to speak.

 

[pauljo]

One advantage of the Ikons over the stockers is that you can tune damping as well as spring preload, and damping action can have a big effect on ride.

Unfortunately, I have to remove the shocks to do it, because the damping adjustment is at the top of the shock, which is hidden behind the bodywork. In my garage, that is maybe a 15 or 20 minute job, but it is not convenient to play with the setting while out on the road.

On a motorcycle (which the shocks were originally designed for) the damping wheels would be easy to get at, and you could dial the setting back and forth in seconds, which would give a good back to back comparision under the same temperature and road conditions. But it is still great to be able to change the setting - even though it is less convenient to do it on the scooter.

 

[Jim]

Now if there was a way to easly adjust the dampining in the front as well we would have it made.

 

[pauljo]

Now if there was a way to easly adjust the dampining in the front as well we would have it made.

Very true. That is an extremely rare option on motorcycles though. Some come from the factory with adjustable rear damping, but almost never for the front forks (My V-Strom is an example of that). To alter springs, valving or damping in the front forks, you have to take them apart. A number of motorcycles (including the V-Strom) do provide some external adjustment for the spring preload on the front forks though - better than nothing.

Mounting soapbox... Suzuki did put a lot of high-tech stuff in the basic AN650 package. It is a very good basic package overall. I give them credit where credit is due. BUT... Both Suzuki and many of the aftermarket parts manufacturers, seem to still labor under the impression that scooter riders are a in class below motorcycle riders when it comes to wanting to upgrade key performance items on their machines. The stereotype is newbie riders, folks who've never experienced the performance of a well set up motorcycle. Folks who are happy to accept the stock package, and who are unlikely to spend money to improve performance, ride, handling etc. on their scooters. And maybe the resurgence of scooters is just a fad that will soon disappear anyway. So they are reluctant to make the investment in R&D, tooling, and marketing, to produce enhanced performance parts for scooters.

Before Lycheed, or one of our European members, tears me up, let me say that I know this is more of a problem in the USA than in countries where scooters are very mainstream. But many of the choices you get in Europe or Japan are not available here. No one has seen the value of importing & distributing them in the US yet.

In truth, we have several categories of riders in our group. Newcomers to riding - and everybody has to start somewhere - we all did. (I welcome all newbies - without them, the future of motorcycling / scootering would be bleak.) Folks who laid off from riding for many years & came back on a Burgman. And folks who have been riding motorcycles for years and have owned dozens of bikes (and sometimes several scooters too). Folks who are used to taking a machine from the factory, and spending a bit more to tune it to their own tastes in performance, comfort, and utility. And with internet groups like this one, if a experienced rider installs something that vastly improves the ride, wind protection, performance or comfort of their scooter - they report on it. And some of the newcomers read the reports, and reach for their wallets too. There IS a market.

Fortunately, some choices have surfaced during the last year, thanks to folks like Givi, Clearview, Remus, recently Corbin - and a couple of others. And we have some very innovative folks in our group who devise their own solutions where no ready made solution exits yet. I'm hoping that we will eventually have as many options as any motorcycle owner.

Thump - fell off soapbox. Can you tell it is a rainy day here???

 

[Jim]

Your with company, raining here too

 

[allwalk]

Paul your post about adjusting the ikons got me thinking. Would it effect the shocks dampening if you were to mount them upside down for test rides. This would give you the chance to adjust them without hassle and ride immediately. I'm not sure if its doable or not. Once you figure out what the best all around setting is you could change them back to the standard configuration. ???????? I don't know , like I said it just got me thinking.

 

[pauljo]

Allan,

Can't do it. The top mounts and bottom mounts are totally different. Good thought though.

 

[seatec]

Did anyone find a dealer for Icon shocks in USA or Can for 650 :?:

 

[pauljo]

Did anyone find a dealer for Icon shocks in USA or Can for 650 :?:

Yep. Website is useless. Contact by phone or email works fine.
Chris at Eurotech Motorsports was my contact, and he was very helpful.

http://www.eurotechmotorsports.com/
Phone:530-345-7145
EMAIL: [email protected]

 

[seatec]

Thanks again Paul.