Looking for some opinions on this, 3 options open to me and I don't want to defer to the most expensive thinking that that makes it the best choice. 1 Put a pair of TEC piggyback shocks on and accept it as job done. 2 Have Steve Jordan put emulators and new springs in the forks along with Nitron rear shocks and set the bike up for me. 3 Take it a step further and have the Nitron rear shocks again but with an Andreani cartridge kit for the forks, again set up for me. The bike is OK in isolation I guess but my other ride is Thruxton R which has the ability to make potholes disappear by comparison. Naturally enough it's suspension eclipses the T100 but I'd like to get at least 70% of that into the Bonneville. Opinions from those with experience of this most welcome! Thanks.
I've used TEC rear shocks on my 2010 T100 and they were a big enough improvement that I didn't need to do the front. On my current ride I put TEC progressive fork springs and adjusters and they were great. The adjustments really make a difference.
On my 2017 T100 I also used TEC shocks on the rear, but also added their fork upgrade kit to the front (springs, emulators, preload adjuster). It made an incredible difference and I'm very happy with them. Most cost effective solution out there. One note on the front, Triumph are apparently now using a thread locker compound on the bolts through the bottom of the forks. I had to drill them out and found finding replacement bolts near impossible to find, even on fleabay. Finally had to order them from Triumph. So, if you do the kit order a set of bolts from Triumph in advance, just in case.
The improvements available through the TEC parts seems hard to ignore, the price difference is substantial. So much so that I have to wonder where the catch is. I have no bike spannering experience but am not mechanically inept and can follow instructions, I wonder if I'd be able to do the forks myself??
Doing the forks is an absolute piece of cake, I did mine 3 weeks ago and it took about 30 mins to do both sides.
Excuse my ignorance, but can fitting the springs and emulators from TEC along with the TEC fork pre-load adjusters be done simply removing the top caps?
I can only speak from what I did, which didn't include emulators. All I had to do was slacken the bar clamps (so I could pivot them out of the way, then remove the cap tops (one at a time), then after protecting the paintwork remove the washer and lift the existing spring (allowing time for the fork oil to drip off) then put the new spring in, the washer back in and the adjuster cap on. Then do the other leg and yer done !!!
Depending on the emulator system, for my 09 America, I had to totally strip down forks and had to modify the lower inner dampers. Holes required filling/welding and new oneso of specific size drilled in different locations. But easy enough to do DIY if you have the suitable tools or access to them ! Took me couple of hours to fully strip modify and rebuild ?
Thanks to all for the replies and shared experiences, it's been useful and I've made my choice, which will be an interim solution possibly. Without doubt the options from Peter Jordan give the best solution but at a premium price, which I'm sure would be money well spent. The TEC parts are budget but crucially are far better than the equipment fitted as standard. Peter Jordan commented that the OE equipment is worse than budget and is woeful at best. I can fit fork springs only easily enough with the rear shocks and be all done for £210. I reckon I can get a 70% improvement for 15% of the outlay of the most expensive alternative which makes sense. This will do for at least a year at which point if I've enjoyed a significant upgrade for this time and still want to spend some money on the bike I won't be worried about taking the parts off. These parts would go back on when the bike is sold and I'd have premium parts to sell. So, TEC for now and off I go to get the fork springs organized for this weekend! Cheers all.
I don't think you'll be disappointed. No, they're not Nitrons but for those of us that simply can't afford those, TECs are great. Delboy does a great video on the shocks here: Triumph Bonneville #5 'TEC Gas shocks Edit - just watched the video again, and contrary to the video mine came with the proper eyelet already installed.
I guess probably not mentioned because the OP said he was looking at TEC or Nitron. I've got them on my Bonnie and they're also fitted to the other half's Bonnie, the Hagons seem a lot better quality than the TEC's that came with my Bonnie. (but they are more expensive)
Hagon's are fantastic shocks as well, but if you watch the last few minutes of Delboy's video he addresses this, basically saying the Hagon and Nitron's are great but overkill for the Bonneville. He believes the TECs are a much better match for both the T100's design and how most Bonnie's are actually ridden. But everyone rides and views their bikes differently so get the ones that are best matched to you. For me that's the TECs, but clearly not for all.
Well strike me down, not a great start to proceedings... I went into the garage and made a start on fitting these only to come to a grinding halt. The shocks had the metal sleeves fitted to the plastic bushes which made the id 14mm where the post is 16mm. I also had no instructions or the 1.6mm washers which must apparently be fitted. I had a mail back this evening from TEC saying that on my bike you don't fit the metal sleeves, I'm not sure I buy that from an engineering perspective. I've had many dealings with car suspension and I understand why these metal cores are used for bushes. So, not a great introduction and I'm just about ready to throw the towel in on this stuff and say stuff it and spend the right kind of money. Once I get sniff of something I don't like I find it very difficult to be at ease again and I start looking for problems.
Nope, this may be my next choice (have you read my last post? Not happy!) as they have a good reputation.
I understand how in performance there may be some disparity in the capability of the parts 'vs' the typical riding style for these bikes but it seems that to get a decent level of engineering quality it may be required to buy at this level.
Ok I thought I'd try these out to see if I could set original ride height and I've run into problems again. I can set 342mm without extensions and required minimum thread in shock. With extension, minimum height is 366mm therefore making it impossible to set original ride height of 350mm. Anyone else notice this??
The Hagons I have fitted don'y have steel bushes either I rang them and was told they didn't need them. Well pleased with them though.
I’d opt for Hagons. I fitted Hagon progressive springs and rear suspension units to my ‘92 XL Sportster and they greatly improved the handling, at a reasonable cost too. I splashed out around £200 on Ricor cartridge emulators for the Sportster and they were a simple fit and produced a great improvement
I have had this same issue. I didn't like how the bike handled with no extension and found it rode very nice with it installed, not paying attention to the original measurement. These were all with the preload at the minimum position. I'm about to remove the extensions and play with the preload to try and bring it to the original measurement and see how it handles. You could do the same. To be honest, the best way would be to leave the extension and properly measure and adjust the sag and preload. There's lots of websites that explain how to do it. Do that and it will probably run as well as possible without a good professional bike tuner.
