Cheap rear shocks not worth it

[worzal07]

As the old saying goes,"you buy cheap,you get cheap". I recently bought some aftermarket rear shocks ($400 Hagan),for my 2006 Suzuki Boulevard S50 (VS800) & not that happy.I am noticing most bumps I go over are not fully absorbed by shocks.Quite a bit is transfered into my lower back,which doesn't make an enjoyable,comfortable ride at all.This is a CRUISER & I want reasonble comfort,not GSXR handling.Surely there must be better Quality aftermarket rear shocks available from somewhere.What are OHLINS & WP like on cruisers ?

[Pussy]

I have no experience riding on Ohlins cruiser shocks, but if they are anything like the sport bike shocks, they will perform to the highest standard

[crazybigal]

are they worse than the stock ones?

As the old saying goes,"you buy cheap,you get cheap". I recently bought some aftermarket rear shocks ($400 Hagan),for my 2006 Suzuki Boulevard S50 (VS800) & not that happy.I am noticing most bumps I go over are not fully absorbed by shocks.Quite a bit is transfered into my lower back,which doesn't make an enjoyable,comfortable ride at all.This is a CRUISER & I want reasonble comfort,not GSXR handling.Surely there must be better Quality aftermarket rear shocks available from somewhere.What are OHLINS & WP like on cruisers ?

[Robert Taylor]

As the old saying goes,"you buy cheap,you get cheap". I recently bought some aftermarket rear shocks ($400 Hagan),for my 2006 Suzuki Boulevard S50 (VS800) & not that happy.I am noticing most bumps I go over are not fully absorbed by shocks.Quite a bit is transfered into my lower back,which doesn't make an enjoyable,comfortable ride at all.This is a CRUISER & I want reasonble comfort,not GSXR handling.Surely there must be better Quality aftermarket rear shocks available from somewhere.What are OHLINS & WP like on cruisers ?

The reason that is happening is because the shocks are choking off hydraulically when you ride over abrupt obstacles that require sudden shock shaft deflection. At $400 you are paying for ( and this is cold hard reality ) a set of shocks that are little better than made to fit the bike with at least some attention paid to springing. The internal components are mass produced, very generic and are not specifically set for each bike by exhaustive testing.
We sell quite a few Ohlins shock sets for especially Harleys that are afflicted with harshness. Metric cruisers are a growth market for high quality high performance shocks that will ACTUALLY ABSORB NASTY BUMPS and at the same time will give superb ride height control and improved handling precision. It is possible tio have all of these qualities rolled into one!
PM me for info specific to your bike. The Ohlins product is not cheap, because it actually works like suspension should!

[CookMySock]

The reason that is happening is because the shocks are choking off hydraulically when you ride over abrupt obstacles that require sudden shock shaft deflection.

What Robert is saying here, is that a plain metering orifice (a simple hole, or series of them) acts in a non-linear fashion when presented with varying flows. This is a problem on a suspension unit, as you (roughly) want a constant force from the shock, not an increasing force as you hit larger bumps, and the shock moves more rapidly.

The trick is to use a shock that can actively vary the size of its' valving depending on the oil flow-rate. A simple oil-metering hole can't do this, so a stack of shims that can flex with the oil flow does it instead.

You can modify a simple shock to have a proper metering shim-stack by adding a device inside the shock. I forget what it was called..

DB

[Mental Trousers]

You can modify a simple shock to have a proper metering shim-stack by adding a device inside the shock. I forget what it was called..

You forget where they're used too. Emulators can only be used in forks.

Don't know if Robert can do anything with them (sounds like he can't) so replacing them with something decent maybe your only choice.

[CookMySock]

You forget where they're used too. Emulators can only be used in forks.

ah yeah.. I was meaning "in suspension in general" but yeah emulators are put in front suspension, not rear. It doesn't seem logical to me though - why not replace the simple orifice in the rear as well.. maybe its easier to just toss the whole rear shock and replace it.

DB

[Pussy]

At the end of the day, you can't make strawberry jam out of pig shit. You get what you pay for. Ohlins, Penske, WP etc etc are made to exacting standards, with model specific characteristics (or able easily, by a knowledgeable technician, to be made to a RIDER specific set up). Tolerances and engineering excellence are built in to high quality gear.

[Mental Trousers]

ah yeah.. I was meaning "in suspension in general" but yeah emulators are put in front suspension, not rear. It doesn't seem logical to me though - why not replace the simple orifice in the rear as well.. maybe its easier to just toss the whole rear shock and replace it.

DB

Because there's no room and every shock is different. With forks there's room because you can shorten the spacers for the springs and also because all forks that use the orifice method are basically the same. The main difference is the diameter of the forks. With shocks the principle is the same but the exact implementations are different (space requirements, cost blah blah).

[CookMySock]

Because there's no room and every shock is different.

Thanks MT. Always a concise answer !

DB

[xwhatsit]

Of course cheap shocks are worth it. Just depends on what you're upgrading from.

[Kickaha]

Of course cheap shocks are worth it. Just depends on what you're upgrading from.

If you ever ride a bike with top of the line suspension you'd soon change your mind

[xwhatsit]

If you ever ride a bike with top of the line suspension you'd soon change your mind

Hence my comment, `depends on what you're upgrading from'. F'rinstance, 1983 Honda FVQs to OEM Suzuki GSXR600 is quite an eye-opener.

And paying $300 for some old-model Konis is a worthy upgrade -- spending twice the value of the bike in Öhlins is nonsense.

[GSVR]

As the old saying goes,"you buy cheap,you get cheap". I recently bought some aftermarket rear shocks ($400 Hagan),for my 2006 Suzuki Boulevard S50 (VS800) & not that happy.I am noticing most bumps I go over are not fully absorbed by shocks.Quite a bit is transfered into my lower back,which doesn't make an enjoyable,comfortable ride at all.This is a CRUISER & I want reasonble comfort,not GSXR handling.Surely there must be better Quality aftermarket rear shocks available from somewhere.What are OHLINS & WP like on cruisers ?

I actually thought Hagon made reasonable shocks. Sounds more to me that the shocks you brought are not providing the kind of ride you like.

Its very easy to get a very soft suspension setup but this is not what someone would want on a sporty bike.

If these are not really cheap Hagons you should be able to adjust compression dampening but are you sure you just havent got too heavier springs to begin with?

http://www.hagon-shocks.co.uk/main1st.htm

[Kickaha]

Hagon are like Koni, one size fits all with a different spring depending on the bike

A few years ago I got Hagon for an old bike of mine, I may as well have fitted a solid steel bar as the springs they came with didn't sag at all with me sitting on it