Cogent Suspension Arrived!

[kebrider]

Arrived yesterday and was installed on the bike and tested last night. The straight wound springs were the wrong diameter, too large, so I put in the stock progressive springs with the stock spacer. This resulted in additional, but in no way excessive, spring preload.

After doing the forks I did a test run and the difference was more dramatic than I predicted. Braking, handling and bump absorption were improved considerably with all the harshness coming from the rear suspension. I installed the rear shock with Cogent's preselected settings and took off for a test. Money! the entire bike feels taughter with exponentially more composure over rough pavement. Firm yet compliant.

I have a mountain ride planned for this evening that will test the bike to the fullest. I will set the sag and get the systems tested this evening and report back. The original bike was pretty darned good in the mountains. The limitation was the suspension when the bike was pushed. The right side of my bike looks like a belt sander was taken to the lower exhaust header, heat shield, muffler, rear brake lever and pegs of course (I will post some pics of the carnage later). I suspect my days of dragging hard parts is over.

My test corner where I usually do 30 mph through registered 35 last night...not too bad at all.

KEB

 

[L.B.S.]

Great to see another choice for the NC's


From their (Cogent) website:


"The Differences between our design and that of the RaceTech Emulator and other designs we know of is that we are using a true deflective disk over engineered port geometry to better control the velocity and frequency. We also added a poppet valve system to enhance the low speed rebound control of the Damper Rod fork."

"These are not a one size fits all type valve. While the DDC are customer tunable, we strive to deliver a pre-tuned setup that eliminates the need for customer home brew tuning like setting poppet preload, spring preload and other variables so that when our customers purchase the Cogent Dynamics DDC, they are purchasing a carefully setup custom matched solution that is a truly drop in solution."




I'm not quite up to speed on the difference between the claim that their "true deflective disc" and "poppet valve system" sets them apart from the others, but they do say no damper rod drilling is required, and don't seem quite so persnickety on the exactitude of fork oil used, I note. Makes install a little less involved at least.

Almost like a mix of the Ricor and the Gold valve designs, leaning more to the Ricor possibly.

What has piqued my curiousity is, if the DDC valves are a custom match for the inner fork diameter, I wonder how they keep the fork fluid from passing around their exterior circumference? I can't see any kind of oil control ring/bushing like the Intiminator gizmo.

Any guesses on your end, KEB?

 

[kebrider]

The DDCs are custom matched but not a tight, sealing type of fit. In Rick's (Cogent Owner) own words describing the DDCs: "We are using a shim stack and a fixed bleed along with a setup that is a more direct pop off to achieve our goals".

What helped sell me on the DDCs was the following quotes from Rick:

"We wanted a device that would give a consistent and predictable control of chassis pitch ( brake dive included) and great traction and bump compliance in both on and off road conditions."

"We were able to control aspects of stage one, two and three damping and changed not just compression but also the rebound characteristics of the forks."

If I feel the need I may try the Ricor product next but that would only be after adjusting oil level and springs based on Rick's advice. One thing I can say for sure is if the NC had the stability through bumpy turns, under braking, and the composure after big hits like I had during last night's test ride I would never have shopped for an upgraded suspension. The engine and seating position takes me back to the bikes I learned on in the 70's, giving me all their great characteristics without actually having to live with the lack of refinement. The suspension was practically period correct and was just too crude in comparison with the rest of the bike. I consistently do 300+ mile days and I tend to enjoy advanced lean angles so precise wheel control is important.

 

[Agent]

Finally got it, huh? Maybe you can keep a set of pegs on the bike now and not have to replace toe sliders anymore. Glad you're pleased with it.

 

[kebrider]

Finally got it, huh? Maybe you can keep a set of pegs on the bike now and not have to replace toe sliders anymore. Glad you're pleased with it.

I had to take those wonderful Buell pegs off due to going through so any boots but that just allowed me to drag everything else with less boot wear.

The suspension is proving to be a worthwhile upgrade for me. I dropped the oil level in the forks from 115mm to 130mm as Cogent recommends to see if I could soften up the stiff front end and I only ran a short test and it felt like I lost a little steering precision and induced the usual understeer tendency of the NC. I then backed off the rear shock preload which lost me more steering precision and increased understeer again. So I went he other way with the shock and dialed in more preload (1.5 turns) and original rebound I got back most of the steering precision and turning grip I had lost with the oil level drop. My final tweak was to adjust the rear rebound damping softer by 2 clicks which took me the wrong direction as the preload had and I then went up 2 clicks from "stock" and I am back to a race level turning NC. Who knew this bike could handle like a well prepped 600 sport bike?

The ride is firm but not harsh so I am optimistic the setup will meet or exceed my expectations. I am going to have Cogent send me the correct fork springs as I can just drop them in with the forks on the bike and then custom fit the preload PVC to Cogent's recommended length and see what happens.

Jumping on the bike and hoping to wear out some center tread for a change on a run to Barber for the races this weekend. Should be a great time and will be an excellent test of the new suspension's comfort contribution.

KEB