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Review: TEC Bike Parts USA - Alloy Remote Reservoir Shocks
They don't list a set for a GS1100E. The Suzuki page is blank. There's no phone number, but you can find it on the UK (headquarters) site. I called it, left a message with no reply. Emails are on a 3 day turn time and are brief. Of my 19 questions, they answered about 3 of them. I ended up finding more information searching on my own from past customers. They did say that I would need the HD springs with such a heavy bike. (My GS tank full weighs 515 lbs. and is 50/50 F/R). I got tired of waiting for my questions to be answered and just paid the paypal invoice they sent.
$139 Shocks
$19 HD Springs
$19 Shipping
$177 Total
From what I can gather, they're designed by a fairly knowledgeable guy in the UK named George. They're manufactured in China to his specifications. They have been using them on Triumph bikes for a couple years now with great success and are branching out to other "Cafe" bikes with dual shocks. My guess is that the USA branch is overwhelmed with questions and orders, they probably have day jobs, and I'm guessing they don't have a huge margin of profit on these things. They might not even have a ton of feedback on how they work on GS bikes.
Here's a selection of reviews that really helped me figure these things out:
Got the shocks on Friday, and set out to get them mounted up before my family got home.
First job was to swap the springs to the HD ones that I paid an extra $19 for. I was rushed, but I wanted to check out the difference between the springs. First off, I removed the stock spring and set it next to one of the HD springs... They're the same length (8 inches long, 2-3/8" OD), the same thickness spring (I measured 7.75 mm for both). The only difference is the HD spring has one less coil.
I tried pushing on them on the floor but I couldn't tell a difference in spring rate with the highly scientific method of using my palms. The next thing I did was compress the shock without the spring, over and over again to see if there was enough oil in there, and see if the shock would fully extend on it's own without the spring. I couldn't work out all the air bubbles (you can feel it) and the shock would only extend about 60% of the way out on it's own without the spring.
My swingarm shock mounts were fabricated by me, and apparently are just slightly thinner than the stock GS mounts. I did have to grind a hair off the bushings I put in the mounts, but that was easy. I also had to round off the bottom corners of the clevis so it wouldn't dig into the shock mount welds, but that too was pretty easy. Both issues that no one else in the world would ever share with me because of my homemade swingarm.
Apparently a guy would need to take some material off the clevis to make them fit a stock GS swingarm mount.Despite the low bladder pressure, unverified HD springs*, and seemingly ill oil level, they feel pretty good. Just bouncing on the bike it feels pretty even with the front end and the test ride feels just the same as the old shocks. I think my old stockers were past their prime, and the only way I could really tell a difference was bouncing the bike in the garage. I can guarantee you I'll never have this bike over at full lean, and I'm not sure if I can find some braking bumps to really test the rebound, or see if the shock is "packing"... etc.
I think they look sweet. There's at least 1" of adjustment in the bottom clevis, and if that's not enough, there's a +1" spacer that came with them. I can't really see a downside. Yes, if I'm feeling frisky some day I might take them apart, go for some new 10wt oil and a calibrated Nitrogen charge, but until then, I'm just going to enjoy the beauty.
This was inside a large flat rate USPS box. There was a handwritten "SUZ" and a sticker "Type 21 P/B" on the box.
After I removed the packing and plastic bags.
The included spacers should you need them.
Oh yea. Me likey.
<-- I have got to replace those rusty bolts in the swingarm spools!I was a little concerned about the springs being "HD" because they seemed almost identical to me. So I concocted this Redneck Spring Rate Tester using my diesel truck as the press. Chris Livengood uses a dial indicator, his shop press, and I'm sure a more sophisticated scale. This digital scale was really testing my patience. It locks on a weight as soon as it's stable for like one second.
Anyway, here's my test results:
STK springs: 1″ = 122 lbs. 2″ = 247 lbs.
HD springs: 1″ = 142 lbs. 2″ = 269 lbs.
Indeed, the HD springs can be called HD. Not by much. I would give my measurements a fair swath in the area of error, but I would assume the Stock springs are 125 lbs/in. and the HD springs are 140 lbs/in.
Don't laugh, it's the best I could do on quick notice.
I had to count the coils to figure out which one was which. STK is on the right, HD on the left:
Summary: I've only been out for a little ride to see if I could tell a difference. More test miles will have to happen before I can really tell if they're better. But I like the looks 100%. I can't say how they compare to RFY ($105) or Ohlins dual shocks ($900), but for the price, I think they're great.
A big shout out to Grand Rouge for pointing me toward these beauties and directing me to most of the supporting links as well.
-Kevin
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