Tec Suspension

Discussion in 'Bonneville' started by Lane jones, Jan 15, 2020.

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  1. Lane jones

    Lane jones New Member

    Jan 9, 2020
    8
    3
    Surrey
    Hi all
    Has anyone fitted tec suspension ( rear shocks &/or front springs) ???
    What are your thoughts if so please ??
    Cheers
     
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  2. Wire-Wheels

    Wire-Wheels Elite Member

    Apr 26, 2019
    2,482
    800
    California - USA
    I was looking at these a couple of months ago. I have to take my British friend's on this site advice on these. I would of had to import them myself, as you do not see them for sale in the US.The word I got from everybody was no.
    ...J.D.
     
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  3. darkman

    darkman Crème de la Crème

    Oct 26, 2015
    7,568
    1,000
    Southcoast of the UK Earth
    Value for your money are the YSS rear shocks :)
     
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  4. dilligaf

    dilligaf Guest

    I have these for sale in parts clothing and accessories along with description
    £100 + postage :) E2CC6D68-B532-4FC9-A813-1E67EA6B9812.jpeg

    5C045DDE-CF22-4019-8B19-6376FA42E8D4.jpeg
     
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  5. Tom Gillam

    Tom Gillam Guest

    I inherited tec shocks on the bonneville which were average,or what some would describe as not great.
    YSS rz’s now fitted and are a major improvement,but the decision is yours,depending on your budget.
    I fitted Tec fork springs which are an improvement over stock and am now considering the emulators.
     
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  6. Wire-Wheels

    Wire-Wheels Elite Member

    Apr 26, 2019
    2,482
    800
    California - USA
    #6 Wire-Wheels, Jan 16, 2020
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2020
    I would like to upgrade "Lola"s rearend but she got ALL my motorcycle budget this year. "Cedric" needs a new starter and my Sprint has not been run in a couple of years do to my neglect, but I have had a lot of sickness the last few years. I need to have them all up and running this year. :D ...J.D.
     
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  7. StrippleMont

    StrippleMont Senior Member

    Nov 5, 2016
    344
    220
    Round your way!
    Cant comment on the shocks, fitted a TeC exhaust for a mate on his Bonneville.
    Quality was dire, welds looked like they were done by a "Chimp on crack".
    Spend a bit more and get a quality shock, rather than far east imported sh*t3!
     
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  8. beerkat

    beerkat Senior Member

    Aug 14, 2019
    843
    243
    Cheshire UK
    Currently got the TEC shocks on my Street Twin. The original shocks are very poor, with little damping, meaning I was bounced out of the seat a few times on our crap, pothole infested roads. So they had to go. The TEC replacements are definitely better but not brilliant, although certainly not rubbish. However, after 2 years I'm considering a switch to YSS or Hagon. Would I recommend them? If you're looking for a small improvement, on a low budget, then yes. But if you can stretch to one of the other makes, then I would go for those.
    Incidently, you (Lane jones) don't say what bike you've got or why you want to switch shocks, but I think top of the range stuff like Fox or Ohlins are wasted on bikes such as the Street Twin, T100 and T120 range, which in most peoples hands aren't capable of exploiting their potential.
     
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  9. thebiglad

    thebiglad Old fart, still riding !

    Sep 25, 2013
    5,064
    1,000
    Central France
    Re TEC suspensions products, I've got their progressive front springs with pre-load adjusters on my current bike and have had two different sets of rear shocks on my Bonneville. First lot were very cheap but still better better than Triumph, second lot cost £120 and were better still, with fully adjustable doo-dads.

    They are not the best suspension components in the world but are good value for money.
     
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  10. Repooh

    Repooh Rarely Satisfied

    Jan 5, 2018
    1,427
    1,000
    Stabby Town
    I have Hagon 2810's on the rear, built for my impressive weight and Tec progressive spring up front. Frankly I would not go cheap on such a critical component as rear shocks, (many have Tec and like them, but not for me) Add in some decent tyres and the ride is transformed for the better.
     
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  11. beerkat

    beerkat Senior Member

    Aug 14, 2019
    843
    243
    Cheshire UK
    I've fitted a variety of TEC parts over the past two years. Not a single problem with any of them. This includes a pair of end cans. Yes of course you can pay more (and often it's more than 'a bit', try 'twice as much') and get better quality (the shocks are a good example) but TEC products are generally good value for money.
     
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  12. beerkat

    beerkat Senior Member

    Aug 14, 2019
    843
    243
    Cheshire UK
    I've fitted a variety of TEC parts over the past two years. Not a single problem with any of them. This includes a pair of end cans. Yes of course you can pay more (and often it's more than 'a bit', try 'twice as much') and get better quality (the shocks are a good example) but TEC products are generally good value for money.
     
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  13. Wessa

    Wessa Cruising

    Apr 27, 2016
    11,341
    1,000
    North West England
    I had TEC shocks on my street twin, never had a problem with them. Good value for the money and an improvement over the triumph stock ones..
     
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  14. Mischa Vladivostok

    Mischa Vladivostok Well-Known Member

    Feb 9, 2015
    234
    93
    Dublin, Ireland
    Same here, there's a variety of TEC equipment on Panda. Fork springs are definitely a cheap and worth upgrade, no issue with them, especially matched with the fork adjusters (also TEC). I also got the 2-on-2 short exhausts, no problem with them either: yes the welds don't look very professional but I like the "rough" look of my bike anyway; they're A LOT lighter than the originals, and they sound way nicer, even with the baffles on (which I use all the time). The bike seems to run slightly better (SAI removed as well), and runs well on the original fuel map.

    Just don't get the rear shocks, unless they have vastly improved them in the mean time. Like many people before, mine were great to start with but smelled of gas during the first couple of months, until all the gas leaked out, and they became a horribly hard and bumpy shock. (they were the fully adjustable ones). They became even worse than the originals. I threw them in the bin, bought an affordable pair of YSS, and am very happy with them.
     
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  15. Tom Gillam

    Tom Gillam Guest

    #15 Tom Gillam, Jan 18, 2020
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 18, 2020
    Virtually identical experience,including the exhaust,but in the end I thought WTF about the exhaust.
     
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  16. Timothy Peters

    Timothy Peters Senior Member

    Nov 3, 2019
    316
    113
    Palatine, IL USA
    Own a Speed Twin, KTech shocks on back. The front forks on the Speed Twin were ok but just needed a little bit of adjustability. Went with the Tec springs and preload caps and they were a good improvement.

    I have other Tec parts on the bike, Tidy Tail, clutch cable holder and adjustable foot pegs. Quality for the money is good. But not Rizoma level.
     
  17. Wire-Wheels

    Wire-Wheels Elite Member

    Apr 26, 2019
    2,482
    800
    California - USA
    When it really comes down to it, I am probably not going to do any serious knee dragging or peg scraping on the America. I'll save that for my old T-3's and keep the America to use as it was intended, a cruiser. That's why a lot of us have more than one bike. ...J.D.
     
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  18. capt

    capt Elite Member

    May 8, 2016
    3,052
    750
    western Australia
    My America has cheap no name brand rear suspension and a decent front suspension kit (emulator's) with the back end adjustment set up on the firm to very firm it rides like it's on rails ! The big bore kit and sportier tune might add quite a bit to this !
    Since I've put a new ignition pick up coil , the engine has certainly become a lot more responsive , air gap was factory setting of 1mm now set at •75mm , smidgen tighter than the •80mm Triumph recommend , but I turned the motor over to check each individual trigger lobe all good •75 !
     
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  19. capt

    capt Elite Member

    May 8, 2016
    3,052
    750
    western Australia
    I've always found that any bike ridden is the total sum of its fit and part's .
    A cruiser can be setup to handle much better , but , unless the manufacturer built it in such a way that it isn't too long in the wheel base , it will always lack some sharpness to its handling , and a sports or tourer won't ever quite match a cruiser.
    So improving "Handling" is limited by the Manufacturers settings for purpose.

    My America has quite Harsh Suspension in comparison to its intended use , as I set the suspension for Two up touring and Towing !!

    Towing requires rear suspension capable of dealing with the weight of both passengers and the tow ball download , in my case the towing download is 35/45 kg and total combined weight of My good self and SWMBO (Brenda) is 160/180 kg. So I asked for spring setup to handle 220 kg settings on maximum and 140 kg mid range lowest 100 kg (approx my weight) Bike does all these combinations more than sufficiently well.
    Cost me $1000 or £500 to setup.
     
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  20. Wire-Wheels

    Wire-Wheels Elite Member

    Apr 26, 2019
    2,482
    800
    California - USA
    I've had my America 6 years. The best thing I have done to it by far is improving it's brakes. That set me back a few $$. This.year I want to spend money on my old Legend. When I do get back to the America, some rear suspension upgrades would.be top of my list. Here is a picture of the brake upgrade I did this summer. ...J.D.

    Pretech Caliper.jpg
     
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