TIM July 2021
Just got in after the install by Barry and a short country road ride. Regarding the suspension all I can say is WOW! No front forks bottoming out; no wallowing in curves—very planted and stable; more control/stability for walking speed 90 degree turns. Just fabulous. Plus the peace of mind knowing the steering head is fail safe!
I also want to acknowledge Barry Lane’s superior job with the install. I sat through the entire process and can say he is an outstanding mechanic and a really nice guy too.
Thank you so much.
FRED July 2021
I bought a 2020 Triumph Street Triple RS complete with Showa BPF and an Ohlins shock. I waited until the 12,000 check up to have them serviced.
I was tempted to send them to BeemerShop in California. I live in Tucson and California is only one state away. That would make a difference in shipping time with Covid-19. Also, Ted Porter did a wonderful job with the ESA suspension on my 2016 BMW R1200R and his shop is a Traxxion Dynamics and Ohlins certified service center. However, I’ve had the best luck with Traxxion Dynamics and decided to send the suspension cross country to Georgia. I few email exchanges with the Always Obtuse Dan and the deal was done!
I sent the suspension UPS and, of course, it arrived 2 days late! I patiently waited my turn but freely admit that I included two Starbucks gift cards, one for Dan and one for Martin, to sweated the deal! Martin did his usual ridiculously thorough and professional job, re-springing and re-valving the forks and shock. He included the set-up specs and a service recommendation.
When finished the suspension was sent directly to Tucson Triumph for installation. When I picked the bike up I spent 3 days in a row riding 150+ miles on I10 to the twisty Sonoran desert. The suspension works beautifully and I’m very happy. The suspension is comfortable on 80 mph I10 and feels planted and secure at just about the same speeds through the desert. It’s just the upgrade I was looking for and I consider it money well spent!
None of this surprises me. I had AK-20’s installed in the forks of my 2006 Triumph Speed Triple (it has 95,000+ miles on it and just won’t quit running) and had Traxxion Dynamics service the Ohlins I bought for it on a group buy. It handles beautifully. I also had AK-20’s installed in the forks of my 2007 Triumph Daytona 675 track day only bike and had Traxxion Dynamics service the Ella shock I bought at dealership price while I was an intern. It also handles beautifully.
Anyway, I just wanted to tell you about the top notch service I received from Traxxion Dynamics. From email exchanges with Dan to Martin working his magic on the suspension components. I am very happy.
MARK April 2021
Here’s a ride report of my ride with the AR-25 installed.
One thing, I had not really ridden the bike before I bought nor did I have any experience with it it so I can’t give you a true riding impression.
But this I can say.
I have two other bikes with professionally modified OEM cartridge forks and shocks which were sprung and valved and set up for my riding style. And I can say this.. I can’t tell the difference between those modded cartridge forks and the damper rod forks I now have in my ZR7.
I took it on some twisty country back roads and it handled the rough surface in the curves without complaint. I purposely over braked the front brakes and there was no excessive dive on the front end. Just the normal settling needed for the front tire to dig in. The ride is fairly smooth. Nice. These things are the bomb. Money well spent in my opinion.
Thanks for everything. This mod is a success.
MIKE April 2021
Just wanted to report back on the clamp for my 2004 GL1800. As I said to Dan, when it arrived my first thought was to put it in a display cabinet because it’s such a beautiful piece of engineering I thought it was shame to hide it away on the bike. However, I did fit it and I’m glad that I did. Slow maneuverability is transformed and on our UK twisties and roundabouts it’s simply a different bike, feeling so much lighter and tighter in the turns. I did your before and after 40mph handlebar wiggle test and as per your video, you’re absolutely right Max. I can’t wait to do another trip across the Alps.
As for the stock clamp, I’ve watched your videos and after removing mine, the videos definitely flatter the stock clamp but they do say that everything looks bigger on TV. It’s unbelievable that such a critical part of this behemoth motorcycle is so seriously under engineered. I was seriously shocked. If you didn’t know you’d never believe it was a clamp for a GL1800.
I’d like to add one more thing if I may and come to your defense. I’ve been a Wing-Nut for over 40 years and have a 1981 GL1100 as well as my 1800. The Achilles heel with EVERY generation of Goldwing, right from start and my first was a ’76 GL1000, has been saggy suspension which has never been up to the weight of the bike. Over the years Honda introduced air-assisted suspension, then we had adjustable pre-load which are great features in a game of Top-Trumps. But the real achievement of these “ground-breaking“ innovations was that they drew journalists’ and owners’ attention away from the indisputable fact that the suspension on every Goldwing made to date has never been up to the job that the bike and its price-tag demands. Goldwings have always come with a price-tag and yet the suspension has never been more than adequate at best. For me, the irony is seeing so many Goldwings laden with after-market accessories costing a fortune, which add more weight on stock suspension. But I guess we all have different priorities.
ROLAND August 2020
I bought my Traxxion AK20’s and a Penske double shock, sometime in late 2012 or 2013. Since then, I’ve ridden 10,000 miles. I remember working with Dan.
My stock fork wipers began to self destruct and fall apart. The showa 41mm wipers are junk. Anyway, since I was replacing them, I decided to change the forks oil. I bought SKF seals .
I thought about calling you guys and asking about “wear parts” for my AK20’s. At some point, I decided to do the work, on Sunday, so it was too late to call.
I have a lot of dirt bike fork experience, so I expected the worst. Chocolate Milk oil, rub spots, flakes of metal.
What I found was oil that looked brand new. If there was wear on the AK20, I didn’t see it. I could have packed them up and sold them as new. I was shocked…pardon the pun.
These were expensive, and for sure I could get by on less, but my god, I could not believe the durability.
Thank you for such a quality product…
RICH June 2020
Wanted to take a minute and extend appreciation for the quality kit and service. I was able to complete assembly of the AK20 and TripleTree on my F6B last week and took her out for a ride on Sunday morning. The handling, feel and stability is a huge improvement. I attempted, like others I’m sure, to improve by using progressive cartridges as an improvement to stock/OEM. Unfortunately, within a short 20 minute ride after installation I returned home and parked the bike. The Progressive suspension was so poor that I didn’t have the confidence that riding the motorcycle was even safe. The motorcycle sat so low that nearly 75% of the suspension compression was already lost to the point that when on the sidestand the motorcycle was nearly vertical. This also compromised ground clearance and I was concerned that the suspension would compress even further when entering corners… what little suspension was left.
So, having been less than impressed with the OEM suspension, and then completely disappointed with what was supposed to be the Progressive Suspension upgrade, not to mention unsafe and less than inspiring, I purchased the AK20 and TripleTree from Traxxion.
I appreciate your correspondence, conversation and patience answering my questions and concerns. Perhaps I wouldn’t have been so thorough if I had not been so disappointed with the PS, but that combined with the cost of the parts I was purchasing, I felt diligence was necessary.
As for installation, this was a straightforward process and the provided installation instructions were well documented and easy to follow. Total time, including disassembly of the front end, removal/install of bearing races, shock disassembly, modification, and assembly, and reassembling the front end was about 8 hours total over a few evenings. Mind you, I wasn’t in a rush, but rather methodical and purposeful.
My F6B now feels better than stock, is more responsive, soaks up harsh roads, yet still provides good feedback through the shock/steering assembly. I’m eagerly looking forward to making some trips to the mountains soon and have had my confidence restored.
Thanks again!
CHRIS May 2018
Hey Max, Chris E. here, wanted to share my thoughts on the suspension work I had performed. Going to use a two week period here and that nicely keeps the timeline and observations in a tight area.
I am new to the world of tourers and I knew the 18 Goldwing was for me, put my deposit down back in October before anyone rode at Motegi, before any magazine or vlogger said how great it was, at the same time I had never owned a Moto over 550 lbs or one specifically designed to eat miles. In short I didn’t know what all I was getting into.
I put 3000 miles in a week on it and was blown away by it mile munching abilities. My only real concerns was that on slow speed rebound/compression events there would be an extra bounce. I saw this on long bumps before or after bridge adjoinments to the road. Usually a long low spot in the pavement after the concrete.
When I took the bike on Mount Hamilton which is a bumpy, off camber, dirty, twisty road in Northern California, it quickly became apparent the bike was under sprung and under damped which surprised me as I was riding solo with luggage. This was my single main concern I wanted fixed and figured it would help with with my earlier concern. As a side note sport mode was completely unusable so I was thinking of getting a flash down the road to soften the throttle but keep the shift logic in that mode.
A week later had you work your magic. On the way back home I was completely blown away about some other inadvertent things that it fixed. Turns out I ran into traffic on the North side of Chattanooga. I have a DCT Tour and usually as you force it down the gears coming To a stop it will lurch with each shift making the bike difficult to balance in that 0-3mph zone where you would normally fan the clutch. I was able to balance the bike a lot in that 0-3mph! Without realizing it the springs let that lurch be big enough to destabilize the bike. Way way better with the suspension, duly noted and impressed. And the ride home was still smooth (always a concern) but only 180 miles. Would need a longer ride to confirm.
Fast forward another week to yesterday (4/11). Took the wing out to Tail of the Dragon and did 4 laps for a total of just under 500 miles door to door. I had an earlier feeling that the bike was better supported at the rear and now firmly believe this to be true. Now the bike stays level when I sit on it, guessing a laden seat height of approx 5-10mm higher. This translates into bigger lean angles before scraping the pegs (verified by using more of the front and rear tire which is still limited by the pegs). More importantly the bike is now calmer through the corners which makes it more comfortable to get to those lean angles. Singly the bike is easier/less stressing to ride in an aggressive manner which was exactly what I was looking for.
On top of this the suspension gave me another mode: the Sport mode is now much more useable since the bike is no longer lurching badly on those aggressive shifts, love it as the bike feels a lot more playful in this mode. Never expected this benefit but thankful for it.
So 500 miles with a fun 50 in the middle and didn’t feel worked when I got home? I would say mission accomplished!
Finally, to confirm no comfort lost, I took the bike to Austin and the MotoGP. Most important to me on the day after (Monday) I took the long way home (1100 miles) setting a new PR for myself for mileage in a day and caught a storm late in the day in Alabama. Very happy to report the bike is obviously great over big miles and with great control no matter the conditions.