Time for a suspension overhaul.

[ricerooster]

Bit the bullet, hope it's all worth it...

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[Naked_Duc]

I did the Race Tech Gold Valve a number of years ago. They made a huge difference on the freeway and over broken pavement/speed bumps. Do allocate a whole afternoon (or more) for the install though since it requires a full disassembling of the forks and some drilling. You will get to know how forks work in great detail.

 

[showkey]

There’s been some great prices in the parts for sale on used Cogent rear shocks .........that were actually custom built for the NC.

 

[GregC]

I put an Ohlins on the rear and racetech springs on the forks - no emulators. Ride improved tremendously - stock rear is designed for a 150lb Asian gentleman - which I am nowhere close to being.


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[Rapturee]

That looks really cool, i too have been considering doing that to mine. At 230lbs my NC does ride pretty nice, but hey, why not! :{P

 

[670cc]

A common comment by testers on the NC, and perhaps on other Honda’s as well, is that the fork springs are too soft. Along with that comment, testers rarely state their weight or their riding style/environment. To simply say the springs are too soft without some background info is useless. At my 165 pounds, and usually riding on bumpy roads, I find the stock fork springs to be good, if not a little too stiff. I tried the softest RaceTech springs available and hated them for being too stiff. It was like the forks were nearly solid and I had only two inches of suspension travel.

If I weighed 240 pounds and rode street only on the well maintained smooth roads of western North Carolina or SE Tennessee, I’d probably thing the stock springs were too soft, too.

To repeat myself a little, my point is that if one person says the springs are too soft or too stiff, it may mean nothing for you or your riding environment.

 

[dduelin]

A common comment by testers on the NC, and perhaps on other Honda’s as well, is that the fork springs are too soft. Along with that comment, testers rarely state their weight or their riding style/environment. To simply say the springs are too soft without some background info is useless. At my 165 pounds, and usually riding on bumpy roads, I find the stock fork springs to be good, if not a little too stiff. I tried the softest RaceTech springs available and hated them for being too stiff. It was like the forks were nearly solid and I had only two inches of suspension travel.

If I weighed 240 pounds and rode street only on the well maintained smooth roads of western North Carolina or SE Tennessee, I’d probably thing the stock springs were too soft, too.

To repeat myself a little, my point is that if one person says the springs are too soft or too stiff, it may mean nothing for you or your riding environment.

There is more to it than just the spring rate. The NC's springs are too soft for many riders, IMHO more than 170 lbs, but the basic design of the fork has too much damping so when riders of all weights hit large bumps or sharp-edged smaller ones the fork cannot compress fast enough and the bump is largely transmitted to the handlebars and on to the rider. A soft spring can feel very "hard" when the fork does not allow the spring to compress fast enough. I'm 150 lbs and the fork was way too harsh with the stock design using orifices of a fixed diameter to dampen compression and rebound. That is where the cartridge emulators like the OP bought come in. Race Tech and others like Cogent Dynamics make these drop-in devices that allow the orifices to vary their diameter based on the speed the fork is compressing. The larger the bump causes the orifices enlarge under pressure and allow more oil to pass quickly. Thus the fork feels softer when handling large or sharp-edged surface irregularities. These emulators are tuneable to rider weight and style and along with changes in the thickness or height of fork fluids transform the way the stock fork works. When people talk about springs being too hard or too soft they often are actually talking about how the fork dampens rapid compression. If changes to damping are made and the fork still uses all of it's travel when hitting a large bump or under heavy braking, the oil level can be raised 10-20 mm to "stiffen" the last 1/3rd of compression. If this is not enough the springs probably are too soft and a stiffer one is called for.

 

[Rapturee]

670-dduelin.... WELL said, thank you both! :{)

 

[670cc]

There is more to it than just the spring rate. The NC's springs are too soft for many riders, IMHO more than 170 lbs, but the basic design of the fork has too much damping so when riders of all weights hit large bumps or sharp-edged smaller ones the fork cannot compress fast enough and the bump is largely transmitted to the handlebars and on to the rider. A soft spring can feel very "hard" when the fork does not allow the spring to compress fast enough. I'm 150 lbs and the fork was way too harsh with the stock design using orifices of a fixed diameter to dampen compression and rebound. That is where the cartridge emulators like the OP bought come in. Race Tech and others like Cogent Dynamics make these drop-in devices that allow the orifices to vary their diameter based on the speed the fork is compressing. The larger the bump causes the orifices enlarge under pressure and allow more oil to pass quickly. Thus the fork feels softer when handling large or sharp-edged surface irregularities. These emulators are tuneable to rider weight and style and along with changes in the thickness or height of fork fluids transform the way the stock fork works. When people talk about springs being too hard or too soft they often are actually talking about how the fork dampens rapid compression. If changes to damping are made and the fork still uses all of it's travel when hitting a large bump or under heavy braking, the oil level can be raised 10-20 mm to "stiffen" the last 1/3rd of compression. If this is not enough the springs probably are too soft and a stiffer one is called for.

Very well said, and I agree with it all.

In my case, I have the RaveTech GVE drop ins. RaceTech sends two different stiffness springs for the emulator valve release point, the point where the sharp bump pushes the valve open. They were both too stiff for me. I had them send me an even softer emulator spring to get oil moving sooner, so I could actually get some action out of the forks to absorb the bumps.

My other option to improve ride quality would be to move to a state where they maintain their roads.

 

[ricerooster]

I recently installed a 2014 Tuono shock (Sachs); likely has the same spring as yours, which is supposedly a 95 N/mm rate. Earlier Tuono shocks (emulsion design) had 105 springs on them. Both are 160mm length springs. The early model spring coil measures 11.25mm in diameter; the 2014 spring is 11.125mm. If you find that you need a bit more spring and want to try the 105 N/mm, let me know and I'll let you have it cheap. Here they are side-by-side; you can just see the difference.

View attachment 38554

Thanks for the heads up.

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[ricerooster]

There is more to it than just the spring rate. The NC's springs are too soft for many riders, IMHO more than 170 lbs, but the basic design of the fork has too much damping so when riders of all weights hit large bumps or sharp-edged smaller ones the fork cannot compress fast enough and the bump is largely transmitted to the handlebars and on to the rider. A soft spring can feel very "hard" when the fork does not allow the spring to compress fast enough. I'm 150 lbs and the fork was way too harsh with the stock design using orifices of a fixed diameter to dampen compression and rebound. That is where the cartridge emulators like the OP bought come in. Race Tech and others like Cogent Dynamics make these drop-in devices that allow the orifices to vary their diameter based on the speed the fork is compressing. The larger the bump causes the orifices enlarge under pressure and allow more oil to pass quickly. Thus the fork feels softer when handling large or sharp-edged surface irregularities. These emulators are tuneable to rider weight and style and along with changes in the thickness or height of fork fluids transform the way the stock fork works. When people talk about springs being too hard or too soft they often are actually talking about how the fork dampens rapid compression. If changes to damping are made and the fork still uses all of it's travel when hitting a large bump or under heavy braking, the oil level can be raised 10-20 mm to "stiffen" the last 1/3rd of compression. If this is not enough the springs probably are too soft and a stiffer one is called for.

Good to know thank you.

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[ricerooster]

Parts are in, now just need fork oil, instructions, and time..lol

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[RPP Moto]

Hey ricerooster, did you finish your install? Any issues with clearance of the shock reservoir?