[brutant]

Had enough of the utterly chronic Sachs rear unit, so after ALOT of research I have bought a Maxton RT10. Not fitted yet, hopefully that will be done tomorrow. It looks superb though, extremely well made. In the end there wasn't much choice, apart from Maxton, there was Nitron, Bitubo or Ohlins, that I could find. Nitron were a bit vague on whether they had the correct info for my bike, I couldn't get a quote out of Bitubo and Ohlins is just silly money. Maxton have a top rep in the UK for race success and really know what they are talking about. I'll be getting the cartridge fork conversion from them next year too.

 

[Edward]

This one?
https://www.maxtonsuspension.co.uk/files/rt10.htm

Please post some pics after its installed.

 

[brutant]

Thats the one, although that is a sample pic, each shock is custom made to order and to suit the riders weight, type of riding etc. They were bang on with delivery, gave really good advice and went into great detail. They knew the bike and told me the problems with the OEM suspension before I even described my experience! Not cheap though, but good stuff never is! Over £700.00!!! Can't wait to feel the transformation!

 

[brutant]

Well, the new shock is in, I'll post pix later.
It was quite a niggly job!! I had to get creative with supporting the bike, as I don't yet have a centre frame stand and my bike lift is elsewhere. The OE shock came out relatively easy but the Maxton wouldn't go in without further dismantling! As in, partially unbolting the rear subframe and hinging it upwards to allow full access to the required area. This is because the reservoir on the Maxton is slightly larger and extends further back towards the rear wheel than the OE unit. Ran out of time today before I could complete, I still have the tank and bits and pieces to refit.
The job gave me the chance to have a good look at all the hidden details of MV engineering, I'm suitably impressed. It also confirmed the immaculate condition of this example, even in the hidden areas.

 

[brutant]

So, have done some miles with the new shock and it's a revelation! Initially the ride was still too hard but I backed off the high speed compression damping and it's now just right. The difference in damping quality has to be felt to be believed after the horrors of the OE unit! Having a damping adjustment that actually works is a real treat! I have mentioned previously that on a road I have to use regularly, there are transverse ridges which would throw me out of the seat with the OE unit, now, with the Maxton, I can ride over them without fear! They are still vicious, but the Maxton shock handles them without me resorting to prayer! On other, normal surfaces, the bike feels very composed, planted and neutral, without the understeer under power I was getting before, also very stable at high speed on motorways (highways), doesn't fidget as it did with the OE unit.
So a complete success and I can highly recommend the Maxton to anyone thinking of a suspension upgrade.
So next are the forks, which are now shown up to have poor damping. So when the bike is off the road for winter, probably next month, I'll pull them out and send them to Maxton for their cartridge upgrade and new springs. Can't wait until next year to feel the full transformation. Pix will have to come later, my IT arrangements are less than ideal!

 

[theknurl]

?

There's nothing wrong with Sachs shocks.......they make F1 shocks

The settings are stupid.....
My '04 Aprilia RSVR came with a 10.5 Nm spring , I'm now at 8.0 Nm in lbin that's 600 to 457.....going to try 428:grin2:
Stock rebound is ~ 12 clicks I'm at 35

I'll never sell it ......absolute delight to ride

 

[viljasenmasa]

Hi Noel,

I knowledge concerning suspension tuning are minimal. Please could you open more about rear spring change operation; tools needed and did you get softer spring directly from Sachs? Also units for 600, 457 and 428..?

Have you done anything for the front suspension? Or you are satisfied what you can adjust with OEM setup.

Pasi

 

[GDS968]

There's nothing wrong with Sachs shocks.......they make F1 shocks

The settings are stupid.....
My '04 Aprilia RSVR came with a 10.5 Nm spring , I'm now at 8.0 Nm in lbin that's 600 to 457.....going to try 428:grin2:
Stock rebound is ~ 12 clicks I'm at 35

I'll never sell it ......absolute delight to ride

I disagree...just because they make F1 shocks that does not mean that all their shocks are the same, nor that the standard shock is going to be great!



I think that the quality of the unit varies massively given the comments by peeps on this forum, some have a good unit and others a bad unit. When i got my bike it had had very little use and had been looked after really well. But the first thing i noticed after riding it was just how bad the stock suspension was, the rear in particular, in fact its the worse of all the bikes I have owned, and that's a few over the years, no amount of adjustment made any noticeable difference!!



So of it went very recently for a service and was stripped and rebuilt by a well respected company in the UK and although the change was felt and it improved the ride, in my opinion it is still not enough for me. I was advised that the internal design of the shock was not the best!! In my case the spring, internal piston and shim stack was removed and an ohlins parts fitted including the correct spring rate for my riding weight. The weak point IMHO seems to be the compression adjustment, which seems to be on or off with little between. The high and low adjusters work as one and not as single adjusters as they should!!



Maybe mine was a Friday pm unit and i got unlucky!! :frown2:



I think Noel is right about spring rates though, they seem to be massively over rated as standard which won't help when adjusting (obviously pending your riding weight).


Glad the Maxton is working for you, tip top shocks and they know their stuff from all the TT work they do.

I nearly went with them myself but I have gone up another route at the moment and will advise if and when it works out.:smile2:

 

[mv raptor]

i have had different results, to me the 910s is bad on the front
i could not get it dialed in for slow speeds turn into a junction going into a roundabout ect
it was very bad. back was alright, just recently i put progressive springs in front and back
dialed in a few settings and bike is brilliant now,:smile2: just change springs front or back or both
i think this is down to rider preference.

 

[theknurl]

?

This is going on my Brutale 910R when I change the frame plates and go to a 2nd Gen swing arm
Not dealing with the spring adjusting locknuts......:grin2: