I mentioned earlier that I'd wanted to try 7.5 N/mm springs in my forks (as that's what the Öhlins use on the 1100S) but K-tech couldn't supply anything lighter than 8.5 N/mm.
Just on the off chance, I dropped Richard Adams at Maxton an email to see if he could offer anything. The standard spring length is 330 mm while Maxton's 7.5 N/mm are only 260 mm but Richard said that, if I sent them my forks, they would replace the internal spacer with one 70 mm longer so I could use their springs. I'm sure K-tech could have done the same modifications but, as they never mentioned it as an option and Maxton suggested it without being asked, I thought I'd go with them.
Maxton rang me twice before sending them back; first to confirm what I wanted and then to tell me what they had done, which included changing the shims in the damping adjusters to match the softer springs.
The turnaround time was a surprise - I sent them off on a Monday and they were back with me on the Friday of the same week.
Result
Just bouncing on them in the kitchen showed them to be much more supple with a nice smooth damping action on both compression and rebound.
Of course, the only real test is how they feel on the bike. Refitting the forks is straightforward enough, it's just a bit if a faff getting the height right and both forks exactly the same. I had wrapped tape around each leg right up against the bottom of the lower yoke before removing them but Maxton took it off - d'oh! 😖
There's a favourite route not far from me that takes in the B3035 and has a 200 yd stretch of washboard-like tarmac that really tests your suspension. On the standard springs the ride was awful. At 70 it actually gave me blurred vision. Even my Gilera Runner coped better and its suspension is little more than biro springs and Vaseline! 8.5N/mm springs and K-tech dampers were a huge improvement although you could still feel the bumps but the new 7.5 N/mm springs really absorb the bumps and give a much plusher ride while the revised damping keeps everything under control.
Some (reasonably) spirited cornering down a series of bumpy B-road bends revealed no pitching, wallowing or weaving, just a much smoother, controlled ride. The new springs also seem a much better match with the softer (105 N/mm) rear spring that I fitted earlier this year.
I was worried whether the softer springs would cope with heavy braking but some test emergency stops failed to bottom them out, even on bumpy roads, so no problems there.
I guess if you often take a pillion or regularly explore the upper 20% of the Evo's performance, then firmer springs might be better. But for me, the way I ride and the roads I ride, this set up works perfectly.
As chris.p observed some time ago
http://www.ukmonster.co.uk/monster/s...ad.php?t=51391, (it was his thread that originally prompted me to upgrade the forks), it's definitely worth investing some time and money in improving the Evo's suspension as it really pays dividends in better handling and comfort.
So thanks to Richard for going the extra mile (or 70 mm to be precise!).
27-09-2018, 10:13 PM
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