Avon Cobra Review

[albertaduke]

I have been considering a suspension upgrade for this year. What would you suggest?

personally wilberg are my choice but some claim they are too expensive

 

[Claviger]

Third for Wilbers of you want a sport setup.

 

[sonny]

Not much of a sport rider but the Wilbers seem to be high quality shocks. Kind of like the Avon tires over the stock tires. The Avon's are wearing a lot better and allow better traction. Not going out racing sport bikes but I do like the way the bike Handles with the Avon much smoother ride.

 

[Claviger]

If you want cushy cruiser ride, I'd suggest custom ordering wilbers from wilbersUSA, ask what spring rate they want to install, then go 1 softer. They are sprung for a sporty ride on good quality roads. If your around 200lb and order the spring they suggest on the 642 you can just dial the comp/reb speeds into a comfortable range, as I have.

Compared to progressives they feel sprung better, so the suspension doesn't compress as much in corners, but also better damped, so the shock only moves as much as it needs to and doesn't overshoot when hitting bumps or bottom out as easily. I didn't even notice the deficits of the P440s until I put on the Wilbers.

I posted a longer write up that was fairly descriptive of the difference a month or so ago. For 90% of people I think the Wilbers 640s are all you need, they have quite the range of adjustment just using the adjuster on the bottom. Speaking of which, the bottom adjuster, labeled (rebound damping adjustment), actually adjusts rebound and compression and is the main adjuster. The two screws on the piggyback part of the 642 are high and low speed compression adjustment, but you set the rough adjustment using the bottom wheel, which is what the 640 has.

 

[TasRocketRider]

Ric, I went Ikon Progs. Would have to look at box to see which ones but they made a huge difference when cornering and highway travel. That back jarring lurch disappeared! Wilbers are popular but I have never tried them.

 

[Claviger]

Ikons I would expect feel similar, I have used custom Koni stuff before, and that was immediately what sprung to mind with the Wilbers setup.

Whichever company you go with, I'd suggest getting slightly longer rear shocks if you're serious about cornering, an extra inch and I don't drag any hard parts cranked all the way to the edge of the G852 Excedra in the back.

 

[cr0ft]

I suspect the problem is more damping related than spring related up front. Have a set of Ricor Intinimators at home, they had a sale and I figured what the heck. Gonna toss those in and some 2.5 w oil to take the stock damping tube essentially out of the equation and see what happens. Maybe that will take the nasty thud out of them when you hit a bump, and the Intinimator design slows down dive hugely (acts differently depending on whether the input comes from the wheel or the bike). Should be interesting, but not looking forward to literally dismantling the whole front end just to pour out the oil, put in the cartridges and then adding new oil... may farm it out to the local mechanic.

The 444 HD in the back on mine eats all the nasty little bumps completely, you get that "magic carpet" flow over rough roads. No tendencies at all to wallow. Good purchase.

 

[Rick Morris]

Ikons I would expect feel similar, I have used custom Koni stuff before, and that was immediately what sprung to mind with the Wilbers setup.

Whichever company you go with, I'd suggest getting slightly longer rear shocks if you're serious about cornering, an extra inch and I don't drag any hard parts cranked all the way to the edge of the G852 Excedra in the back.

I run between 185-195lbs depending on the season. I ride about 55% Sport style riding. I like to ride the twisties and the stock shocks are a little to stiff for me. I am not looking to ride on a cloud. I had the - 1 inch (13") 444s & the mono tube kit on a Dyna low rider but I could not ride that bike as aggressive as the R3R. The Dyna always felt loose in the front. The 444s got rid of that hop in the rear I would get occasionally. I liked the pre load adjuster on the top. The Wilber site is tough to navigate but they do have a customer service number to call. I am not as concerned with price as I am with quality, performance and service from the manufacturer/distributor. It would be nice to figure out if there is an Ohlin that would fit back there.

Thank you all for your advice and help. This bike has been a blast and the help received from this group has made it better.

Claviger I read your tune thread. Very informative and descriptive. Nice work. I will look for the suspension post. Thank You for your advice and help.

Thanks, Rick

 

[Claviger]

There are multiple ohlins setups that will fit off the shelf, they are harley parts, blackline stuff will work too.

The problems with Ohlins is that it's not custom built, its shelved parts that can be modified. Still quality, but for the money they charge I expect it to be custom sprung!

The feeling I get from stock shocks: no rebound damping whatsoever, very little high speed damping, too much low speed damping. Its pretty much exactly what you don't want.

Softer damping at low speed so the shock can move easily, but then more on high speed circuit so it actually absorbs big bumps without bottoming out. Rebound, you want just enough to control the wheel so that after a bump it extends and stops, not bounces after a harsh bump, but no more. Feeling slightly "loose" is actually where your best mechanical grip is for the tire.

 

[Brenna1960]

So I finally had a chance to really ride the Avon today. It reached about 55 degrees today. Put about 170 miles on the bike. Rode with my 3 sons and their two friends. My boys on their Ninjas; ZX6, 636, and a ZX10. Two friends were on a 636 and the other on a Street Glide with a 23" front wheel, all the performance goodies etc... Less than a mile in the ride we finally got passed some slow moving traffic and I dropped it into second grabbed a fist full and pulled the front wheel right up. Now if I had done this with the Metzler it would have broken loose and I would have spun the tire. YAHOOOOO! Finally I have a tire that gets some traction.

We rode very hard up Long Pound Road into Plymouth, back through Carver, Wareham and Bourne dragging pegs and dropping knees. That tire gave me complete confidence in its cornering ability. No wobbles or squirrely little throttle ups coming out of corners. No accidental drifting or breaking loose. A solid road grip and excellent stopping power too.

The only rider I had trouble with was my son on his ZX10. The other 4 couldn't keep up. Some Hooligan antics and a few wheelies. A few of off camber turns, hard braking into narrow right or left hand turns and I am thoroughly impressed with this new tire. It feels as confident as the Q3s on the Ninjas. I am very impressed.

Now for some really warm days and I will see if I can grind those little titties of the pegs.

So how many hours later did the Harley guy meet back up with you guys? 23" on a Harley= horrible bad!!