Author Topic: Your thoughts on Sachs rear shocks on CARC bikes  (Read 2564 times)

Offline ohiorider

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Your thoughts on Sachs rear shocks on CARC bikes
« on: September 06, 2017, 10:35:32 PM »
I've thrown very little money at my 1200 Sport, suspension-wise.  I don't do track days, and I don't ride with a passenger. I simply take the Sport out for 200+ mile rides on some of our nicer Ohio state highways.  There's turns, there's ups and downs, and the surface isn't always pool table smooth. 

The Sport is still running on the original Sachs rear shock, at approx. 65,000 miles.  She isn't bouncy, and the shock still appears to have adequate rebound damping for my kind of riding.  I've ridden much worse bikes out of their packing crates.

Is this normal? 

Do the Sachs shocks on the CARC bikes tend to last longer than comparable mono shocks on other bikes?  I realize it is difficult to be objective ..... just looking for thoughts from those who have put some miles on their CARC bikes with Sachs suspension.
Main ride:  2008 Guzzi 1200 Sport (sold July 2020)
2012 Griso 8v SE (sold Sept '15)
Reliable standby: 1991 BMW R100GS
2014 Honda CB1100 (Traded Nov 2019)
New:  2016 Triumph T120 (Traded Dec 2021)
New:  2021 Kawasaki W800

pete roper

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Re: Your thoughts on Sachs rear shocks on CARC bikes
« Reply #1 on: September 06, 2017, 10:48:31 PM »
Bob, I'm a suspension nazi and to be honest the rear Sachs on my 112,000 Km Turdio seems to still work *Adequately* for the sort of riding I do on it. I'm going away heavily loaded this weekend so that will be a bit of a test but I certainly won't be pushing it.

The Sachs on the rear of the Griso was a completely different kettle of bananas! It was really pretty drac and although the Matris it's currently wearing is the other way and is over sprung it's still 1000 times better than the Sachs!

If you're happy with it? Leave it alone. Far more important would be checking your swingarm and shock linkage bearings if they haven't been done yet.

Pete

Offline auzziguzzi

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Re: Your thoughts on Sachs rear shocks on CARC bikes
« Reply #2 on: September 06, 2017, 10:53:02 PM »
75,000 miles on original Sachs fitted to my 2006 Breva 1100

Finally, the rubber bump stop disintegrated and since I was in Alaska / Yukon / Northwest Territories at the time, it was impossible to prevent metal-to-metal contact as the shock bottomed out on the big bump, heaved and hollowed, roads up there.

Damping was still OK although the shock had lost quite a lot of oil.
(As an aside, I was intending to have it rebuilt but it was taken out of my check-on luggage, presumably by Southwest or TSA, on an internal US flight - no note saying who or why)

I'm happy with Sachs.   
'96 Sport 1100c (65,000 km)
'83 V50 III (80,000 km)
'06 Norge (162,000 km)
'90 NTX 650 (66,666 km)
'06 Breva 1100 (84,505 miles) SOLD 3/3/2022

Offline menzies

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Re: Your thoughts on Sachs rear shocks on CARC bikes
« Reply #3 on: September 07, 2017, 08:47:06 AM »
Bob, I was experiencing bouncing in the curves with my 06 B11 so fitted a Penske 8700E and later upgraded the front forks with RaceTech springs and gold valve cartridge emulators. The bouncing and overall misbehavior of the suspension is now gone and the bike handles like it is on rails, also fitting a set of PR4's did not hurt.

I am north of 275 lbs and have had to do about the same mod to every bike I have owned and have never regretted spending the funds.
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Re: Your thoughts on Sachs rear shocks on CARC bikes
« Reply #3 on: September 07, 2017, 08:47:06 AM »

Offline Bisbonian

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Re: Your thoughts on Sachs rear shocks on CARC bikes
« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2017, 10:44:36 AM »
Well Bob, I've determined that my butt is made of wood.

I've never felt a real difference on any bike I've replaced suspension bits on.

I did replace the shock on the 1200 Sport a couple of years ago, but only because the original puked a bunch of oil onto my garage floor.
$700 later and I can't tell the difference.

On my Honda I installed a sport-bike shock that was reported to make a huge difference, it did give me an extra inch of suspension but now the rear tire touches the floor when on the center stand. Otherwise I can't tell a difference.

Offline Huzo

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Re: Your thoughts on Sachs rear shocks on CARC bikes
« Reply #5 on: September 07, 2017, 11:01:49 AM »
Well Bob, I've determined that my butt is made of wood.

I've never felt a real difference on any bike I've replaced suspension bits on.

I did replace the shock on the 1200 Sport a couple of years ago, but only because the original puked a bunch of oil onto my garage floor.
$700 later and I can't tell the difference.

On my Honda I installed a sport-bike shock that was reported to make a huge difference, it did give me an extra inch of suspension but now the rear tire touches the floor when on the center stand. Otherwise I can't tell a difference.
I replaced mine with a Nitron at 100,000.
I actually wanted an Ohlins 'cos they look nice on red Italian bikes but never mind. Was there any real difference ?
Not really...

Offline ohiorider

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Re: Your thoughts on Sachs rear shocks on CARC bikes
« Reply #6 on: September 07, 2017, 06:32:24 PM »
I appreciate everyone's thoughts about the Sachs shocks.  Thanks!

There's a used Sachs shock from a 1200 Sport for sale on Pinwall's eBay website.  My problem is (guess what?) the LCD was broken on the salvage bike, so Pinwall doesn't  know the mileage on the shock.  Maybe I should presume that, like so many Guzzis that don't get a bunch of miles put on, this one may have been similar, and go ahead and buy the used shock as a spare.  However, I would like to know the mileage of the donor bike.

Bob
« Last Edit: September 07, 2017, 06:34:04 PM by ohiorider »
Main ride:  2008 Guzzi 1200 Sport (sold July 2020)
2012 Griso 8v SE (sold Sept '15)
Reliable standby: 1991 BMW R100GS
2014 Honda CB1100 (Traded Nov 2019)
New:  2016 Triumph T120 (Traded Dec 2021)
New:  2021 Kawasaki W800

Offline ITSec

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Re: Your thoughts on Sachs rear shocks on CARC bikes
« Reply #7 on: September 07, 2017, 06:39:30 PM »
The Sachs that came with my Norge started leaking at 22,000 miles (11 months) - bouncy-bouncy down the highway. Until that point, it had been acceptable. I switched to HyperPro, and kept the warranty replacement Sachs as a spare to swap in when the HyperPro gets sent to Klaus for a rebuild. Just about time to do that...
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2013 Stelvio NTX - Copper
2008 Norge GT - Silver

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Offline ohiorider

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Re: Your thoughts on Sachs rear shocks on CARC bikes
« Reply #8 on: September 07, 2017, 07:34:08 PM »
Bob, I'm a suspension nazi and to be honest the rear Sachs on my 112,000 Km Turdio seems to still work *Adequately* for the sort of riding I do on it. I'm going away heavily loaded this weekend so that will be a bit of a test but I certainly won't be pushing it.

The Sachs on the rear of the Griso was a completely different kettle of bananas! It was really pretty drac and although the Matris it's currently wearing is the other way and is over sprung it's still 1000 times better than the Sachs!

If you're happy with it? Leave it alone. Far more important would be checking your swingarm and shock linkage bearings if they haven't been done yet.

Pete
Hey, Pete

Thanks for the info re your Sachs. 

Re the swingarm ..... I pulled it at approx. 39,000 miles and a few years ago.  Amazingly, there was some grease on the large swingarm bearings as well as those on the (whatever the hell the little triangular piece is called that is part of the suspension linkage.)  Nonetheless, I cleaned the bearings and regreased them.  At that time I also greased the driveshaft splines. 

So far, so good.  I believe the Sachs shock will outlast me .... damn!

Bob
« Last Edit: September 07, 2017, 07:35:23 PM by ohiorider »
Main ride:  2008 Guzzi 1200 Sport (sold July 2020)
2012 Griso 8v SE (sold Sept '15)
Reliable standby: 1991 BMW R100GS
2014 Honda CB1100 (Traded Nov 2019)
New:  2016 Triumph T120 (Traded Dec 2021)
New:  2021 Kawasaki W800

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