Rear shock recommendation

ST1100Y

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...suppose when the shock and springs were brand new they were a lot better than they were on the 11 year old ST1100 I bought...
Well, the OEM suspension is supposed to be on the comfy side, after all its a touring motorcycle...
And while new also the damping is quite OK, even for more ambitioned riding... whilst I adjusted it with 10W fork oil...
When reaching near 80Tkm/50Kmiles the rear shock is pretty much done though... (the one on my prev '92 ST actually blew a valve at that mileage, quite interesting to "bounce" home with literally no damping at all on the rear wheel ;-))
new suspension is great though,corners on rails now.
Sure, while the OEM shock broke down gradually, is the new thing a sudden change.

Still are most after-market suspensions made by MFGs specialized on racetrack motorcycles, so they will be on the firm side...
 

paulcb

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Interesting... some of the ST11's with sidecars on that Wiki have a car tire on the front! They also appear to have different forks and brakes.
 

ST1100Y

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On the left side column, right at the bottom you see "English". Presto chango right away!
But unfortunately is the English version there is FAR from the German content... (I did check that prior placing the link...)
 

ST1100Y

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Interesting... some of the ST11's with sidecars on that Wiki have a car tire on the front! They also appear to have different forks and brakes.
Yes, non leaning sidecars do require different front suspension then the telescopic forks...
And an ST with a hack basically is just a car... ;-)

The Flexit is the exception:

Sumner.jpg
 

Uncle Phil

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I can see it in the German version but not the English version. I've had Latin so I can sort of read German. :D Translated (Courtesy of web software) -

The motorcycle was developed as a rival to BMW K100 LT ( Luxury Tourer ) in Germany at the Honda Research and Development Center in Offenbach under the project name Trans Europe and first built only in Japan , and later in Honda plants in Europe . [ 4 ] [ 5 ] by default, Honda demanded by the developers long range , perfect weather protection and comfort and an integrated fitted as standard baggage system that combines two full-face helmets , plus safe driving with a full load and maximum speed on motorways , connected with handy driving behavior and absolute reliability . The development department in Offenbach designed , inspired by the great V2 - travel machine of Moto Guzzi , a motorcycle with shaft drive and a newly developed , longitudinally mounted V4 engine , high and wide windscreen and fully closed side panels with integrated 35 -liter cases . [ 2 ]

Thanks a bunch, Martin!
 
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ST1100Y

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Thanks a bunch, Martin!
You're welcome my friend!
There some more interesting "anecdotes" in that Wiki write-up... partially about the "undeclared war" with BMW back then... ;-)

In '92 Honda introduced the first, working motorcycle ABS and while at it, added TCS... total incidentally... :razz:
Not enough was the ST1100 the first motorcycle to beat the stopping distance of 43 meters/140 feet out of 100kph/62mph... doh!... :cool:
That gave them Bavarians something to chew on... (who's original sin was to use ABS components from their car series... whilst Honda started from square one and developed a pure motorcycle ABS from the scratch...)
Took 'em a while, and when the they'd finally figured it out, Honda just reached into the shelves behind and dropped the ABS-II/CBS/TCS on the road... so doh! again... icon_nana.gif :lol:
 
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Lots of good suggestions on here. I am pricing the Progressive 465 line and like the RAP feature (pricey perhaps but convenient).
Link: http://www.progressivesuspension.com...ies-shock-wrap

Any reason I shouldn't throw one of these on an ST1100? If I go this route, any recommendations whether changes to the stock front suspension also warranted?

Edit: I should have been more specific. The Progressive Suspension website suggests the following shock for my bike (non-ABS):

YearModelShock ModelShock Part NumberExt Length (inch/mm)Comp Length (inch/mm)Travel (inch/mm)MntsSpring #Rate
(lbs/inch - kg/mm)
2001
ST1100
465 SERIES SGL SHCK
465-1128
13.41/341
10.46/266
2.95/75
E/E
1156-20B
375/465 - 6.70/8.30






The RAP feature is not indicated for my model, but it is suggested for the ST1300 and comes in two forms, "Standard" and "One inch lower". Choosing (arbitrarily) the 2003 model year gives:


YearModelShock ModelShock Part NumberExt Length (inch/mm)Comp Length (inch/mm)Travel (inch/mm)MntsSpring #Rate
(lbs/inch // kg/mm)
2003ST1300465 SERIES SGL SHCK
Standard
465-117412.63/32110.71/2721.92/49E/C1181-20B850/1200 // 15.18/21.43
2003ST1300465 SERIES SGL SHCK
1" lower
465-117512.38/31510.71/2721.67/42E/C01-1006-20B1175 // 20.98
2003
ST1300
465 SERIES SGL SHCK W/RAP Standard
465-5013
12.63/321
10.71/272
1.92/49
E/C
1181-20B
850/1200 // 15.18/21.43
2003ST1300465 SERIES SGL SHCK W/RAP
1" lower
465-501412.38/3150.71/2721.67/42E/C01-1006-20B1175 // 20.98












NOTE: Extended, compressed, travel, mounting, spring and rate info taken from http://www.progressivesuspension.com/pdfs/7100-105.pdf

The rate ratios are pretty much equal for the 465-5013 (0.808) and the 645-1128 (0.807) which seems to indicate that the load capacity of the two shocks is comparable.

The next question is geometry: will the 465-5013 fit into the same space as the 465-1128 already on the ST1100? Judging from the extended and compressed lengths, it looks like the 465-5013 is 20mm shorter than the shock recommended for the ST1100.

So that seems to answer my question: the RAP feature is not an option with the 465-5013 shock. Mount extensions, etc seem like a bad idea to try and make it fit.

Grateful for any feedback for RAP options on the ST1100. Apologies for the long post, hopefully some of this is useful to others.

Cheers,
Charles
 
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over here we say "Knackered" , meaning sent to the knacker's yard, a place to turn old worn out horses into glue and pet food.

I'd say 'horsed' is a shortened version of 'knackered' aka the knackers yard, that being where worn out horses used to go,
before someone decided to use them as burger meat:D
 

ST Gui

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'Lunched' was the common expression I grew up with. 'Hosed' was a later contender.
 
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