G
Graham Smith
Guest
Just wondered if anyone had any experience of the AVO dampers (front and rear)?
Not the coil over ones - just the normal ones.
Not the coil over ones - just the normal ones.
Had them fitted to my Rapide since they came out approx 6+ ? years ago. A lot better than Koni which I always found too stiff. The AVO is also easily adjustable with either an allen key or thumb wheel to your own requirements. Improved the action of the girdraulics to really allow the forks to absorb bumps without been too harsh.
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Whilst doing the spring and damper testing for the modified steering stem set ups I was testing dampers back to back over a regular route which included basically all types of road surface although it wasn't a long distance.
Before changing to the eccentric/concentric bearing conversion the best I found was Thornton's but this was only marginally better than the AVO, at a much higher cost, the next pair which were about the same as each other but not as good as the AVO were the Armstrong and the Standard damper, the worst I found was the Koni, I tried three of these just to make sure I hadn't a rogue one, basically it didn't react to small movements at all and so if the surface was small corrugations gave a really rough ride, interestingly all gave about the same performance over speed humps and under emergency braking.
Chris.
Before changing to the eccentric/concentric bearing conversion the best I found was Thornton's but this was only marginally better than the AVO, at a much higher cost, the next pair which were about the same as each other but not as good as the AVO were the Armstrong and the Standard damper, the worst I found was the Koni, I tried three of these just to make sure I hadn't a rogue one, basically it didn't react to small movements at all and so if the surface was small corrugations gave a really rough ride, interestingly all gave about the same performance over speed humps and under emergency braking.
Chris.
Further to the above post I would like to add that I started off with Koni's back and front and once I started getting the front properly sorted with the increased travel available with the mods I had to change the rear as the rough ride from the back was affecting what I thought was happening with the front end.
Chris.
Chris.
This page at this link (AVO Info) has not been updated for a while but you may find it useful for background information.
Rob Staley got AVO to modify one of their existing units to fit in place of the original Vincent rear damper. I did lots of miles road-testing the unit. Rob got them to make variations of the unit, e.g. length stroke and damping characteristics to arrive at a specification for production. Later a version was made to fit the Girdraulics. (We also experimented with using different Girling springs at the rear. This was the way to a much better ride by getting the spring rate right but involved making bits to allow the Girling spings to be mounted.)
I think the AVO damper units give good damping for a reasonable price and don't look too out of place compared to the original unit if looks are a consideration.
The monoshock unit, which is the latest development, is in my opinion even better than the separate damper and correctly rated Girling springs. It obviously doesn't look very standard as the two Vincent rear spring units are removed but it is a direct replacement, comes with a suitable spring and requires no modifications.
I've almost finish sending out the new steering heads. It turned out to be about 60 of them rather than the 50 I originally organised. Most of the ones supplied to the UK, mainland Europe or the USA have been provided with AVO dampers The original settings, as developed by Rob and Ed, were specified for those who are continuing to use Oilite bushes at the rear of the lower link and stiffer ones as developed by Chris Launders and myself to go with those who are using the Greg Brillus mod of ball races (or needle rollers in a few cases) instead of the Oilite bushes. Everyone who has now fitted and used the new systems, including the AVO dampers, seems very pleased with them. Although there was a major delay in supplying the first 28 of the dampers I have found AVO to be a very helpful and friendly company and I have no connection with them. It turns out that they do not ream the bush in the top of the front damper and the paint job on them can be improved dramatically before fitting if you have the patience.