F3 suspension

[Sarge707]

Ride before you put anything on it!
The ride was pretty awesome before you started reading all the sheep say you need this and you need this!
Figure out your riding style before you spend upwards of $2000.00 just because people on here say You need!

So I see were this another one of those post were the OP hasn't been seen since he posted!

I'm 210 Pounds and the stock shock on my 2015 F3 Is Fine for me!!! The Handling with the Stock Sway Bar Is WAY BETTER than the handling of my old 2009 GS with a Aftermarket Sway Bar??? Ride it and enjoy it for Several Thousand Miles before you start spending $$$$ for nominal improvement?

[motoswami]

. We've just acquired a 2015 F3-S with unmodified, original rear shock. Solo, I didn't feel the suspension bottom out once during my three hour ride home with the new toy.

However, my good times gal and I weigh in at about 330 combined. It doesn't take too much of a dip in the road to make the shock bottom with both aboard.

Based on this experience, I understand folk who mostly ride alone may well find the stock shock adequate. No "fix" needed.

However, I'll be researching Fox, Elka, and my own personal favorite suspension gurus at Cogent Dynamics in Asheville, NC to see what my options are. If I strike gold, I'll be sure to share it.

Pete

[Capt. Bob]

Speaking of sad, I just bought my new 2015 F3 June 26, 2016 and I read the posts on this site and I find that I not only "need" a new sway bar, I "need" new front and rear shocks. Now that's really sad. I think I'll just ride the thing and try to be happy and enjoy it.

Deer30084,

None of us even "need" a Spyder when you get right down to it. OTOH, getting a bike or trike and personalizing it to our tastes is part of the fun for many of us. Some are into cosmetic enhancements while others of us prefer to concentrate on performance enhancements or both. Like any engineered product, nothing is perfect and most everything can be improved upon. That is why there is a fairly extensive aftermarket of vendors that make a living satisfying the needs of people who want to tinker.

I don't think that listening to others describe their experiences and then deciding what we want to do or not do to our trikes is a sheep-like behavior. It can just be part of the fun of owning a totally discretionary purchase that enriches our hobby/sport lives in some meaningful ways.

The nice thing is that you get to decide what floats your boat and what enhancements you choose to make, if any. There are no right or wrong decisions when it comes to your own personal ride. You get to be the sole arbiter of you and your ride's existence and can choose to do whatever you want with your scoot. The fun part of these types of forums is that there is a lot of good and some less good information circulating around and after a while, I think if we read and "listen" to the chatter, we tend to get a sense of what things we might considering doing to our rides and what things might be less interesting. Again, there are no right and wrong answers, just different sets of choices which is fun

[BajaRon]

Speaking of sad, I just bought my new 2015 F3 June 26, 2016 and I read the posts on this site and I find that I not only "need" a new sway bar, I "need" new front and rear shocks. Now that's really sad. I think I'll just ride the thing and try to be happy and enjoy it.

Please don't let someone else's opinion make you unhappy with your ride. If you like it, then it's PERFECT!

So, it isn't necessary to be down in the dumps about your F3 Spyder. Everything is relative. 'Need' is a very relative term. Each person 'Needs' to determine what this means for them.

If you 'Need' decent handling then you've already got that without doing anything to your F3. If, however, you 'Need' better handling or, the best possible handling. Well then, like almost any other vehicle on the road, you're going to 'Need' some upgrades.

Some people will say that you 'Need' a cup holder on your Spyder. Yet I've gone my entire life without ever putting a cup holder on any of my motorcycles.

Some will tell you that you need a big windshield. I own a motorcycle because I WANT to be in the wind! So a big windshield is counter productive to me. My opinion is that if you want to be out of the wind, drive a car. But that opinion will get me in a lot of trouble with the big windshield people.

Which brings me to my overall philosophy. I will ride the bike of my choosing in the configuration that makes me happy. I want everyone else to do the same. I am happy with your ride if you'r happy with it. Regardless of how you choose to do it.

Sometimes this is the best advise you can get.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-diB65scQU

[Capt. Bob]

Please don't let someone else's opinion make you unhappy with your ride. If you like it, then it's PERFECT!

So, it isn't necessary to be down in the dumps about your F3 Spyder. Everything is relative. 'Need' is a very relative term. Each person 'Needs' to determine what this means for them.

If you 'Need' decent handling then you've already got that without doing anything to your F3. If, however, you 'Need' better handling or, the best possible handling. Well then, like almost any other vehicle on the road, you're going to 'Need' some upgrades.

Some people will say that you 'Need' a cup holder on your Spyder. Yet I've gone my entire life without ever putting a cup holder on any of my motorcycles.

Some will tell you that you need a big windshield. I own a motorcycle because I WANT to be in the wind! So a big windshield is counter productive to me. My opinion is that if you want to be out of the wind, drive a car. But that opinion will get me in a lot of trouble with the big windshield people.

Which brings me to my overall philosophy. I will ride the bike of my choosing in the configuration that makes me happy. I want everyone else to do the same. I am happy with your ride if you'r happy with it. Regardless of how you choose to do it.

deer30084, BajaRon makes some good supporting comments to my previous post about how your ride is yours to enjoy in whatever way you choose. I can share with you that a particular set of products he makes for your suspension really improved the handling of my 2015 F3-S and that was the combination of the Ronbar with BajaRon billet heim links to reduce the amount of body lean in the F3.

I personally enjoy taking tight turns at faster speeds (and not necessarily exceeding the speed limits which are set for a reason) with increased confidence and found that the factory anti-sway bar seemed to lack some of the qualities I would have wanted in my trike. Some folks had installed an RT anti-sway bar and found that the lateral roll motion was more tamed with the beefier bar. Then, I read a bunch of posts that suggested that the RT bar was to the stock bar as the Ronbar was to the RT bar in terms of decreasing body roll. Well, I personally prefer a flatter profile when going around curves more aggressively and so installed a Ronbar with the BajaRon billet links and am extremely happy with the results. It really was a relatively inexpensive mod that significantly enhanced the F3's performance in the twisties and your local dealer both viewed the Ronbar and links and has a copy of my installation instructions for their perusal. As always, your mileage may vary because it had been noted that people who do not take tighter curves at higher speeds will not necessarily experience the benefits of the decreased body roll. Where I have to agree with a previous poster is that we all do not need to desire or want to take tighter curves at higher speeds and this is where the "sheep" analogy is apropos. If you don't care about the higher performance, then disregard the suggestion and don't feel in any way that your ride or your expectations are anything but fully adequate and just right for you.

[motoswami]

After one 80-mile ride on the new to us F3-S, it was obvious that we were going to need some help with a better rear shock, as the stock one bottomed way too easily.

Currently, my Spyder is in Asheville at a specialty suspension service I've used before on a couple of different adventure bikes to help me sort front or rear suspension. The shop, Cogent Dynamics, is owned by Rick and Joyce Tenenbaum, folk I've come to trust.
I just got a call this afternoon saying they had made up and road tested a new rear shock, with heavier spring and easy-to-use remotely located preload adjuster (no more crawling under the trike with those knuckle-buster shock spring spanners, hoping you got it right as you switch from solo to two-up and back. Just turn the knob...........

I'll pick it up tomorrow and hope to get in at least a brief test ride. Full report with pictures to follow.

Pete

[KID Ryker]

Speaking of sad, I just bought my new 2015 F3 June 26, 2016 and I read the posts on this site and I find that I not only "need" a new sway bar, I "need" new front and rear shocks. Now that's really sad. I think I'll just ride the thing and try to be happy and enjoy it.

I have not bought a bike that had good shocks. As far as the f3 NEEDING shocks and Sway bar it does not. People change these thing to make it theirs. Ride it see what you think have fun with it. I put a Baja Ron sway bar & a 2 up rear shock on the wife & sister in laws f3. It does make a difference. But no you don't need them.

[_..stiffler..]

Some of you guys must have crappy roads or something.

I just had a F3L for the weekend and I out on over 1000km as a demo. I rode with my wife and I'm a solid 240 and my wife is like 130 to 140. And we had no issues with the suspension. And I rode hard. I also had an f3s for about 300km and same thing no issues with stock suspension. And again I rode it hard.

Ride the machine for a while before you do ad ons. Make sure you know what you need before you get it. What's good for some isn't for others.

Stiff

Sent on Note 5 in Taptalk

[monkeyboymorton]

I just had a F3L for the weekend and I out on over 1000km as a demo. I rode with my wife and I'm a solid 240 and my wife is like 130 to 140. And we had no issues with the suspension.

The F3L you are talking about has an air rear shock which is widely acknowledged to be very good and more than up to the job.

The standard shock on the 2015 F3/F3-S is a normal shock with a very weedy spring. We have a lot of speed humps in the UK and I was getting bottoming when coming off those even 1 up (reprted by a fellow rider following me).

The 2016 2 up shock has fixed that and improved the ride significantly

[motoswami]

CanAm SpyderF3-S shock.jpg
Here's a shot of my new, installed custom shock sent me by the good folk at Cogent Dynamics. I dropped the F3-S off last weekend. By some miracle, they have me all ready to go, complete with remote (see silver knob in photo) pre-load adjuster, which will make softening the ride a simple task before those rides when I can sneak away without my favorite gal sitting pillion.

I drive to Asheville tomorrow to collect the machine, and will get a chance to try it out on the super-good roads around the Ironhorse Motorcycle Lodge near Bryson City, NC this entire weekend.

Full report to follow.

Pete

[_..stiffler..]

The F3L you are talking about has an air rear shock which is widely acknowledged to be very good and more than up to the job.

The standard shock on the 2015 F3/F3-S is a normal shock with a very weedy spring. We have a lot of speed humps in the UK and I was getting bottoming when coming off those even 1 up (reprted by a fellow rider following me).

The 2016 2 up shock has fixed that and improved the ride significantly

Yup I know. Read more of my post. I also had an F3S. And had no issues.

But I just bought an F3S now. So we will see how it really works.

Sent on Note 5 in Taptalk

[wengerda]

With my wife and me on the bike we're pushing combined close to 475/480 and we don't bottom out with the 2 up shock, so go for it!!!

How much air you put in the back air bag?

[Cogentologist]

Pete, what brand shock components is your rear shock based on. The gold body leads me to believe Ohlins, but the red rebound adjuster seems out of place.

Full disclosure... I work at Cogent Dynamics.

We were happy that Pete contacted us and excited to work on this project with him. This shock is one of our own custom builds, hand built from components made specifically for Cogent, here in the USA. We use many different springs, some off the shelf, many custom manufactured depending on the specific application. You're correct, this is an Ohlins spring and it fit the requirements perfectly with the added benefit that Ohlins USA is right down the road from us.

[motoswami]

Pete, what brand shock components is your rear shock based on. The gold body leads me to believe Ohlins, but the red rebound adjuster seems out of place.

Paul:

I think the Cogent Team answered the technical part of the question for me.

Here's the "un-technical" answer: WHOPEE!

Jackie and I rode the F3 two days back-to-back in the Bryson City/Cherokee/Fontana area of western North Carolina after picking the tryke up at the Cogent Dynamics shop this past Thursday. Against our better judgement, we circled home the second day in a route that led us across the infamous DealsGap "dragon" (barf), and after all those twisties and challenging roads, we could not find fault in the new rear suspension. Fortunately, we were late enough in the day crossing Deals Gap that most of the testosterone slicks had dried up, and we made the 318 curves/11 miles without some oncoming out-of-control squid crossing the centerline and taking us out. Can you tell I don't like that road? (There are so many other roads in the area that are way more fun and way more scenic and way less crowded)
But I digress. With the new shock, there's absolutely no bottoming on bumps, I spend much less time analyzing every irregularity trying to miss even the slightest bump, and the grin on the lady friend's face is worth every penny. When we have a little more time to ride-adjust-ride-adjust-repeat, we will run the pre-load adjustment through its entire range, and also play with the rebound adjustment. It's so stinking easy, I'm ashamed to admit we didn't touch anything settings-wise the whole weekend. Rick has had so much experience tuning suspension for a wide variety of road race and off-road vehicles, when he said, "I think you'll like it where's it's currently set," I simply went with it since the ride was so good from moment one.

Pete

[WackyDan]

Paul:

I think the Cogent Team answered the technical part of the question for me.

Here's the "un-technical" answer: WHOPEE!

Jackie and I rode the F3 two days back-to-back in the Bryson City/Cherokee/Fontana area of western North Carolina after picking the tryke up at the Cogent Dynamics shop this past Thursday. Against our better judgement, we circled home the second day in a route that led us across the infamous DealsGap "dragon" (barf), and after all those twisties and challenging roads, we could not find fault in the new rear suspension. Fortunately, we were late enough in the day crossing Deals Gap that most of the testosterone slicks had dried up, and we made the 318 curves/11 miles without some oncoming out-of-control squid crossing the centerline and taking us out. Can you tell I don't like that road? (There are so many other roads in the area that are way more fun and way more scenic and way less crowded)
But I digress. With the new shock, there's absolutely no bottoming on bumps, I spend much less time analyzing every irregularity trying to miss even the slightest bump, and the grin on the lady friend's face is worth every penny. When we have a little more time to ride-adjust-ride-adjust-repeat, we will run the pre-load adjustment through its entire range, and also play with the rebound adjustment. It's so stinking easy, I'm ashamed to admit we didn't touch anything settings-wise the whole weekend. Rick has had so much experience tuning suspension for a wide variety of road race and off-road vehicles, when he said, "I think you'll like it where's it's currently set," I simply went with it since the ride was so good from moment one.

Pete

Pete- I'm near ASheville. What kind of money are we talking? I know it can vary, but can you give us a ball park of what you spent? It would be nice to have a local alternative to Elka, etc and support a local business.

[motoswami]

Pete- I'm near ASheville. What kind of money are we talking? I know it can vary, but can you give us a ball park of what you spent? It would be nice to have a local alternative to Elka, etc and support a local business.

Dan:

I am not able to quote a price for the Cogent Dynamics shock per se.

I dropped my Spyder off at the shop and they played with suspension front and rear, taking the stock components' measurements (including putting them on their shock dyno) and then went to work making me the best rear shock they could that would have adjustability for rebound and a remote adjuster for preload. They installed and road tested the shock, and my bill was just over $1000 for everything.

If you order just a shock and install it yourself, you would expect to pay less, and the figure would depend on the features you desired.

I've just put in three back to back days two-up pulling a trailer on a variety of roads, and I could not be more pleased.

Pete

[Firefly]

Pete- I'm near ASheville. What kind of money are we talking? I know it can vary, but can you give us a ball park of what you spent? It would be nice to have a local alternative to Elka, etc and support a local business.

From their website : http://www.motocd.com/street/

Looks like $589 for the shock and if you want the remote adjuster unit that adds $290