Pcx upgrades

[Gilsh]

Hi, 

Leave in koh pangan and i own a 2019 pcx. 

There roads here has lots of bamps and in many cases i drive on dirt. 

I am about 70k and my gf which i often take with me is about 50k

 

I would like to purchase suspensions that will make it feel more soft when i drive on the bamps and tayers that will have good grip and feel safe both on the dirt and the asphalt. I hope to find them all in lazada (i know they have ybb an Michelin) 

 

Please recommand, 

Thank you

[brokenbone]

i just went to the nearest mechanic and complained suspension was too soft, he said come back in an hour.

he put some strong ones in place,

and now i clear the entrance that used to scrape the underside of the bike

 

[jackdd]

If you want a dirt bike you should buy one, the PCX is a street bike and has a short suspension.

The stock suspension is soft already, if you upgrade this the suspension will become stiffer and not softer. The standard shock upgrade in Thailand is a YSS shock, in general the more you pay, the more you get (just search for "yss pcx" in Lazada and you will see the different options)

[Gilsh]

On 3/17/2019 at 4:15 PM, jackdd said:

If you want a dirt bike you should buy one, the PCX is a street bike and has a short suspension.

The stock suspension is soft already, if you upgrade this the suspension will become stiffer and not softer. The standard shock upgrade in Thailand is a YSS shock, in general the more you pay, the more you get (just search for "yss pcx" in Lazada and you will see the different options)

Thank you for the replay. Im sorry but i do not understand too much about this. Make it harder means i will feel the bamps less right? 

[jackdd]

It depends a bit on the type of bump that you feel, but in general you will feel bumps more.

 

I will try to explain it:

The shocks (rear suspension) which comes stock with the bike is optimized for the weight of a single asian rider, so not more than 70kg.

Let's say the travel of the shocks is 10cm (i don't know how much it is exactly, probably less than that because it's just a scooter, this is just an example). If a 70kg person sits on the bike the shock will sag maybe 2cm leaving you with an effective travel of 8cm. If your girlfriend sits on your bike as well it will sag further, so that you are left with maybe 7cm of travel.

Usually aftermarket shocks have stronger springs in them, so that the bike will not sag as much, giving you effectively more travel, and they often offer a "preload adjustment" so that you can adjust the sag of the bike to your individual needs.

So with aftermarket shocks you will have more travel and stronger springs, this means that it's not as easy to bottom out the shocks if you hit a big bump, so this kind of bump will be reduced, or doesn't occur at all.

 

But usually you don't bottom out your shocks, instead you just driver over small bumps. You will feel these bumps more because you have stiffer springs in your shocks.

It's similar like comparing a sports car to a regular car. The sport car feels harder, you feel small bumps way more, but in return you feel more "connected" to the road and safer when cornering.

If you get aftermarket shocks you get more of the "sports car" feeling, better contact with the road, feels less like driving a bathtub, less bounces, but you will feel small bumps more than with your stock shocks.

[Agusts]

Good explanation above, you should go for am aftermarket back shocks if you feel your weight plus passenger is causing the shock to bottom out over bumps, otherwise they are not making the ride any more comfortable,  I see a lot of guys go for these YSS shocks but when I ride on them I feel they are stiff and in fact not comfortable at all, you can feel every little bump on the road  - who wants that... !? 

 

The only other thing is when going around corners,  if uneven road , I feel the back wheel on my Forza with standard shocks , wobbles a bit, a bit un-nerving, but I try to go steady and slow to cope with that,  I guess YSS stiffer shocks will prevent that,  but I rather have a soft comfy ride... ! ????

[Damrongsak]

When Kawasaki came out with the Z400, a "naked" version of the Ninja 400, they went with a lighter spring rate for comfort.

 

[Gilsh]

@Jackdd and also @Agusts, Thank you very much for taking the time to explain it. 

So I understand that the bottom line - if I purchase the aftermarket shocks, there is a good chance (being over 70kg) that I will feel the bumps less. however, there is a risk that it will be less comfortable because the shocks are harder the small bumps more noticeable. Is that correct?

 

If purchase shocks that have adjustable preload and rebound - that mean that I can adjust it in a way that I will not feel the small bumps and therefore remove the risk? Is it important to have shocks with adjustable compression as well? Is there any solution that works well with medium bumps and small ones? 

 

right now the bike is shaking when I drive, I would like to achieve more stability.

 

Thanks again, really appreciate your effort.  

 

[canthai55]

Compression damping slows the forks / shocks from compressing after hitting a bump or a hole.

Rebound damping slows the rate at which the forks / shocks return to their static position after being compressed - in essence they damp the force of the spring trying to return them to their position prior to being compressed.

https://www.rideapart.com/articles/257984/how-to-suspension-setup-rebound-and-compression-damping/

[papa al]

17 minutes ago, canthai55 said:

Compression damping slows the forks / shocks from compressing after hitting a bump or a hole.

Rebound damping slows the rate at which the forks / shocks return to their static position after being compressed - in essence they damp the force of the spring trying to return them to their position prior to being compressed.

https://www.rideapart.com/articles/257984/how-to-suspension-setup-rebound-and-compression-damping/

So

basically they like absorb shock ?

Imagine that !