RT Elka Rear Shock - is it worth it?
While at Spyderfest I had Elka Stage 2 shocks installed on my 2015 RTL. I was blown away by the difference it made. Now i'm thinking about installing the Elka RT rear shock. I'd love to hear from those of you that have installed Elka on the rear of your RT and if you felt it was worth it.
Rob
F3L and Elka stage 4 rear
Elka suggested I go with the Stage 4 rear so I could have it set up softer for mostly one up riding. Then when I add a passenger the external adjuster is a pre-load not a rebound. The idea is they suggested -15 click out for solo then all the way to the right for adding a passenger.
Here is the scoop. I have an air bag like the RT but it is manually filled. Although I had the immediate benefits of a nice stuck to the road feeling like the front shocks, I lost a certain plushness or softness on the moderate bumps. Little things are soaked up nicely but it gets a little stiff with the Elka. I tried more spring pre-load and less air and the shock bottomed out. I tried original Elka spring pre-load and 50 psi and this covered the biggest bumps pretty well. I discovered it takes at least 35 psi to prevent excessive sag the way the Elka came stock.
So here is where my finale setting ended up. I tightened the Elka spring sag to only drop 1/2" of sag with 50 psi in the air bag. I ride solo or two up with the manual pre-load adjuster knob all the way clockwise of max external pre-load.
Here is the end result. Maximum and smaller bumps are much improved over stock. At no time has any pot hole bottomed out my rear Elka with 50 psi in the bag. Rebound and total control as the whole bike is planted. But at the end of the day the stock shock still had a softer hit over the moderate bumps. Same for the fronts, certain moderate bumps just have a certain slap that gets through the handle bars and seat that the stock set up did a better job of absorbing. But having the bike stay where it's pointed and not zigging left and right going over bumps made the switch worth while
Dennis