Aprilia Tuono Rear Shock (Sachs)

[dduelin]

You should measure sag under your riding weight to get more info related to spring selection.

 

[Jut8]

Ok guys, so I drove down to Pisgah National forest for a long weekend of mountain bike riding. After calling Ohlins, I find out they are headquartered right outside of where we are riding/staying and Jerry invites me to bring the Tuono shock in, take a look at it, go over the shock, and set me up with a spring....I also got a nice tour and got to see some sweet stuff while i was in there! While i do not remember near the amount of numbers and things they went over while I was there, the basics are I weigh 192lbs, and I walked out with 1092-49/130 spring mounted to my shock ready to go. He did say this rate was a step or two below what I would get if I purchased an Ohlins shock from them according to my weight, but it is the best fit for the shock that I will be running, with my weight on the bike.....those guys seemed to know what they were doing, so I am going to believe him, haha, he may have sold me on a setup for my fz09 while I was in there too.

They were nice enough to mount it all up, use their fancy spring compressor, and give me the full tour......it gets mounted up tomorrow, and ride report as soon as the snow leaves the roads around here.

 

[Jut8]

Shock installed today, everything went well, even taking the bodywork off was not a big deal. Had to run to work for a bit, but hope to have sag setup tomorrow, along with a test ride. Getting the shock in with the washers was a bit tough, i tried grease on the washers, and i wasent smooth enough to get them in without having them fall off, haha. So i just used a bit of closed cell foam i had laying around, wedged it in there, put the shock in place and pushed the foam out with the incoming bolt, worked like a charm.

 

[broma345]

Very nice! Just curious where you ended up with preload/sag? Also, how you like the ride with that spring and the sachs?

 

[mali_r]

Greetings from Croatia,

I read this thread before messing with the rear shock on my NC700X 2012. Information found here were very helpful. To contribute to this thread - I've done a swap to Aprilia RSV4 2014 Sachs shock and confirm the gas container fits as well. It is a tight fit and gas container touches lightly on the plastic above. The plastic above is just a protection of some electronic components but it is flexible and does not put almost any pressure on the gas container. I put a paper around the gas container to protect it from scratches while installing, but later I took the paper off and it went down easily. So there is not a very tight contact between the gas container and the plastic. I took the advice to use the stronger Ohlins spring 1095-44/120 and I think it is perfect fit. It would be better if it is a bit shorter, but this fits as well but without much room for further preload. Ohlins has a shorter spring, but it is not 120 NM. Any shorter Ohlins would be too soft for me. I am 75 kg but mostly ride 2-up and with a lot of luggage. The preload is spot on. I just had to try several rebound and compression combinations. This setup did miracle for the comfort. Depending on the setup, it can be very bouncy or hard. But the combination I have now is perfect. Still not the comfort of BMW R1200RT I had before, but somehow reminds me of it. It is a big improvement over the stock setup. I already have Racetech valves in front and 1" risers. The original shock was not in a good shape after 50 tkm and the last year trip to Central Asia where we did 14 tkm 2-up, with a lot of luggage and few thousand kms of really bad roads and off-road. I am happy I did the swap to Sachs and not fitting the original rear shock as a replacement.

 

[ColoradoChris]

mali_r,

Do you have any follow up information on your rear shock? How is it working for you after some time? Have there been any issues with the clearance on the canister?

 

[mali_r]

mali_r,

Do you have any follow up information on your rear shock? How is it working for you after some time? Have there been any issues with the clearance on the canister?

No issues at all. Did few thousands already. 2-up and with the luggage. Works flawlessly. It's not a magic carpet feel like R1200RT, but not far either. But it is not just plug-in and ride. It took some time of trying different settings for compression and rebound. What works for me alone, does not 2-up and luggage. It was not an issue before as original shock did not have any settings and now apparent - it covered wider area of usage. It sucked all of it but the difference on different weights was not so apparent. Now it is. What works for me alone, in 2-up ride was too soft and wobbly. Few clicks and it is ready for 2-up. Too firm if I ride alone the same setting. So the only issue with it is you have to adjust the settings, but guess a positive remark as well. You can tune it to different scenarios. In general, the feel is not special. Just a normal comfortable ride how it should be from the beginning. I have a railroad crossing close to my place and the most obvious proof it works much better now, is crossing the rail. Just go over it and no hard kicks to the spine. Like flying over it. Perfect. This was not expensive add-on. I would recommend to go directly to RSV external reservoir shock. Just be aware it is a bit less room for the spring then regular Tuono shock. 120NM spring is a must for all riders above 75 kg and it fits just on the edge. You will need professional tools to compress it and install on the shock. 115NM Ohlins spring is a bit shorter and will leave room for preoad adjustments, but I guess it will be too soft for most of people. For me, no regrets, time invested and money.

 

[ColoradoChris]

Thanks for the update, I see one of these in my future.

 

[ColoradoChris]

So, my shock arrived,I put it on last night just to see what it was like. I got about an inch of sag with just the bike weight and another 1.125 with me on it (54mm total for you metric guys) even with almost all the preload adjustment used up. I rode it around the block, it was interesting to feel the rear end squat under acceleration.

I have a line on some 7" 800 lb/in (177 mm and 14.4 kg/mm) I think the longer spring will work, but I am not sure. Again, I think I remember reading that some folks were using 170mm length springs. I will likely give it a shot. I will just start with the preload backed all the way off and see what i need to do from there.

 

[ColoradoChris]

New spring is on, hopefully I get the shock reinstalled in time to ride some this weekend.

 

[ColoradoChris]

New shock (from Aprilia RSV4) is installed. Went on like a champ once I decided to get off the struggle bus and just super glue the needed washers to each side of the shock for the top mount.

Just pushing down on the seat, it "feels" nice, smooth compliant. I haven't measured/set sag yet, but on the quick ride around the block, the squatting under acceleration is gone. Hopefully I can get a decent ride in tomorrow or Saturday. But I am declaring preliminary success.

 

[ColoradoChris]

I did about 200 miles of pavement this weekend. The "suggested" middle of the road settings worked great. I may add just a touch more rebound but I was hitting bumps I could only feel on the front. Can't wait to find some washboard to try it on.

 

[Therapy]

Ok guys, so I drove down to Pisgah National forest for a long weekend of mountain bike riding. After calling Ohlins, I find out they are headquartered right outside of where we are riding/staying and Jerry invites me to bring the Tuono shock in, take a look at it, go over the shock, and set me up with a spring....I also got a nice tour and got to see some sweet stuff while i was in there! While i do not remember near the amount of numbers and things they went over while I was there, the basics are I weigh 192lbs, and I walked out with 1092-49/130 spring mounted to my shock ready to go. He did say this rate was a step or two below what I would get if I purchased an Ohlins shock from them according to my weight, but it is the best fit for the shock that I will be running, with my weight on the bike.....those guys seemed to know what they were doing, so I am going to believe him, haha, he may have sold me on a setup for my fz09 while I was in there too.

They were nice enough to mount it all up, use their fancy spring compressor, and give me the full tour......it gets mounted up tomorrow, and ride report as soon as the snow leaves the roads around here.

View attachment 35998

Did you have them do the forks also?
If so, which kit?

 

[serge]

So, my shock arrived,I put it on last night just to see what it was like. I got about an inch of sag with just the bike weight and another 1.125 with me on it (54mm total for you metric guys) even with almost all the preload adjustment used up. I rode it around the block, it was interesting to feel the rear end squat under acceleration.

I have a line on some 7" 800 lb/in (177 mm and 14.4 kg/mm) I think the longer spring will work, but I am not sure. Again, I think I remember reading that some folks were using 170mm length springs. I will likely give it a shot. I will just start with the preload backed all the way off and see what i need to do from there.

Thank you for sharing! From which year RSV is your shock? It seems there was a change in RSV chassis length after 2014 or 2016 ..

 

[ColoradoChris]

Thank you for sharing! From which year RSV is your shock? It seems there was a change in RSV chassis length after 2014 or 2016 ..

Mine said it was from a 2012, I am not sure others will fit, but for what it's worth mine was also length adjustable, it just happened to be the right length out of the box.

 

[Antarius]

The shocks changed in 2009 when Aprilia moved to the "V4" engine and brand new frame. Most of us who run this Tuono shock run a pre-2008 shock from an RSV or Tuono.

 

[mali_r]

Thank you for sharing! From which year RSV is your shock? It seems there was a change in RSV chassis length after 2014 or 2016 ..

I have 2014 RSV V4 Sachs shock (with external container). So 2014 V4 fits. If they introduced new model in 2016, I can not confirm it fits as well.

 

[Naked_Duc]

I am thinking about doing the same mod this winter. Is there a particular model of shock to get or are they pretty much created equal (equally mediocre but far better than NC700X stock shock)? Reservoir vs. non-reservoir (apparently they all fit with sufficient clearance)? Later versions vs older versions?

After reading thru all 22 pages and taking notes, I concluded that pre-2008 non-reservoir versions all fit, with some reservoir versions confirmed. I weigh 140lbs so maybe 150 all dressed with a top box for laptop, lunch, etc for commuting. Perhaps I should go for Ohlins springs in the neighborhood of 170mm length and 110Nm in rate? Or maybe a longer spring and lighter spring rate (more preload but more cushy ride)?

 

[jspivy]

I just did mine Friday night. Mine is from a 2016. I tried getting with a recommended local suspension shop but couldn't get them to return a call or email. Racetech lists their springs online and they have a 178mm x 114nm so that's what I ordered (I'm 165 pounds w/o gear) hoping it was close enough.

The resevoir does press on the plastic under the fender. Enough that a bolt on the left side plastic won't go in. I doubt it'll cause any issues but it's worth mentioning.

As far as which shock is best? I wouldn't know, this is my first time doing anything to the suspension beyond swapping fork springs...

Sent from my ASUS_Z01HD using Tapatalk

 

[ColoradoChris]

I just did mine Friday night. Mine is from a 2016. I tried getting with a recommended local suspension shop but couldn't get them to return a call or email. Racetech lists their springs online and they have a 178mm x 114nm so that's what I ordered (I'm 165 pounds w/o gear) hoping it was close enough.

The resevoir does press on the plastic under the fender. Enough that a bolt on the left side plastic won't go in. I doubt it'll cause any issues but it's worth mentioning.

As far as which shock is best? I wouldn't know, this is my first time doing anything to the suspension beyond swapping fork springs...
Sent from my ASUS_Z01HD using Tapatalk

I am about 190lbs and carried way too much stuff on my recent Utah trip. I went with the same length you did and 140 n/mm. You may be a little soft. If it squats during acceleration, you ARE too soft, other than that it is all about what feels good to you and your riding style.

The reservoir pushing on the plastic doesn't move in relation to the plastic execept for a very little bit of angle change as the shock compresses and extends. I saw no issues with mine after a lot of vigorous off road.