Koni vs. Ikon

northern750 said:
I have Ikons on my Commando and period Konis on a couple of vintage Japanese bikes I have and they all work very well.

One thing to be aware of, the older Konis contained a honey-coloured latex or natural rubber damper to cushion the rebound stroke at the top of the shock internal. This damper breaks down over years and decades and will end up clogging the internal passages of the shock. I took apart a NOS set of Konis a number of years ago as well as several sets of used ones and they all had this problem.

Fortunately, they are easy to rebuild, you need a pin wrench to open them up but otherwise they are straightforward.
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Was it all of the 76 series with the bad rubber damper? What do you replace it with?

These are apparently the “improved” version. They seem to have gone out of their way to emphasis they’re improved.

Koni vs. Ikon

Can’t find a date stamp anywhere. From what I can tell these are probably only 30 yrs old, not 50.
 
swooshdave said:
Was it all of the 76 series with the bad rubber damper? What do you replace it with?

These are apparently the “improved” version. They seem to have gone out of their way to emphasis they’re improved.

Koni vs. Ikon

Can’t find a date stamp anywhere. From what I can tell these are probably only 30 yrs old, not 50.
Click to expand...
There is a code on the box label which looks like a date code. 1098 would be Oct 1998, this box had springs only.

Koni vs. Ikon
 
swooshdave said:
Is that the only option? Is this like the Combat that for a while the parts were bad but then they made improvements? Are all 76 series bad? Any idea what the Improved notes are about?
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No idea and googling 76 series Koni damper improvements gets no meaningful hits.

As they are NOS you can open one up easily enough and check, if all is good then it will go back together easily enough and if there is the dreaded gunge you will have to open up both.

This is the expert ref @Deckard

If you want expert service, Robert Haag, Rhaagusa@yahoo.com

Never needed his help as I do all my rebuilds but his name comes up regular as the go to guy for rebuilds, but not cheap.
 
swooshdave said:
Is that the only option? Is this like the Combat that for a while the parts were bad but then they made improvements? Are all 76 series bad? Any idea what the Improved notes are about?
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No, improved seals are available thru Ikon. The improved seals are referenced as being from SPI in the overhaul document I sent you.
 
chaztuna said:
No, improved seals are available thru Ikon. The improved seals are referenced as being from SPI in the overhaul document I sent you.
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Ikon seals do not fit the 76 series as they only fit the Koni and Ikon 7610 series (and the Ikon 76 series ?), they do not need changing on NOS anyway as the seals are excellent. If in the future your 76 seals do leak then with a lathe you can get 7610 series seals to fit a 76 series by making a new seal holder and adding a spacer inside the shock to raise the internal tube (a couple of Penny washers). The seal holder OD threads are not the same either, hence the need for a new seal holder, 76 series thread on the OD and sized internally for the 7610 seal.
 
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swooshdave said:
Was it all of the 76 series with the bad rubber damper? What do you replace it with?

These are apparently the “improved” version. They seem to have gone out of their way to emphasis they’re improved.

Koni vs. Ikon

Can’t find a date stamp anywhere. From what I can tell these are probably only 30 yrs old, not 50.
Click to expand...
Not sure if the 'improved' or later Konis had the problem rubber piece. All the ones I've rebuilt were the earlier 76 series, the type where rebound damping is adjusted by removing the spring and turning the damping rod.

Would be easy to see if your shocks have the problematic rubber washer/damper - it's light beige in colour, very distinct. I never replaced them with anything and have not had any problems. Opening the shocks will also allow you to replace the old fluid with modern suspension oil as well.

I have never needed to replace the main seals, they are spring loaded triple lip seals and seem to last a long time.
 
northern750 said:
Not sure if the 'improved' or later Konis had the problem rubber piece. All the ones I've rebuilt were the earlier 76 series, the type where rebound damping is adjusted by removing the spring and turning the damping rod.

Would be easy to see if your shocks have the problematic rubber washer/damper - it's light beige in colour, very distinct. I never replaced them with anything and have not had any problems. Opening the shocks will also allow you to replace the old fluid with modern suspension oil as well.

I have never needed to replace the main seals, they are spring loaded triple lip seals and seem to last a long time.
Click to expand...
Easy to see but you have to take them apart to look?
 
I rebuilt my old Koni shocks that have been on my Norton since 1978 about 8 years ago or more when one main seal blew, the new seal kit was ordered from Ikon Aus the kit comes with everything for complete rebuild and was easy to rebuild after getting the top dampers undone kept bending the pin spanner they were that tight but was enough room to lock on my plumbers stilson on to get then undone, once opened they were not to bad inside and no rubber bits, they cleaned up pretty good so not bad for old shocks that have had heavy use since 78, but when I filled them up with new oil I went to 10 wt oil instead of 5 wt oil and had to adjust to lighter settings.
Don't be put off rebuilding old Koni shocks as its not a hard job if you take your time and able to get the damper tops undone, the new seal kit only cost $40 when I did mine from Ikon and will get another 5 years use out of them.
I ended up buying a new set of Ikon's for my Slimline Featherbed project and they were the same as my old Koni shocks but shorter.

Ashley
 
Dave, I would mock/install them before tear down, Just to make sure they fit and you want them.
I had to thin the top mount and shim the lower mount out to clear the chain guard.
Found out years later mine were for a Triumph.

That being said, I love my Koni's........
The downside is they magnify the weekness of the front end....
 
We created a KONI rebuilding Facebook group to collect all the info about rebulding these old shocks.
Many people often have trouble opening the Gland Nut and most of the time they end up with valuable parts destroyed. To prevent this, you can, for example, place a large nut or a long, thick-walled tube on the gland nut and hit it 3-5 times with a hammer, just as hard as hammering a large nail into the wall. After that you can solve them more easily.
You find it at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/koni76series.motorcycleshocks

Cheers
 
I have always used Konis for racing. However it is wise not to think of the suspension on and old Brtish bikes in terms of those on modern bikes. On modern bikes, you usually have much more travel. THe damping requirements are different, and most modern bikes have neutral steering. THey are designed to function in a different way. Most have much more horsepower, and in corners are more often on fill lean ate high speed without accelerating throgh corners. With older bikes, the spring rate on the rear shocks affects the rate of turn when yiu are in a corner. Most riders don'tusually use that aspect unless they go into the corner too hot. To get around the corner without crashing,, at some point they need to get back onto the gas. With a neutral handling bike, it is counter intuitive, but when you do it the bike usually comes out of it's swan-dive. You just need to judge your speed so you don;t lose the rear end.
There is only a limited number of ways you can crash a motorcycle. When you have done them all, you become safer.
 
I have dial a rides on my T150, they are a superb shock. i had girling for a while (ok but oversprung) then YSS which made the bike weave at 70+mph.
 
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