Thanks, very interesting video....I plan to stay with the stock stuff for now as I might trade the bike next year for something else...Regards and ride safe
Printable View
It appears the front bumper is acting as an anti-dive valve and coil spring. If so, it will wear quickly.
TD said new shocks won't be expensive, but the labor will because both shocks are buried and require a lot of time to get at them and cover them back up again. That means replacing a worn bumper frequently will rack up the shop labor $$$.
Since I am a neophyte when it comes to suspensions, I have neophyte thoughts about them, such as: given that the bumper is noticeably different in size and proportion to other bumpers, is it possible that Honda designed the new one to function in a slightly different way? From the description in the video, you would think there would be a very regular feeling of "bottoming out" the front end, given the tiny amount of available travel on the shock. That is the opposite of what I felt from the front end on my test ride. It was never harsh, actually most comfortable front end I've ever felt on a bike. Maybe I didn't push it hard enough in the corners to experience the limitation?
Jason
It's all about ratios and lever arms. My CTX700 has "only" 1.5 inches of shock travel, but because of the 2.5:1 ratio of the shock to swing arm, it gives me a little over 4 inches of travel before bottoming. So having a shock move just 1 inch is really not an issue, and doesn't mean anything without knowing the lever arm ratio to determine what that 1 inch of travel actual means.
Here's the steering head rattle issue from Max.................
https://youtu.be/cHcTiEQDIjY
Not necessarily something a person wants to see or hear but good to know.:yikes:
After demo riding the 2018 Gold Wing Tour I could feel the front end slop you are talking about. Not all the time, but it was noticeable.