Installed Hagon Nitros V7 850

[MikeP996]

Today I installed a pair of Hagon Nitros on my recently acquired '21 V7 850 Special.  The bike had Maxton front fork cartridges, Mistral mufflers, and a KN filter installed by a previous owner.  I had found the rear rather stiff so decided to add a pair of better shocks, adjusted to my weight

I had ordered a centerstand but it is hung up in customs and the shocks arrived so I decided to install them though it would have been easier with the centerstand.  But I figured one side at a time wouldn't be a problem.  BUT the Hagons are a couple of mm longer than the OEMs and even by pulling up on the frame to ensure the off side OEM shock was fully extended I couldn't fit a new shock onto the mounts.  Bummer!

But then I realized that since the Nitro's spring preload is fully threaded, I could take all the tension off the spring plus another few MMs, and compress the shock a bit so it would easily slide into place.  Before unwinding the adjuster I had marked its location so once the shocks were mounted I wound the adjusters back to the original position that Hagon had set them based on my weight.  So it ended up being quite easy.

It was raining so I didn't go out to see what difference, if any the new shocks made.  Should have gone anyway, it's not the first time me and the bike were soaked - when I picked it up two weeks ago it rained the entire 94 miles riding back home!  ;)

[bigbikerrick]

Thats a fantastic  bike you have, Mike.  Looking forward to the report on the first ride with the nitros!
Rick.

[JJ]

Thats a fantastic  bike you have, Mike.  Looking forward to the report on the first ride with the nitros!
Rick.

Yes...and I would like to know if you can really notice the difference in riding with the *new* Nitros - - ???

[kingoffleece]

I've installed Nitros that were properly sprung and valved for my weight.  Big improvement every time.  4 different bikes.

[MikeP996]

Went out for a lengthy ride today to try out the new Hagon Nitro shocks with springs for my weight and the preload/damper settings as set by Hagon.

There was a noticeable improvement in ride "smoothness" and the bike was a more "planted" in curves.  Was the difference worth the price (£469 including VAT in the UK)?  That probably depends on the roads you ride and HOW you ride.  If the roads are pretty decent and you do the "gentleman" rider thing that internet vlogs seem to think is the sole purpose of a V7, then no, you don't need 'em.  If you like to occasionally scrape a foot peg, bounce the tach off the rev limiter and/or (rarely, of course) act slightly Hooliganish (is that a word?) then yeah, IMO they are worth the money.  I'm very pleased with them.

[kingoffleece]

Try riding around New England and New York with all the crap roads from winters and frost heaves.  No more being thrown out of the seat, for starters.  And that's at posted limits.

[MikeP996]

Yeah, I can see bad roads as being a big issue.  The roads around here aren't great but I never felt like the stock rears were going to toss me off the seat though they could certainly painfully jolt my back on occasion!  Of course, much of this has to do rider weight and I ASSUME that a heavier rider would have less trouble with the stock suspension than a lighter rider.  BUT that's only an assumption.  The bike already had Maxton cartridges in the front when I bought it which may have helped make it feel somewhat less stiff than OEM but I've never ridden an OEM V7 (or any moto guzzi before I bought this one) so I have nothing to compare it with.