Ikon shocks. Anyone had any issues with reliability please?

outawack said:
i just received mine a couple of days ago 7614 series 10mm longer than standard and black on black colour . great service and easy to deal with. There not on the bike yet so can't give any performance feed back.
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Keep us posted when you do use them
Cheers
 
concours said:
You're doing it wrong...:p
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I hear that a lot on this site. LOL

The bikes I owned did not exhibit wallowing, had good suspension, and plenty of beans. The old Norton is the exception but hope to make it as much fun as possible before exiting this earthly existence.

I've reached my tire limits a few times on the high-tech rides I owned. And have been riding more than 50 years. Not what I would call bragging rights.

Ikons keep the old classic period correct street Norton look and are adequate for a lot of people.
 
Schwany said:
Poking the nest:

Ikon is a simple mass-produced shock like the Koni was. Koni was about as good as it got 45 years ago. I have a pair of pristine looking 12.9-inch Koni shocks hanging on the wall. They never leaked, but only have 10K miles on them. They were manufactured in 1989. If I were on a tight budget Ikons would be a good choice. That's just me though.
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At $605 to $726 a pair they don't seem that budget to me.

The Ikon rebuild kits unless an obscure model (Since Ikon is a Koni ) should work in those old shocks you have and at that age they probably have no damping or not for long if used after all this time.
 
Time Warp said:
At $605 to $726 a pair they don't seem that budget to me.

The Ikon rebuild kits unless an obscure model (Since Ikon is a Koni ) should work in those old shocks you have and at that age they probably have no damping or not for long if used after all this time.
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That budget comment I made was dumb and way off base then. Wow!! I thought they ran closer to $400. I think I'm living in the distant past. I apologize for that error.

I'm not thinking about putting the Koni shocks back on my Norton right now. I'm saving the Koni shocks for the next guy that likes the classic parts look. Although they would probably work fine with a lighter set of springs. I tried to find a set of lighter springs for them last year and got nowhere. Ikon didn't have anything in stock when I was looking. They might now. I had the springs off when I was looking for lighter springs thinking I might rebuild them. The damping was still good. Since they were over-sprung for my old back and I could not find springs, I went with something else not popular here. I just looked I must have been on a tight budget. The shocks were around $500, but had some features I like, and weigh 2lbs less. Not that the weight thing was a consideration, just a bonus.

DHL just showed up with a box from Andover Norton. I've got to get busy.
 
The shocks I'm buying are Aus $675 to NZ.

Plus probably duty and customs fees so add that all up and it's about NZ$900. Or around US$630. Which is not that budget in my terms. Replacement Hagons with modified springs are about NZ $400.

Top end in NZ Odin's etc can easily put you over US$1000.

It's only a street bike.

I remember the Work Performance shocks I bought for my race bike were NZ$ 1250 almost 20 years ago but those days are gone.

As to whether they are basic for the average rider I have a mate Bill Biber who winds me up and says you don't need all the fancy stuff to beat the top gear boys over the Rumatukus. He has Hagons on his BMW ISDT replica. Bill is a former NZ road race champion and NZ Castrol Six hour winner but what would he know. :)
 
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Schwany said:
I thought they ran closer to $400.
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AU$605 (They were AU$550 when i bought two sets) is around US$446.
Perhaps what might be relevant is (or not) in Australia where they are made you might be fitting them to a $15k to $25k Commando.
In the USA you might be fitting the same US$446 shock to a $6500 to $9000 Commando which is a reasonable ' investment.

Of course if you bolt your shiny new Ikon's in place you still have the damper rod forks to contend with, improve one transfer the problem elsewhere to some degree especially if those stock fork parts are half a century old now.
 
Bill Biber is old enough to know doing race speeds on a public road is debatable.

Good suspension for the average old duffer (and I resemble that remark) should be about ride quality and the plusher the better not getting to the scene of your next accident quicker.
 
That does seem pricey. They're not as well regarded, but I'm very happy with Hagons. I had stock looking, unbranded shocks and was experiencing some rear bounce, lack of damping. The Hagons have fixed that and are comfortable on poor UK lanes. About half the price of Ikons, but that's UK, not NZ. Here, I'm probably still saving money if I get another set in 10years! That should see me out :) I'm sometimes riding swiftly, but not looking to get my knee down. No pillion, but luggage (currently filled with tools!). They're fine for that IMO.
 
The old Koni's and Ikons are high priced but not really, they will last a life time and are rebuildable and not a hard job to do, the hardest part was bending the damper top removing pin tool lol, the Koni shocks have been on my Norton for over 42 years now and well over 160K miles on them and one of the reasons I will stay with Koni/Ikon, as for spring rate the stock springs with the Koni/Ikons are just right have never found them to be over sprung or to bad on my old back.
 
concours said:
Love mine. Only complaint is, I should have got them sooner. No issues.
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I jinxed them. They are both leaking now.
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About 8,000 miles.
 

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Ordered and paid for a pair of Ikons a few weeks back to suit...and have just been told that they are still awaiting a back order of springs due to a waterfront strike...in Sydney....fark !!
 
KiwiShane said:
Ordered and paid for a pair of Ikons a few weeks back to suit...and have just been told that they are still awaiting a back order of springs due to a waterfront strike...in Sydney....fark !!
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Can't possibly be true. Richard Preeble visited OZ and wrote in the paper that they are all sorted over there. :-)
 
I try to make my motorcycles handle better than my abilities which gives me a bit safety margin and a warning when I start challenging that margin.

Olins , Wilbers and Works Permance all have adjustable compression and rebound as well as adjustable spring preload. These features greatly the broaden the sweet spot.

The Consentinos fork inserts have excellent C &R, but have their difficulties when setting damping which requires axle and wheel removal. The landsdowns are easier to set, but have their issues.

There are pictures of where some real talented people have fit Olins front and rear. Until active suspension becomes an option Olins and Wilbers are the best sorta affordable hi-end choices.


The company in Florida that worked with cNw for their estart and with Full Auto Technology to produce the head wrote about making an Olins damping system for the Commando, where is that now?

You could also look into Penski. I wanted to make an over weight zrx 1100 handle , I called them and found out that they could assemble a pair of shocks for 4400 use, and this was about 15 years ago..


Best
 
The present retail price for the 7610 Ikon shock for Commandos in the US is $475. The Ikon Basix (same as 7610, but no dial-a-ride rebound damping control) is $295. Both are totally rebuildable.
 
concours said:
I jinxed them. They are both leaking now.View attachment 98440View attachment 98441View attachment 98443View attachment 98444View attachment 98445

About 8,000 miles.
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That does not look good for 8K even if some of the marks are reflections there are some vertical scores, the shafts are worn so new seals alone will only work for a short time. I buy old Koni's and rebuild them and the shafts are always good, even if the rest of the shock is rusted steel and corroded alloy. Someone has not been paying attention to the shaft chroming.
 
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kommando said:
That does not look good for 8K, the shafts are worn so new seals alone will only work for a short time. I buy old Koni's and rebuild them and the shafts are always good, even if the rest of the shock is rusted steel and corroded alloy. Someone has not been paying attention to the shaft chroming.
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Mmmm. Well. I have mine now so I shall report on progress. Still havnt used them as we finally got sun after 2 months of rain. But then I used the sun to cut hedges for two days.
 
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