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My bike was badly in need of a new shock when I found the GSX1100EF listed on the Hagon website (www.hagon-shocks.co.uk). Hagon have been in business for as long as I've been buying bike mags and a lot of Brit and Jap classics featured seemed to wear their products. They list a unit for the 1100EF for about ?255 Sterling with adj spring preload and damping and will even do one to your spec for about ?295 (prices are from their website at June 05).
You can order direct but I ordered mine from the very helpful Horsepower just up the road (www.horsepowerireland.com). I've got stuff from there before and in this case, they were cheaper than the factory!
Anyhow, the Hagon shock looks to be very nicely made. The preload is adjustable using a c-spanner after you loosen a little allen-head grub screw in the collar. There's a single damping adjuster, another allen-head screw at the bottom. It says it's set for the average rider so I bolted it straight in. It fitted perfectly but the only downside is that access won't be easy if I want to make adjustments in the future (they recommend you remove it to adjust it which doesn't seem all that practical). BTW, you lose the remote adjusters of the original shock but the good news is that unlike the original, the Hagon is rebuildable.
So howzit go? The old shock was so tired that (at 5'6") I could sit on the bike and plant both feet on the floor. It also steered like a chopper and the rear wheel only touched the ground every 3rd or 4th bump. All this is cured. The Hagon shock is firm and the bike feels much more secure and stable in all situations. On smooth fast roads the bike now feels very reassuring through the corners and much more controlled when you accelerate hard. On the other 90% of Irish roads, it copes well and doesn't get too out of shape as you traverse the endless sequence of bumps, ridges, holes and "repairs".
I'm very pleased with the Hagon as it's turned a bike that was becoming a chore to ride into something I want to take the long way to work on every day. I wish I'd done this last summer. I've no connection with either of the companies above BTW, just a very satisfied customer.
Rich
You can order direct but I ordered mine from the very helpful Horsepower just up the road (www.horsepowerireland.com). I've got stuff from there before and in this case, they were cheaper than the factory!
Anyhow, the Hagon shock looks to be very nicely made. The preload is adjustable using a c-spanner after you loosen a little allen-head grub screw in the collar. There's a single damping adjuster, another allen-head screw at the bottom. It says it's set for the average rider so I bolted it straight in. It fitted perfectly but the only downside is that access won't be easy if I want to make adjustments in the future (they recommend you remove it to adjust it which doesn't seem all that practical). BTW, you lose the remote adjusters of the original shock but the good news is that unlike the original, the Hagon is rebuildable.
So howzit go? The old shock was so tired that (at 5'6") I could sit on the bike and plant both feet on the floor. It also steered like a chopper and the rear wheel only touched the ground every 3rd or 4th bump. All this is cured. The Hagon shock is firm and the bike feels much more secure and stable in all situations. On smooth fast roads the bike now feels very reassuring through the corners and much more controlled when you accelerate hard. On the other 90% of Irish roads, it copes well and doesn't get too out of shape as you traverse the endless sequence of bumps, ridges, holes and "repairs".
I'm very pleased with the Hagon as it's turned a bike that was becoming a chore to ride into something I want to take the long way to work on every day. I wish I'd done this last summer. I've no connection with either of the companies above BTW, just a very satisfied customer.
Rich
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