Afternoon All, Just back from Nitron in Eynsham near Oxford. https://www.nitron.co.uk/contact I'm very please to say I have the first fork cartridge kit for the Speed Twin. I wanted to upgrade my suspension and knew about the Ohlins option for the forks, but having looked at the quality of the Ohlins shocks, especially the OEM ones that seem to corrode very quickly, I had a closer look at Nitron. I think they are better quality so having decided on the NTR R3 shocks I spoke to Nitron. They very kindly advised me on the spec for the rear dampers and spring choice and then I had them fitted at Steve Jordan Motorcycles near Leatherhead. I had discussed the fact that I didn't ideally want Nitron rears and Ohlins on the front so Adam at Nitron asked if they could have my bike for a week or so, they would do the forks for me. And hey-presto, I have some really rather lovely looking fork adjusters! I have the billet stem/yoke nut from the Thruxton R ready to go one too which will match very well I think. https://www.fowlersparts.co.uk/parts/view/T2049880 I've just unloaded the bike from my van, in time for the heavens to open, so I can't yet ride it on my familiar dry roads to report on the no doubt improved ride quality. I had fantastic service from both Adam on sales and Scott who rode the bike before and after, did the development work and installation. They had to make sure that they were happy with it it all before they could release the kit on general sale. A great British company and very professional to deal with.
both front & rear look excellent i am sure they will transform the bike. does the front have rebound adjustment ? Will they be showing the cartridges on there website with a price do you think. cant wait to hear what you think after a few rides
Yep, fully adjustable on the front; preload, compression and rebound. They have have given me a base setting, which is somewhere mid-range and then I can start to tune it to what feels spot-on for me. They did comment that the standard fronts are very basic, with just the one side with some sort of cartridge. Bit of a parts bin cobble together job which obviously leaves room for an R model. The rears are 3 way adjustable as well. The spring rates were chosen for my weight and the type of riding/pillion/luggage etc. Looks like there'll be rain until the weekend, but maybe I'll catch a dry spell sometime. I'd ridden the bike for 2 days so I had a chance to focus on and remember how it performed on the stock suspension and of course it was dry, warm and sunny. So little point in comparing dry apples and wet pears.
As for whether they have the cartridges on the website yet, well I haven't looked but I expect it's something they will do. They took photos of my bike so maybe they'll do something with those. If you are interested, just give Adam a call. I've no idea about cost as they did a special rate as it was an R&D project. I paid full list price for the rear shocks and also for Steve Jordan to fit them. I could have done that but I'd put the order through them so it made sense to have them stick them on and set it up.
i will give them a ring at some point , i probably wont get them straight away another winter project
Bother! Just did the right thing and informed my insurance company of my better, safer and "more comfy" (as the lady said) suspension upgrade and they said "That'll be £90 please." That's about a 30% increase. I think the underwriters need educating. Maybe I've made the bike 30% more desirable? It is to me I suppose. To them it is 30% more dangerous, faster, more nickable.
Some insurers will see this as a performance upgrade, despite the fact there is no power performance increase. After going through about eight improvements (Front suspension springs, rear shock, Scottoiler, exhaust end cans, tank pad, R&G bungs, every little thing) on my Speed Triple with Carol Nash, they initially said the policy was going to be £800 more, I laughed and said "Let me speak to someone paid more than you please", the team leader then looked at my quote, spoke to the insurer and came back and agreed non were performance upgrades and put me back to £280. They made it clear to divulge any of these 'upgrades' as it could influence any payout, as I had declared an increase in value of my bike over the purchase value, so I am now covered and so are all the bits I have done to the bike.
Maybe when asking for quotes upon renewal, state "There are no power performance upgrades", if they push, state they are aftermarket replacement parts to improve the comfort and NOT the performance I dunno if this helps, but insurers are an ass and I hate them
Thanks for sharing all this info! I’m sure the ride will be much improved, but for now you can be at peace knowing that your bike looks absolutely ace.
Thanks Jet, yes I am at peace! Very happy with the bike, how it looks and how it rides. I don't think it needs anything else.
That's ridiculous! You should have pushed the better handling = safer = fewer claims. Posh shocks aren't going to make your bike more appealing to scumbag thieves. I think we need to know who this company is so we can avoid them. I use Bikesure for my Bonneville and 2 Hondas, with agreed valuation. All of them have had changes, including suspension, exhausts, wheels, lights, X-pipe and more. Not one alteration made any difference to my premium. They even provide a (long) list of accepted modifications (including shocks) which you can make without notifying them. Ask them for a quote when the time comes.
That's ridiculous! You should have pushed the better handling = safer = fewer claims. Posh shocks aren't going to make your bike more appealing to scumbag thieves. I think we need to know who this company is so we can avoid them. I use Bikesure for my Bonneville and 2 Hondas, with agreed valuation. All of them have had changes, including suspension, exhausts, wheels, lights, X-pipe and more. Not one alteration made any difference to my premium. They even provide a (long) list of accepted modifications (including shocks) which you can make without notifying them. Ask them for a quote when the time comes.
Thanks Beerkat for the Bikesure recommendation. Will certainly try them. I've got 2 bikes now so LV suggested a multi vehicle policy which doesn't seem any cheaper at all. Previously happy with their prices and the service has been good. But any insurer that doesn't understand things like suspension is taking the proverbial. I hate insurance. Especially legally required got-you-over-a-barrel not made a claim in 36 years vehicle insurance. Anyway, I had a brief ride out in the damp and drizzle, so can't comment on the Nitron's except to say it's loads better, especially while cornering. I spent some time on long roundabouts just noticing how much more secure the bike was. Forecast for Wednesday says so will hopefully get to ride on dry tarmac and have something constructive to say.
The best thing about working directly with Nitron is that now your bike starts out with a good setup for you personally. You get to start any adjustments from a place that is already pretty good. After what seemed like an absurd amount of research on rear shocks (how can there be so few options for a bike that's been out almost a year?), I put the Ohlins from the Thruxton R onto my Speed Twin. The spring rate is pretty firm (and I'm relatively light at 160 lb), so they are set for the least preload and 'comfort' settings of 20 clicks compression and 44 clicks (44 clicks? How much adjustment do we need?) of rebound. The Ohlins are noticeably better than the stock setup, but your work with Nitron is next level stuff. I wish Ohlins was that engaged and responsive. My rep couldn't even tell me what Ohlins rear shocks would fit the Speed Twin.
We are similar weights Jet, I'm 70kg, probably 75kg or so in my kit. It sounds like you are thinking about softer springs? I've just looked at the Nitron record card which says the twin shock springs I have are 16-24 N/mm. Using this conversion tool http://www.dfaulknersprings.com/acatalog/Conversion.html it comes out as 91.2 - 136.8 lbs per inch. It depends on the type of riding, roads, pillion and luggage of course, questions they asked me, but that might be useful. As you'll see on Faulkners website, springs are relatively cheap to change, based on i/d and length, but I don't think they do progressive springs. I think my shocks have 24 clicks of rebound available, 16 Hi-speed compression and 16 Low-speed compression, more than enough to experiment with. As you say I'm starting with a good set up which I got to enjoy for an hour yesterday. If you're keeping the bike, maybe you can find out what springs you have and source some others, even if you need to get them powder coated.
Right now the Ohlins have been on for 1200 miles or so. They are fine; if I had a complaint it would be a little too much compression damping so I'm going to back it out four clicks or so and see if I like that better.
Have just put a deposit down and should be having Steven Jordan Motorcycles installing K Tech front and rear suspension in half term.
DOH! I've blown my cover! No actually I teach in a college so getting time off work is next to impossible in term time. new front and rear K-TECH suspension fitted. Feels very good!
Swapped my Upper Yoke nut for this aluminium one which is fitted to Thruxtons I think. Got it from Fowlers. I think it goes well with the Nitron adjusters better than the chrome one anyway.