I picked up the Shock Therapy modified shocks and springs from Mr Anonymous yesterday. We also enjoyed some fine dining in Scottsdale! He had the shocks all cleaned up, so they looked like new!
First thing this morning I took the Talon out for a run on the stock suspension. Even though I have about 1200 miles on it, I wanted to do back to back runs over the same route. I picked a route over trails I have ridden many times before, and covers most of the terrain I commonly ride. I started out on some twisty, hardpacked trail. Few rocks and just smaller bumps and ditches. Then we ran into some rockier trail. Then into a sand wash, first narrow and twisty, then it opened up into a wider wash. We haven't had a good rain for a long time, so the wash was pretty choppy. Then onto more rocky trail. All of this was run at 15 to 25MPH, and up to 40MPH in the wider wash. This totaled 8.2 miles. Then it was onto about 4.6 miles of twisty gravel road. This road is moderately wash boarded. This was run at 25 to 40 MPH. I finished up with about 8 miles of pavement back home, at 55 MPH. I had my wife with me, as I ride with her at least 80% of the time.
Obviously, I knew what to expect from the stock suspension. I have raised the crossover rings which softened the ride a bit. I also had removed the sway bar, which helped the ride considerably. I have gotten used to the increased body roll. With these minor changes, I felt that the ride was tolerable, but I knew there was much improvement to be had.
After the initial test ride, I headed back to the shop to install the Shock Therapy shocks and springs. That took me about 45 minutes. I installed them just as I received them from Mr. Anonymous. The front sat noticeably high, but I decided to run it that way, planning to adjust ride height after the ride. We weren't more than 1/4 mile into the ride before I knew there was a big difference. Where before a bump was very harsh, it was now softened considerably. It soon became obvious that I was getting much more travel from the suspension, even over smaller bumps. It just soaked up the bumps. The biggest improvement was on the rocky trails, which is exactly where I needed improvement. Without even trying, I found that I was carrying more speed, and the ride was still much improved. I honestly didn't feel too much difference in the choppy wash. On the wash boarded gravel road, there was also significant improvement. There was no big change on the smooth pavement, and I didn't expect any. One thing that I learned very quickly, is that I could not run this suspension without the sway bar. The body roll was very high with the softened suspension, to the point that it was not safe.
I ran it back in the shop and checked the ride height. It was about 15 1/4" in the front, and 13" in the rear. Adjusting the front preload was pretty easy. I used the method of turning the entire spring. I moved the preloads up 1/2", and the crossovers the same amount. The rear was tougher. I could barely turn the spring, and using the spanners was very tedious. I remembered someone mentioning a strap wrench. I had a rubber strap wrench, and I found that it worked nicely for this job. I moved the rear preloads down about 5/8", and the crossovers the same amount. I also reinstalled the sway bar.
We then went out for a third test run. I didn't feel the need to run the whole route this time. We did the sandy hardpacked trail, then some of the rocky trail, then turned around and headed home. I thought that installing the sway bar had a very negligible effect on the ride quality. Obviously it greatly reduced the body roll. The machine really felt secure and planted now. The ride was a big improvement over stock. When I got back to the shop, I rechecked the ride height. It was now at 14 1/4" front, 13 7/8" rear. I think I will leave it at that for now. Again, I am on 30" (29.5" actual tires. I added up the weight of all of my accessories and came up with a total of 330 pounds! These items are listed in my sig. About 200 pounds of that is directly over the rear axle.
The bottom line is that I am very pleased with the improvement from the Shock Therapy shocks and springs. Now I understand what people are talking about when they say that Shock Therapy makes a huge improvement. I don't want to sound like a commercial for Shock Therapy. I have heard great things about other companies, notably Weller Racing. I tend to be a slower, cruising type of rider, and it sounds like Weller might be an even better fit for me. I know that this comparison has been done before, and by people more qualified than I. If I go on to the Weller suspension I will be able to compare that directly to the Shock Therapy setup.
In August I am going up to Utah for 8 to 10 days, then back to northern AZ for another week. I will probably put 800 or more miles on my Talon on that trip. Mr Anonymous has graciously allowed me to use his shocks for that trip, so I will give them a good trial. I will let you know if there are any changes or updates.