Hagon Shocks USA

[HowlingBlueRat]

Redness you upgraded the shocks on a regular Bolt rather than an R-spec, correct?

[freeride707]

I just installed the hagon shocks on my bolt. I went with the 290mm length and as mentioned before it's borderline to long and messes with belt tension I cycled the suspension through its travel and adjusted the belt to match then installed the new shocks

It rides so much nicer now handles great. It fits me better sitting at a stop. I went with the 26kg springs and I'm 170 and 6'3 so I enjoy the added height and softer ride.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

I just installed the hagon shocks on my bolt. I went with the 290mm length and as mentioned before it's borderline to long and messes with belt tension I cycled the suspension through its travel and adjusted the belt to match then installed the new shocks

It rides so much nicer now handles great. It fits me better sitting at a stop. I went with the 26kg springs and I'm 170 and 6'3 so I enjoy the added height and softer ride.

Keep us updated on how it's working out for you. If 290 works that would be a whole lot better.

Are you enjoying that added cornering clearance?

[freeride707]

So far it's working great  the bike handles significantly better and steering response has improved. Not scraping pegs as much is nice too. Be sure to take very good measurements of your belt tension before ordering them but they do fit and work for me.  The 26kg is about right. It's a little softer than stock but I haven't been able to bottom it with just myself. With a passenger I did but I was trying to test the limits.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

So far it's working great  the bike handles significantly better and steering response has improved. Not scraping pegs as much is nice too. Be sure to take very good measurements of your belt tension before ordering them but they do fit and work for me.  The 26kg is about right. It's a little softer than stock but I haven't been able to bottom it with just myself. With a passenger I did but I was trying to test the limits.

Now we just need to see some pics! Thanks for the update.

[freddyknuckles]

So has anybody tried a Low and Mean lowering kit in combination with a longer Hagon shock?
The lowering bracket lowers the bike 1.4" so by my calculations a 290mm shock would keep the ride at approximately stock height but with the advantage of a better dampened shock with more travel.
This is something I would be very interested in. It would also fit into my plan to remove the rear fender since the brackets include mounting points for the turn signals.
Thoughts?

[DoberMan]

So has anybody tried a Low and Mean lowering kit in combination with a longer Hagon shock?
The lowering bracket lowers the bike 1.4" so by my calculations a 290mm shock would keep the ride at approximately stock height but with the advantage of a better dampened shock with more travel.
This is something I would be very interested in. It would also fit into my plan to remove the rear fender since the brackets include mounting points for the turn signals.
Thoughts?

The safest Hagon shock length would be 270mm. OEM is 255mm. The longer the shock the slacker the belt so you need to tighten it and if you do that and introduce longer shock travel the belt will be too tight when the suspension compresses.

[freddyknuckles]

So has anybody tried a Low and Mean lowering kit in combination with a longer Hagon shock?
The lowering bracket lowers the bike 1.4" so by my calculations a 290mm shock would keep the ride at approximately stock height but with the advantage of a better dampened shock with more travel.
This is something I would be very interested in. It would also fit into my plan to remove the rear fender since the brackets include mounting points for the turn signals.
Thoughts?

The safest Hagon shock length would be 270mm. OEM is 255mm. The longer the shock the slacker the belt so you need to tighten it and if you do that and introduce longer shock travel the belt will be too tight when the suspension compresses.

OK, thanks. So that being the case, I am still wondering about doing the lowering brackets with the Hagon shocks. 270mm if that's the longest possible. Any negative side effects?

[DoberMan]

So has anybody tried a Low and Mean lowering kit in combination with a longer Hagon shock?
The lowering bracket lowers the bike 1.4" so by my calculations a 290mm shock would keep the ride at approximately stock height but with the advantage of a better dampened shock with more travel.
This is something I would be very interested in. It would also fit into my plan to remove the rear fender since the brackets include mounting points for the turn signals.
Thoughts?

The safest Hagon shock length would be 270mm. OEM is 255mm. The longer the shock the slacker the belt so you need to tighten it and if you do that and introduce longer shock travel the belt will be too tight when the suspension compresses.

OK, thanks. So that being the case, I am still wondering about doing the lowering brackets with the Hagon shocks. 270mm if that's the longest possible. Any negative side effects?

You are only going to get 10mm extra travel in the 270mm shock compared to the OEM so fitting lowering links should not have any clearance issues. There is a big gap between fender and tyre. (Tire!)

The only negative of lowering brackets would be scraping your pegs more easily.

[RudeBoltin]

So has anybody tried a Low and Mean lowering kit in combination with a longer Hagon shock?
The lowering bracket lowers the bike 1.4" so by my calculations a 290mm shock would keep the ride at approximately stock height but with the advantage of a better dampened shock with more travel.
This is something I would be very interested in. It would also fit into my plan to remove the rear fender since the brackets include mounting points for the turn signals.
Thoughts?

I say screw the naysayers, and give it a whirl.
This winter I'm gonna pull my shocks off and do some serious measuring and see how it would fit. I'm thinking somewhere along the lines of building my own lowering bracket, around 3/4" or 1" and then run the 290s or 300s even.
I have a set of fork extensions to run also. Gonna need to look it over pretty hard first but I think it's do able.

[DoberMan]

I say screw the naysayers, and give it a whirl.
This winter I'm gonna pull my shocks off and do some serious measuring and see how it would fit. I'm thinking somewhere along the lines of building my own lowering bracket, around 3/4" or 1" and then run the 290s or 300s even.
I have a set of fork extensions to run also. Gonna need to look it over pretty hard first but I think it's do able.

I can save you a whole heap of trouble, I've already been down that road.

Here are the figures from Hagon:

my orig XV shock sent to Hagon
len 255mm
stroke 45mm
spring weight, mostly linear 35kg
 
shock ordered from Hagon
len 270mm
stroke 54mm
spring weight 35kg (but with more damping than orig)
 
longer Hagon shocks
len 280mm
stroke 54mm
 
len 290mm
stroke 70mm
 
len 300mm
stroke 80mm

You can fit whatever length spring you want, the problem is with the belt tension. Longer the shock= slacker belt, it will slip on the pulley. When the spring compresses the belt tightens putting stress on bearings and gearbox.

The only solution is to fit a belt tensioner like the ones on the Buells. Unless you can fabricate your own or modify one and find a way to mount it to the frame no one currently makes one for the Bolt.

[RudeBoltin]

Doberman I get what your saying and I do appreciate it. I'm still gonna get mine on a lift and measure belt tension at different ride heights.
If the 270 is safe then in theory shouldn't the 280 be safe because it has the same amount of travel its just 10mm taller.
Freeride707 seems to think his 290s are working out fine. Keep us updated. Maybe it's just a matter of keeping a close eye on the belt tension and finding the sweet spot.

I'm still gonna do some looking into this for myself.

[freddyknuckles]

So has anybody tried a Low and Mean lowering kit in combination with a longer Hagon shock?
The lowering bracket lowers the bike 1.4" so by my calculations a 290mm shock would keep the ride at approximately stock height but with the advantage of a better dampened shock with more travel.
This is something I would be very interested in. It would also fit into my plan to remove the rear fender since the brackets include mounting points for the turn signals.
Thoughts?

The safest Hagon shock length would be 270mm. OEM is 255mm. The longer the shock the slacker the belt so you need to tighten it and if you do that and introduce longer shock travel the belt will be too tight when the suspension compresses.

I am not an engineer so maybe I am missing something here.
A 290mm shock is 35mm longer or 1.378 inches. The lowering links drop the ride by 1.4 inches. That is a virtual wash in terms of ride height. Almost stock. Meaning almost zero increase in slack on the belt. The lowering links seem to take the ride height out of the equation.
That just leaves the travel to consider. A 25mm increase (almsot an inch), which is significant.
As RudeBoltin said, maybe it's a matter of finding the sweet spot.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

So has anybody tried a Low and Mean lowering kit in combination with a longer Hagon shock?
The lowering bracket lowers the bike 1.4" so by my calculations a 290mm shock would keep the ride at approximately stock height but with the advantage of a better dampened shock with more travel.
This is something I would be very interested in. It would also fit into my plan to remove the rear fender since the brackets include mounting points for the turn signals.
Thoughts?

The safest Hagon shock length would be 270mm. OEM is 255mm. The longer the shock the slacker the belt so you need to tighten it and if you do that and introduce longer shock travel the belt will be too tight when the suspension compresses.

I am not an engineer so maybe I am missing something here.
A 290mm shock is 35mm longer or 1.378 inches. The lowering links drop the ride by 1.4 inches. That is a virtual wash in terms of ride height. Almost stock. Meaning almost zero increase in slack on the belt. The lowering links seem to take the ride height out of the equation.
That just leaves the travel to consider. A 25mm increase (almsot an inch), which is significant.
As RudeBoltin said, maybe it's a matter of finding the sweet spot.

Any particular reason why you'd want to do this? Limited ground clearance sucks when you're trying to ride it hard in the corners. The added height in the rear does wonders in this area.

IMO the Bolt is too sporty. The stock height won't let this bike really shine.

Maybe you should do the shocks first, and if you don't like it, then do the lowering kit.

[freddyknuckles]

Any particular reason why you'd want to do this? Limited ground clearance sucks when you're trying to ride it hard in the corners. The added height in the rear does wonders in this area.

IMO the Bolt is too sporty. The stock height won't let this bike really shine.

Maybe you should do the shocks first, and if you don't like it, then do the lowering kit.

Well I have short legs and I am very happy with the way the bike fits me right now. I would like the benefits of a better shock and more travel without increasing the height at all.
I agree that the biggest fault with this bike is it's limited ground clearance however I am not a particularly aggressive rider so it's not really a hindrance for me. I can deal with the occasional scrape.
I figured this might be a way for me to have my cake and eat it too.
Also the Low and Mean lowering kit gives me an option to relocate my turn signals as my mods will eventually be to replace my stock fender with a hugger.