[Fred H.]

I sent the forks in to Traxxion the day before Thanksgiving, and they arrived back at my house today. Not a bad turn around time considering that it was in the middle of a holiday.

I have them installed on the bike, but haven't ridden them yet. I did notice that with this new Kury fork brace prevents you from being able to reinstall the center chrome piece in the fender that contains the fork tube protective extensions. I may try to see if I can find a work around solution.

I will hold all further comments till I have had time to do a thorough evaluation.

 

[roadrunner1800]

Fred,

I was just wondering if they left the anti-dive diasabled; and also what is their opinion about this wonderful bit of Honda engineering!

Allen Serviss Vernon,VT

 

[Roadie]

The anti-dive is disabled with the Traxxion AK-20 kit and when riding you won't miss it at all because the forks don't dive all that much.

 

[Sunkist]

I don't see any ice on that driveway, Fred, so am looking forward to your review in the very near future!

 

[Tony in AZ]

I don't see any ice on that driveway, Fred, so am looking forward to your review in the very near future!

I agree........ :wink: :wink:

 

[JMATANDEM]

Man, I wish you guys would stop posting about the Traxxion mods. It's gonna cost me money! :?

 

[Red]

Since Fred received no special turn around time and no :money1: discounts, I am looking forward to a honest non biased opinion.......

What are you going to compare these new forks against? 100,000 worn front GL1800 end, your FJR suspension, or a new '07 GL1800 suspension.

Enjoy.....

 

[jjsC6]

Fred - I can't wait to hear your thoughts on it. I'm assuming you are out riding now, and we will see a report by morning!!!

 

[gpick]

Fred,

I was just wondering if they left the anti-dive diasabled; and also what is their opinion about this wonderful bit of Honda engineering!

When the damping rod is removed the antidive valve is taken out of the loop so even though the plunger can still move the valve has no effect because there is no longer any oil flowing through it. When you ride the bike with good shocks it becomes obvious that the ADV is not needed in the least. Do a search on "Traxxion and anti-dive" and you will see Max has commented at length on this.

The mystery to me is that the ADV assembly looks like it would cost as much to manufacture and assemble as would good fork cartridges. I would also think that the OEM springs cost Honda about the same as the replacement springs would cost. The difficulty for them is building a suspension that can handle such a wide range of rider weights. You have riders ranging from 140 to 300 lbs, not to mention the weight of the pillion and baggage. So the ADV allows mushy springs without a dramatic dive with a heavy rider.

It is evident by Honda's racing record both in Formula One and motorcycles that they know how to build a great suspension. Yet, for some reason Honda has focused on the engines and left the suspension technology up to BMW.

I am sure this was more of a marketing decision than an engineering one, and given the numbers of Wing owners who insist that their suspension is great as is, maybe Honda's decision was a wise one. Business-wise anyway.

BTW, whatever happened to Stu_O's test?

 

[Jlk8204]

WHAT WAS THE TOTAL COST FOR THIS CHANGE[/b]

 

[ddking]

WHAT WAS THE TOTAL COST FOR THIS CHANGE[/b]

Front only is $1150 if you send in the forks. $1250 if you take the bike in and they remove forks and reinstall.

Rear shock is $450 if you send it in. $700 if you take the bike in and they remove and reinstall.

There may be a Traxxion authorized dealer near you who can do the work.

www.traxxion.com

 

[zg1286]

Bump

 

[Max McAllister]

Fred,

I was just wondering if they left the anti-dive diasabled; and also what is their opinion about this wonderful bit of Honda engineering!

When the damping rod is removed the antidive valve is taken out of the loop so even though the plunger can still move the valve has no effect because there is no longer any oil flowing through it. When you ride the bike with good shocks it becomes obvious that the ADV is not needed in the least. Do a search on "Traxxion and anti-dive" and you will see Max has commented at length on this.

The mystery to me is that the ADV assembly looks like it would cost as much to manufacture and assemble as would good fork cartridges. I would also think that the OEM springs cost Honda about the same as the replacement springs would cost. The difficulty for them is building a suspension that can handle such a wide range of rider weights. You have riders ranging from 140 to 300 lbs, not to mention the weight of the pillion and baggage. So the ADV allows mushy springs without a dramatic dive with a heavy rider.

It is evident by Honda's racing record both in Formula One and motorcycles that they know how to build a great suspension. Yet, for some reason Honda has focused on the engines and left the suspension technology up to BMW.

I am sure this was more of a marketing decision than an engineering one, and given the numbers of Wing owners who insist that their suspension is great as is, maybe Honda's decision was a wise one. Business-wise anyway.

BTW, whatever happened to Stu_O's test?

Hi guys,

In our GL1800 Suspension DVD I comment at length about all of this. We will actually finally pick them up tomorrow. If you want, you can download it for free from our site. It's about an hour long.

Stu O had a couple of other suspension products he was reviewing already in the pipeline, so his review of our stuff won't be seen until next year sometime.

Dave Searle, Editor in Chief of Motorcycle Consumer News just spent two days here last week. They are doing an evaluation of a stocker side by side with one of our fully kitted bikes. He came here to document the installation of the fork kit. So that review will be coming sometime within a month or two.

Fred's evaluation is going to be very cool. He has really done a lot of insightful documentation, and even has done video which will hopefully demonstrate a lot of before and after effects of the new suspension.

He told me it was 40 degrees there the other day... not good weather to evaluate suspension. Cold weather makes the oil thicker and you loose quite a bit of compliance.

 

[Dream Catcher]

Man, I wish you guys would stop posting about the Traxxion mods. It's gonna cost me money! :?

Don't let anybody influence your decision.
Keep a clear head and decide for yourself.
Think Traxxion!
Feel Traxxion!
BE Traxxion!
Get out your plastic.
IT"S TIME for Traxxion!

(and it cost me more than 2 cents worth to get all that fancy lettering.:lol: :lol:
DC

 

[Dream Catcher]

Max McAllister wrote:

Fred's evaluation is going to be very cool. He has really done a lot of insightful documentation, and even has done video which will hopefully demonstrate a lot of before and after effects of the new suspension.

He told me it was 40 degrees there the other day... not good weather to evaluate suspension. Cold weather makes the oil thicker and you loose quite a bit of compliance.

Hmmm....I seem to be seeing a definite trend here. I don't want to start any unfounded rumors but. :roll: :wink: ....my bike with new Traxxion suspension is sitting in the shop because it's too cold to ride. Fred has just installed new Traxxion suspension and Max now ADMITS it's only 40 degrees at Fred's. OK Max, time to confess. Just what nefarious devices have you secreted in the Traxxion suspension that has such an adverse effect on the local weather?

Hey Fred, did you remember to drop the triple tree ten MM down onto the tubes?

I talked with Karen at Fish Enterprises about longer kickstands and unfortunately, those early version GL1800 Fish stands (that were just a little too long) are not available.

I'm going to get one of the old Show Chrome extensions that bolt on the end of the GL1500 side stand and see if it can be fitted to the GL1800 foot.

Bike leans a little too much when on the side stand with the added suspension range. Not so bad when you lower the shock to Zero but I usually have it set mid range for riding double and don't want to jack it up and down when I park it.

Man! Waiting for Fred's video sequels is starting to be as bad as waiting for new Star Wars movies. :lol: :lol:
Get a move on Fred...Your Fans are getting restless! :lol:
DC

 

[motorcyclemom40]

I am due for a fork oil change if you need a stand in M/C :lol:

 

[Arn Butt Bill]

I like the road feel better in the cold...
Is that because I, uh --- er, have the bike overloaded?

I can't believe you had Searle there and didn't call me; you know I'm a biker-nerd, Max.
BTW, listen to 89.3 every morning from 0600 to 0800; it smokes.

 

[Toyo]

Bill, You are one strange dude! Thats why I luv ya so much. WTF does 89.3 have to do with anything we are discussing? Get an XM and you will never turn your old style radio back on.

What have you got planned this weekend? We might go see Paul in Tennessee this weekend. Cant decide on Sat or Sun yet.

 

[Arn Butt Bill]

Bill, You are one strange dude! Thats why I luv ya so much. WTF does 89.3 have to do with anything we are discussing? Get an XM and you will never turn your old style radio back on.

What have you got planned this weekend? We might go see Paul in Tennessee this weekend. Cant decide on Sat or Sun yet.

No more walking around at trials competitions for me; if you take the back way there, I'll ride partway up with you. I'll be riding for sure; it's supposed to be cold.

One of my coworkers is a DJ at 89.3 and has a show called "Spam & Grits"; they play some really good blues in the morning. Max is a blues musician.

I've been thinking of getting sat radio; not XM though. Serius has better blues and other vintage stuff that I like.

 

[Toyo]

I might just ride the Wing up there to see him. Seems like a good ride to me. He said its about 20 minutes north of Chattanooga.

If you get Xm you could go on my plan at 4.99 a month. Whats the # of channels that Xm has vs Sirrus? Never really looked at the blues section.