Ricor users- Installed Intiminators and shocks and have some questions...
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2008
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From: NorCal
Ricor users- Installed Intiminators and shocks and have some questions...
Front:
I recently dropped my fork legs out and took them to a local indy to install new seals and the Intiminator valves, as I don't have the seal drivers and necessary tools to do the job. They gave me back the fork legs and my bottle of oil with 9-10 oz of oil in it. I can only assume that they installed 11 oz in each shock, which is close to what the service manual calls for.
What I have noticed so far is that I hear the springs or bushings sliding now, whereas the fork was pretty much silent before. Additionally, there is a pronounced "CLUNK" any time I hit a bump in the road, enter a driveway, or cross a speed bump. I can't really tell if the front suspension works any better, not really that impressed with my $300 investment (had to pay $100 labor to the indy).
Is this normal? Or is something wrong with my setup. I will remove this setup if this is considered normal. I will not tolerate a loud suspension.
Rear:
At the same time that I reinstalled the fork legs, I installed my new 13" Ricor Sport-Touring tuned shocks. I have to say, they provide a great ride, and with the sag set properly the bike doesn't look "motocross" when I'm on it. I can maintain a far greater average speed over the same roads as before without being pitched from my seat. However...
I get a lot of clunking coming from the rear now. Prior to these shocks I was running 12" and 13" HD touring shocks. The only clunk would happen when the bike was bottoming out. Other than that it was silent. Now, with the Ricors, there are lots of clunks coming from the back end too. In my estimation, it's the shocks cavitating due to there not being enough nitrogen in the shocks. But I can't see any way to add nitrogen. So I'm wondering if this is just "how they are."
What are your experiences?
I recently dropped my fork legs out and took them to a local indy to install new seals and the Intiminator valves, as I don't have the seal drivers and necessary tools to do the job. They gave me back the fork legs and my bottle of oil with 9-10 oz of oil in it. I can only assume that they installed 11 oz in each shock, which is close to what the service manual calls for.
What I have noticed so far is that I hear the springs or bushings sliding now, whereas the fork was pretty much silent before. Additionally, there is a pronounced "CLUNK" any time I hit a bump in the road, enter a driveway, or cross a speed bump. I can't really tell if the front suspension works any better, not really that impressed with my $300 investment (had to pay $100 labor to the indy).
Is this normal? Or is something wrong with my setup. I will remove this setup if this is considered normal. I will not tolerate a loud suspension.
Rear:
At the same time that I reinstalled the fork legs, I installed my new 13" Ricor Sport-Touring tuned shocks. I have to say, they provide a great ride, and with the sag set properly the bike doesn't look "motocross" when I'm on it. I can maintain a far greater average speed over the same roads as before without being pitched from my seat. However...
I get a lot of clunking coming from the rear now. Prior to these shocks I was running 12" and 13" HD touring shocks. The only clunk would happen when the bike was bottoming out. Other than that it was silent. Now, with the Ricors, there are lots of clunks coming from the back end too. In my estimation, it's the shocks cavitating due to there not being enough nitrogen in the shocks. But I can't see any way to add nitrogen. So I'm wondering if this is just "how they are."
What are your experiences?
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2008
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From: Cypress, TX
Not normal. I did install a little less fork oil that the manual specified when I installed the intiminators. I have no spring noise or clunk. Its hard to imagine they screwed this up. Its not that hard to do. Can't help you on the rear since I don't have them but I do no the sag adjustment on shocks is pretty citical to get right. Its more than just looks. You need to measure off the bike and on the bike. Are your forks really stiff or do they feel normal?
Road Captain
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 559
Likes: 0
From: La Vergne, TN
Ditto, call Ricor. I have no clunks or noises in my forks with the Ricor valves. I installed mine myself, very easy other than getting the spring compressed for threading the top cap. Even that isnt bad with another pair of hands. There are a couple critical steps like inserting the valve in the correct direction, pumping out air before adding spring. Cant believe they would mess that up. Let us know what happens.
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Joined: Jan 2010
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From: earth
I would say to call Brian also. There isn't much to go wrong with installing the Intiminators, but somebody else put them in so you just can't know if they did it right. There might be an installation problem, but there might not. I got a lot of experience with the Intiminators and I can tell you this much; when you hit a bump and the inertia piston cycles, the fluid forcing through the valve ports makes a very pronounced sound that can be mistaken as a "clunk". Also if you hit a big sharp bump, the Intiminators can not support the volume of flow required to dampen the bump quickly enough, so the momentary additional pressure overwhelms the opposing spring force and "floats" the Intiminator off of it's seat atop the damper rod and then slams back down, making an actual "clunk". Never messed with the shocks but they do have a similar inertia valve which may be making the noise in the rear but, that’s just a guess.
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Outstanding HDF Member
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From: NorCal
I would say to call Brian also. There isn't much to go wrong with installing the Intiminators, but somebody else put them in so you just can't know if they did it right. There might be an installation problem, but there might not. I got a lot of experience with the Intiminators and I can tell you this much; when you hit a bump and the inertia piston cycles, the fluid forcing through the valve ports makes a very pronounced sound that can be mistaken as a "clunk". Also if you hit a big sharp bump, the Intiminators can not support the volume of flow required to dampen the bump quickly enough, so the momentary additional pressure overwhelms the opposing spring force and "floats" the Intiminator off of it's seat atop the damper rod and then slams back down, making an actual "clunk". Never messed with the shocks but they do have a similar inertia valve which may be making the noise in the rear but, thats just a guess.
I'm not sure if a 2" driveway lip is considered a "big sharp bump" but that's enough to make my front end clunk. Ride slow over a speed bump? Clunk. Hit a dip in the road? Clunk.
I'm going to tear apart the front end again to figure out the problem. I have heard nothing but positive things about the Intiminators, and look forward to having them work properly.
I guess I'll have to take off the shocks and send them back to evaluate. Dunno what the deal is with them. Ride great, but clunk all the time too.
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Joined: Jan 2010
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From: earth
I've got mine set up particularly well and sometimes mine will still clunk when I come off the driveway too. Not sure if your front is lowered or if you got other than stock springs, but a set of single rate springs matched to your weight will greatly improve the performance of the front end.
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Road Master
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,118
Likes: 26
From: OOB, Maine
How much you weigh? I just installed front and rear Ricors. No clunks here from the front but an occasional one from a huge pothole from the rear. When I set my sag it was 5 full turns from fully backed off adjusters. My question on your weigh was in reference to you sag setting. Just seems like a lot of thread showing for a shock that was built "for" you. Clunk may be the shocks reaching full extend completely is my thought. My Progressive 440s did that alot.
Adam
Adam
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2008
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From: NorCal
I weigh 250#, and put that down on my order form.
Brian advised against changing out the front springs. He said it would be too stiff. My front end is still stock aside from the intiminators.
The rear is set up for 1" sag. I had a friend help me with measurements. That adjuster will be bottomed out when I set sag for a passenger I'm sure...
Brian advised against changing out the front springs. He said it would be too stiff. My front end is still stock aside from the intiminators.
The rear is set up for 1" sag. I had a friend help me with measurements. That adjuster will be bottomed out when I set sag for a passenger I'm sure...
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2010
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From: earth
Yes Ricor claims the Intiminators are designed to work with OEM springs, they also think their product is perfect with no room for improvement. However, real world testing of three different sets of springs, countless shim configurations, and two different versions of the Intiminators (the newer models have a cheaper manufacturing design and are easier to damage when disassembling) has led me to the conclusion that the single rate weight matched springs suit me better. My stock 06 springs were too soft overall, so I got a set of 33% stiffer 09 stock springs that were way too stiff. Then I got my weight matched springs and they were just right, a real Goldie Locks story. Stock progressive springs are actually dual rate springs that transition from too soft to firmer but still too soft, or from too soft to too firm(depending on the rider weight); once installed and compressed under sag, there is less than an inch of soft rate travel before it transitions into too stiff. The soft rate section of your stock springs are likely allowing the floating clunk condition that I mentioned earlier. The progressive spring theory for street bikes looks good on paper, but I have found it is a lot easier to tune a single rate, and the resultant consistent and predictable handling characteristics throughout the entire stroke is a bonus as well. Suspension final tune of the valving, fluid weight and volume, and sag are unique and dependant on the individuals preference, what works for one person may not work for another. However, the springs serve the same purpose for everyone, to counter the weight of the rider and the bike to provide a neutral load condition on the front suspension at a given sag height, the fluid and the valving does the damping. The benefit to a single rate spring is consistency throughout the entire stroke, it always feels the same no matter how much it is compressed. Intiminators are a fantastic product right out of the box, and although they work very well as a straight drop in, they can be tweaked to a much higher level of performance. The complexity of suspension is often overlooked, most folks just want to buy something, bolt it on and have a perfect ride. Truth is it doesnt work that way, your suspension needs to be tuned, just like your hot rod motor, in order for it to perform to optimum potential for its intended usage. Proper set up takes a lot of time and effort that a lot of folks just arent willing to commit. I weigh 230, I ride a little spirited, and I prefer my suspension a little on the firm side, I run 1kg Race Tech springs, 3 ea. .015 shims, a little less than 1/3 sag, Ricor recommended Amsoil fluid set exactly to OEM recommended height. Best case Scenerio youll only have to disassemble the front end tree times to get it right.