Never bothered to change the shocks on my old Bonnie, despite the fact that it seemed to be the first thing that everyone else did. I was just happy to have the bike and never felt that I would benefit from or be able to tell the difference. Not so with the SE - definitely a harsh ride with a good jarring of the spine over rough surfaces. The stock shocks just don't seem to have any give in them. So, trying out the basic Tec ones, which arrived today (and were fitted within 10 minutes). Short ride but already feels smoother than before so looking good but time will tell if they really improve the handling. When I get used to them I'm going for progressive sporings on the front to see how that works out.
The shocks on my wife's Bonnie were the same, very harsh and unforgiving even on minimum. As she has a bad back and had a vertebrae fused a couple of years ago, the first thing we did was fit some Hagon shocks to it and also a King Queen seat. She's ridden it to the South of France and back twice now and reckons it's the comfiest bike she's ever done it on.
I changed both back and front suspension and it has certainly made a big difference to the ride and comfort on my Bonnie. (17" cast wheels) I felt the rigidity of the OEM suspension would take its toll on my back, a risk I was not willing to take.
I fitted emulators and 15W fork oil to the front and then KYB piggybacks to the rear from a Kawasaki ZRX, cost about £180 in total and has made a huge difference to the T100, SE has Ohlins rear but no change to the forks so I need to fit emulators to that too.
That is interesting, I looked at fitting Riccor Intiminators to the front of my Bonnie but couldn't find enough reviews to justify them and thought it may be over the top for a Bonnie ridden steadily. I finally fitted Hagon progressive springs up front with 7.5w oil as recommended and Hagon shocks on the back, massive difference, only trouble is now it highlights the rock hard seat, but still a much improved ride.
I leather my Bonnies which is why I went for the emulators. If they were still not good I was going for the CBR F3 conversion next. My T100 has a Bob Farnham upgrade and is 70 bhp at the wheel.
I have ricors on my thrux, they were there when i bought it so havent really got anything to compare to, had no probs at all with handling, I want to cut down the spacers tho and get the sag sorted out. Hagon 2810s on the back, all seems good
Ikon were on both ends of my 2010 SE when I bought it, so can't compare, but no complaints about performance. I'm planning to put some Tecs on my Street Twin.
it would be worth blagging a ride on a standard suspension Thruxton to see if there is a noticeable difference. The engineering theory behind the Riccor seems sound, the proof is obviously in the ride. They are an American product and the last time I looked they were offering 50% off which brought them to about £200 from memory. You may be hit with import duties so that would increase the overall cost a bit.
And the £8.00 the post office charged meant I probably paid near on what the wallet cost!! I don't know the original price as it was a birthday present.
TEC do pre load adjusters , dont know if these are the same as the riccors, at about £50. Dell boy has a video on youtube showing how to fit them. Geoff
Hi Geoff, The TEC pre loads are a good product and good value but it is not what the Riccor intiminators are about. It is worth having a look on the Riccor website to get an understanding of the intiminators, they have videos and drawings to explain it much better than I could.
I've now got TECs both front and rear. I have to say, I found the improvement of the front progressive springs way better (and cheaper) than the improvement I got on the rears. Still, the rears do still help a bit, and having bought the adjustable ones, I can quickly change them when the missus wants to go for a ride.
I've a set of TEC rear shocks and front springs arriving Monday. Probably won't get round to fitting for a month or so. I bought the £100 rears, which Del's Garage was raving about. Last one in stock. I wonder how they compare to the ones George now sells for £140.
Hi Steve, I'm looking to replace the rear shocks for the first time on my 2001 Bonneville. Just curious what is your opinion for the Tec shocks after some extended use. I'm riding mainly solo and 165lbs. Just looking for an upgrade over the 20year old originals.
Hi Jason, the TECs were OK for what they are - cheap and cheerful but I went for Hagons in the end, much better but more expensive. I no longer have the Bonneville as I sold it last July to my step daughter so it's still in the family.
Thanks for the reply Steve. Would it be fair to say they were an upgrade from the originals? Good to hear the Bonnie is still in the family!