Installed Nitrogen Shocks

[Oldscoot]

I installed a pair of Nitrogen shocks.

Hint :It's easier to remove the shocks if you have an offset ratcheting 14mm wrench - which I had in my tool chest. You can buy one from from Sears for $9.99.  

You have to adjust the length of the shock to line up with the mounting brackets on the frame.  

There are no technical specs with the shocks and they are not calibrated.  I use a caliper to ensure balanced adjustment.  There is a preload setting and other settings that I have simply set to the middle until tomorrow when I will start road testing.

They are really good looking and the red springs go well with my red ABS brakes.       

If anyone has an suugestions they would be appreciated.

[MotoRandy123]

Let us know how they work. Almost every bike or scoot I buy has poor suspension performance.
Of course I compare them to the Ducati Multistrada "S" that I had that had the $2000 Ohlin's upgrade!

If you have compression and rebound adjustments you can rough them in before you ride a bit. Get the
springs setup first. This is usually accomplished by checking the sag with you on the bike vs with you
off the bike. It's generally 1" - 2". If you ride with a passenger a lot you might go to 1", if not 1.5" - 2"
might work better. This changes the force needed to start the suspension moving as well as allows for "up"
travel as well as down. IE some bumps raise from the surface some drop. It is better to get the correct
spring than to preload a soft one a lot as the starting force will be less...

 First set them to have the minimum effect (IE loose and bouncy) on both compression and rebound.
Then push the seat down and note if it comes up and stops or tops out and goes back down a bit. You
want it to almost sort of come back down a tad but not bounce more than once. Softer is better but most
people set it firm. On some setups you can't really tell if it's right as binding occurs but just get it as soft
as seems good.

 The compression is a bit more difficult. You see the rebound only works against the spring, the compression
has to work for slow bumps and fast ones. Basically jump up and down on the seat quickly. On the loose setting
it should move along with you. As you tighten it up it will slow you down a bit. Set it to just start being felt and ride
for the final adjustment...

[Oldscoot]

Thanks MotoRandy that was very helpful.  I'll keep you apprised of the progress.   

[Oldscoot]

I fooled around with the setup this morning and will ride it for awhile.  My overall impression is that on a typical relatively smooth road the bike feels a little more comfortable. On harsh roads I may have to adjust the rebound a little cause they transmit a little sharper hit.  I do not believe I could bottom out these shocks but that may be optimism.  I was not unhappy with the OEM shocks and they were better than the shocks on my Burgman 650.  The new shocks with some fine tuning will likely perform better.  One thing for sure -- they do look better.  Bling for the bike.       

[axy]

I fooled around with the setup this morning and will ride it for awhile.  My overall impression is that on a typical relatively smooth road the bike feels a little more comfortable. On harsh roads I may have to adjust the rebound a little cause they transmit a little sharper hit.  I do not believe I could bottom out these shocks but that may be optimism.  I was not unhappy with the OEM shocks and they were better than the shocks on my Burgman 650.  The new shocks with some fine tuning will likely perform better.  One thing for sure -- they do look better.  Bling for the bike.       

Personally, could not care less about "looks" of shocks on a plastic scooter.  However, YMMV.

Let's get to business: How much did you pay for them and where did you buy them? I am asking because OEM shocks on my P250S are utter crap, so maybe replacing them with aftermarket could improve the situation... or I will ditch the scoot altogether in the near future.

I do not know if they are 3-way adjustable, but if so, the major problem with such shocks is that rear suspension has to be set in tune with the front suspension (that's why sports bikes have 3-way adjustable front and rear suspension). Front suspension is fixed for you (us), so the best outcome is to adjust "crapiness" or "quirkiness" of scoot's front suspension to the (now) fully adjustable rear suspension. Google suspension adjustment of sports bikes...

[sissy mary]

All I care about is a smooth ride when I am touring. Please keep us updated.

[Oldscoot]

Personally, could not care less about "looks" of shocks on a plastic scooter.  However, YMMV.

Let's get to business: How much did you pay for them and where did you buy them? I am asking because OEM shocks on my P250S are utter crap, so maybe replacing them with aftermarket could improve the situation... or I will ditch the scoot altogether in the near future.

I do not know if they are 3-way adjustable, but if so, the major problem with such shocks is that rear suspension has to be set in tune with the front suspension (that's why sports bikes have 3-way adjustable front and rear suspension). Front suspension is fixed for you (us), so the best outcome is to adjust "crapiness" or "quirkiness" of scoot's front suspension to the (now) fully adjustable rear suspension. Google suspension adjustment of sports bikes...

I like my bike to ride good and look good too.  To each his own.  I think the shocks retail at $199.00 apiece and I bought them from my Kymco dealer. They are labeled as Kymco brand.  They do not have any pre-sets and you have to fiddle with the spring preload until you're happy with it.  I do not find any pitching between front and rear so I believe I've achieved some front and rear balance.  I do not ride this bike as a sport bike so I'm not as concerned with performance nuance in the upper limits. 



   

 

[Oldscoot]

All I care about is a smooth ride when I am touring. Please keep us updated.

I've only put about 75 miles of local riding with some freeway.  I've got a longer ride set up in February and I'll let you know how they work.  My initial impressions that they would be very comfortable for highway travel.   

[axy]

I like my bike to ride good and look good too.  To each his own. 

I also like my bikes to look good.
Could not care less about looks of my scooters though.   

I think the shocks retail at $199.00 apiece and I bought them from my Kymco dealer. They are labeled as Kymco brand.  They do not have any pre-sets and you have to fiddle with the spring preload until you're happy with it.  I do not find any pitching between front and rear so I believe I've achieved some front and rear balance.  I do not ride this bike as a sport bike so I'm not as concerned with performance nuance in the upper limits. 

Just a sec, it is possible that I made a mistake reading your initial post: on your new shocks nothing else can be adjusted, only spring preload, just like on OEMs?

[Oldscoot]

I also like my bikes to look good.
Could not care less about looks of my scooters though.   

Just a sec, it is possible that I made a mistake reading your initial post: on your new shocks nothing else can be adjusted, only spring preload, just like on OEMs?

Over the last 49 years of riding I've owned several dozen motorcycles - including some very nice 60s and 70s British bikes and older and modern Harleys. More recently I've owned 6 scooters and I currently own a Kymco GT 300i and 500Ri ABS. IMHO I think they are good looking bikes.  They're not Triumphs or Harleys or Ducatis or whatever - but I think scooters have their own aesthetic.  Most modern street bikes have non-metallic cowlings, panels and fenders, but in the final analysis - to each his own.       

I may have misinterpreted your question when you were talking about presets since you were referring to spring preload settings.  In addition to spring preload you can also set compression and rebound dampening.

[axy]

I may have misinterpreted your question when you were talking about presets since you were referring to spring preload settings.  In addition to spring preload you can also set compression and rebound dampening.

Great, they are fully adjustable unlike OEMs.