Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Accessories Anyone had any experience with Hagon shocks

I was just wondering if there was anyone out there that had tried hagon shocks . I have been looking at them cos they have a REAL distributor in Aus and the delivery is $45AUD compared to 188.541 AUD for the work's street trackers.

So these are all progressive arrangements but I just need someone to say something like "Yeah, I've got them and they are great" or whatever and then I'll go from there. I can't imagine they would be too bad a shocky actually and if I could scrape enough dough for the Nitros, well then I would probably be a really happy camper . So anyone got some experience here I would appreciate hearing it. tks

I have the cheaper hagons. they were certainly an improvement over stock. I got rear shocks and front springs from them and both work well
G

Wendy likes her Hagons but I think it was Soren who got some that didn't like them. With Hagon you can tell the what you want for dampening and spring stiffness. Not sure what you get if you don't.

Thanks guys. Well that's two for and one against I suppose. Of course the devil is probably in the detail, like what sort of shock do you have? Is it on the right setting for the load being carried etc. I have to admit I'm a fan of being able to adjust a shocky using a dial arrangement unlike having to move the pre-load. Mind you most of my riding is one up with, and when on trips just adjusting for them. Anyway I'll contact the Hagon mob tomorrow and discuss what I'm after.

I have the Hagon full shrouds (chrome of course!) and love them. The preload is adjusted with a provided spanner. I got mine with the 23Kg/cm spring rate (standard is 20Kg/cm and light is 18Kg/cm). Definitely talk to Hagon as they can advise you on which type and spring rate would be best for you.

There's no wallowing in corners and I have only bottomed them a couple of times and only when two up after hitting very bad bumps (some sections on the Blue Ridge Parkway).

Definitely a solid

Well I rang the Hagon distributor in Australia who by the way says in his website "learnt a lot from Alf Hagon whilst growing up in England with the family, and who also was responsible for the research and development of the latest mono shocks when he worked in the factory". So I needed little convincing he had the knowledge to help me determine whether lowering for instance was not going to effect performance too much and that I would be buying a great set of shocks.

So I ended up ordering a pr of Nitros



They will be 300mm (approx a bit less than an inch) lower than stock and have some great features such as:

1. All Hagons are matched to the weight of the rider ie both the spring and the damping. So for my weight it is:

The MEDIUM DAMPING #5 with SPRING RATE at 18 OR 20KG/CM.

2. The Nitro's have a larger diameter shaft being 36mm comparaed to the standard 28mm. This means the damper mechanism doesn't have to work nearly as hard given the extra oil capacity and because of this, last up to 3 times longer. Sounds good so far.

3. And finally the Nitro has a 10 click damper adjustment with a stainless steel body and spring as well as all anodised aluminium components, with my choice being silver.

Now the bad part . To purchase these shocks and a pair of progressive fork springs will set me back $1040AUD or $866USD delivered. On the good side though, I didn't have to waste some serious money on freight from os as I will only be charged approx' $15 delivery. Yep that is a lot of money but for me, I'm investing not only in safer handling and a more comfortable ride, but one that will last a long time and looks great to boot. Mind you, I did toy with the idea of getting the standard shocks with the chrome or black shrouds cos they would have been a heap cheaper but decided that long term these were the one's for me.

Now I'm going to be interested to see how they look and perform so I'll post a photo and comment after my week long bike ride I have planned 3 weeks away going north.

Quote:

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As far as I know everyone else that has Hagons, loves them.

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I do!

I BETTER or I will not be a happy chappy Great you are giving them another go Soren cos just with one bad comment, people who don't have them can either think they mustn't be any good, or believing those that say they are good, something about yours is not right

Well either that or he is looking for different charictoristics than I am. Some want comfort some want handling some want a happy medium. Some want goo 2 up shock absobing qualities etc...

I had a ridgid in 66.

After yesterday, I have changed my mind on the Hagons. They are good.

Soren

Soren, I'm glad your Type A Hagon Road shocks are going fine now. FYI, I've just unpacked my hagon Nitros from the delivery box and so far expectations in the looks department are not too bad . Will update in my other post

YEs, the original install was not quite right. The bushings had pushed themselves between the shock and the bike so that created some instability. I ordered some new bushings and had the shop reinstall them. They are nice and solidly stable now. biggest problem is that I did not have a jack or lift, so I picked up the back end of the bike by hand to install them.

Soren

Gotcha. As you know we all have a certain duty I guess to be as honest as we can when we give our opinions. Your first opinions of the hagon's for instance would have effected certain others in how they viewed them. I for instance did take your original opinion very seriously because I didn't want to be disappointed if I purchased them myself. Anyway, that's how I see things. I'm off now to take a photo of the nitros, will publish it to the other thread, and then I'll begin installing them onto my bike.

At the time of my first opinion of them, I was unaware of my mess-up on the install.

Soren

Soren, I wonder whether you needed a washer between the swingarm and the lower bush? FYI, here's my post with some photos (just scroll down) which might explain your issue. Thought you may be interested.

Just checked out that post. I think you are right.

What they told me they did at the shop whenever they install Hagons is that since the gromet extends past the eneds of the mounts, they just trim it and use washers (like you did).

Soren