Aint done a ride report for a while so thought i'd Photo document this one and write one up, as well as giving CKT a bit of a plug while i was at it !
As some may know i've had this FXR since Xmas last year (yes i spoil myself) and pretty much done nothing to it, apart from a set of forwards and a bit of maint.
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The old Koni's that it wore were getting tired and the bike was chattering under brakes, bagging out quite a bit loaded up with gear !
A mate of mine had purchased an old set of progressive shocks cheap off TM a while back and were sitting in his shed, so i borrowed them to try out while i decided what to do about rebuilding or replacing the Konis
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Well i soon found out why they were cheap lol, one of them started leaking oil straight away and they felt like shit !
Get into a sweeper at anything over the speed limit and it felt like it wanted to buck me off !
To the point i was thinking the clevebloks might be rooted as well so started investigating upgrade for the swingarm. Turns out you can get an upgrade kit that replaces the rubber clevebloks with Spherical bearings which gives you a far more solid ride (will look into this some more i think)
But back to my arse and the fact it was near draggin on the ground
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I had emailed Robert Taylor of CKT in New plymouth a week or so back, inquiring as to what shocks He/Ohlins had that might fit the FXR, we exchanged a few emails re some stock that was arriving in the next week or so and talked about price etc.
The Harley shocks that Ohlins put out are not much more expensive than the next best, (ok havn't tried the Hagons but a few mates have and do rave about em) , so i had to decide whether i'd save a couple hundy and go Hagon or run with someone i know would back up what he says, wasn't a hard choice really !
So plans were made to go and visit Robert the next week, no he doesn't send them to you, he wants the bike at his workshop so the guys can set the shocks up for the bike.
For someone that doesn't know what CKT are about, it means the shocks were fitted a few times while they changed shim stacks internally to optimise the way the shock works, then fitted and checked it over and over again untill they/you are happy with the way they're working
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Bloody cool workshop there Robert, wish my garage looked like this lol
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Ok so the stacks were changed a couple of times to get the optimum feel and we went with the long eyes to the full length, which are ten mm longer than the progressives that were on it, they even managed to gain another 4 mm internally !
There was plenty to play with there as it sat quite low in the rear !
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A quick test ride around his yard and then i took it for a squirt for 20 min up the highway, felt very firm but thats the way i wanted it, as i do carry a bit of shit in the saddle bags and are often two up (think kitchen sink)
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After the bill was sorted, Robert built me another coffee and we had a yarn about the bike and the fact i'd thrown some emulators in it the days leading up to my visit, he showed me a few tricks that he thought i should know about the front end, pulling out displays to help explain it to a layman ! Bounced on the front end a few times showing me a problem i will have to rectify and that being that the rebound was all up the shit (and how to go about rectifying it)
You cant buy that sort of service on the nett !! Add the fact that his parting comment was "anytime you feel you want to change the ride of the bike to bring it on up and he'll sort it for me" At no additional cost (within reason of course, not that that was said but hey, i aint unreasonable)
So there i was in Taranaki for the night on the piss with Dallas and Tarns talking shit and planning the next days ride !
The choices are endless for roads to travel up that way, but it didn't take long to decide on one that will give them new shocks and me everything a road can throw at ya !
160 odd k of tight twisties, straights, some nice sweepers, 3 cool saddles, a gorge or two, slips, 15 k of corrogated gravel, sheep, cattle, and lets not forget the shit they leave behind !
Forget the name of the road now lol nah how can it be forgotten !
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It is indeed a great road to test a new set of shocks, with coming across all i described above somewhere on the road
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The Issues with the front were sure as hell noticed this day, was a number of occasions i went into a sweeper and dropped into a depression in the road, then felt the front bounce out of it way ahead of the rear, you can see how easy set up could throw a lesser man out of controll hehe !
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The ride through the gravel was a plod but thats me lol, could have tried some MX action but i was enjoying the slow cruise and the view ! I will say i felt every corrogation lol but who wouldn't !
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Well that was sure as hell a fun ride and yes Robert, i tested them shocks out to the max ! Wasn't nannering it at all !
The day before, it would have been a nightmare ride through there with the bike wollowing out of controll and quite possibly throwing me off along the way if i had tried it at that pace !
The next bit of the ride was from Tauramanui to Turangi, good upkept roads that have a mix of big long sweepers that seemed to go on forever back onto themselves, then sweep back the other way. Fucking cool they were, the sprotbike boys would probably test out their kneedowns on these roads, Me , i was testing out my ground clearances lol !
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I had thought about doing National park and the Paraparas back into wanganui, but alas something had to happen and the saddlebags tore open on one side !
Well seeing i carry so much shit and heavy shit like a tool roll and now a spare set of shocks (dont mention gumboots lol Why i brought them i'll never friggin know was thinking slippers i guess seeing the riding boots aint too comfy off the bike)
So anyway, all of a sudden i had a shitload of wieght on one side and nothing on the other, grrrr so much for barreling through the Para's
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So SH1 it was, won't be all that bad i thought, nice bit of road through the dessert and stop in Ohingaiti and see if leatherworks was still there to get the bags fixed, then i'd take the vinegar hill route home through ashurst
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How wrong can one be ???? Friggin road works every ten bloody k with lights and lollie pop men everybloody where ! Dohhh !
Shit happens and i got over it ! (when i got to Ohingaiti and my hands on a beer !)
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Nobody over at leather works so had a feed at the pub and another beer lol
Thinking back the feed might have been a bad idea cause i just wanted to curl up and have a lie down by the time i got to vinegar hill lol (old yes)
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The K's between stops were starting to get shorter and shorter by this stage haha been a while since a done a thousand ks i can tell ya !
Couldn't even be arsed taking the camera out at Ashurst, but needed a sugar fix to get me home, so bourbon and coke it was ! Then another in shannon and a quick catchup with a couple of the lads there !
Home for a wake up shower before heading down to the clubrooms for a few with the guys !
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Impressions of the shocks ? Absolutely brilliant ! Rebuildable and i quite like the look !
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Service ? Friggin mint !!! Ya can't beat local guys telling ya to come back anytime if you want to change anything !
The Ride ?? Goes without saying really !
To the point where the next day i joined in for a poker run, did 5 k an hour riding the clutch for 2 or 3 k's to get out of town and sat in a group of 90 odd bikes doing 80 to a hundy ks for 15 minutes, got to the stretch coming up to my place and thought faaack i am over this ride already, pulled off and put the bike away !
Nothing to do with the fact i had pretty much scrubbed the last of any tread left on the tyre and was almost on a slick when i saw a bit of rain coming, not at all !!!! No way !!! Ahh Uhhh !
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Though i did cop a bit of shit for it later that night, back at Twin Cam !
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Originally Posted by sinfull
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