AVO Rear Damper for Vincent.

[BigEd]

At a recent Coventry Section VOC club night Rob Staley gave us a quick presentation on the suspension damper that he has got local damper manufacturer, AVO, to make. The damper is a modification of one of AVO’s standard units with dimensions and damping characteristics modified for Vincent rear suspension fitment.

I have created a webpage on the Coventry VOC site to give the details of the modified unit. You can view the page at:

http://coventryvoc.co.uk/rob_staley_specification_damper.htm

 

[davidd]

Very interesting!

David

 

[bmetcalf]

AVO's were written about in MPH, a little after the Spax problems came to light.

 

[BigEd]

Dear Bruce,
Several people have told me that they were using an AVO damper on their Vincent years ago.
The difference here is that this unit is re-engineered by AVO so that it can be fitted on the Vincent without modifying any of the mountings. It is also shorter overall but with a little more stroke than the AVO unit it is based on. The damping characteristics have also been changed to make them more suitable for a motorcycle.
The webpage has an added comment from Rob as to why this doesn't easily fit the Girdraulics.

http://coventryvoc.co.uk/rob_staley_specification_damper.htm#Front Fitment

Rob came a ride over this morning to try out his latest mod using different rate Girling springs. I had a short ride and the rear suspension seems nicely compliant. He also spoke to the people at AVO this morning and he may be able to get them to make a unit specifically for the Vincent front end.

AVO's were written about in MPH, a little after the Spax problems came to light.

 

[Comet Rider]

Hi Ed
Do you mind asking Rob some questions for me?

Dad is intrested in this for the back of his Comet outfir which has Petterford springs, but Dad has managed to kill both a Koni and an IKON,

Cheers in advance
Neil

 

[BigEd]

Dear Neil,
If you have any specific questions for Rob please ask and I will gladly pass them on to him.

Regarding the longevity of the units I can offer the fact that I have used an AVO unit on the rear of my Rapide for a couple of years and thousands miles. (I can't be more specific about mileage as, for some reason, I failed to note down the mileage when I installed it. I average around 8,000 miles a year on the Rapide so I guess the unit has done 10-15,000 miles OK.)
My Rapide has Pettiford springs fitted and is mostly used two up. (No sidecar attached though.) The unit I have bodged on to the rear of my bike is the same base model that AVO have re-engineered for Rob to easily fit the Vincent rear end.
Continuing with the longevity thread, AVO offer a rebuild service and in the full spec drawing for their dampers list all the parts, seals, gas bag, valve, etc. I don't know how much a rebuild would cost, should it be needed, but the cost of the complete new unit is not prohibitive compared with other options available.

One useful bit of information that Rob picked up from AVO was that if you are using a Koni unit you should always make sure that the rubber bump stop inside the top shroud is in place and in good condition. If it isn't the valve mechanism in Koni piston can be damaged if it goes onto full bump and hits the bottom of the cylinder.

Hi Ed
Do you mind asking Rob some questions for me?

Dad is interested in this for the back of his Comet outfit which has Petterford springs, but Dad has managed to kill both a Koni and an IKON,

Cheers in advance
Neil

 

[BigEd]

An update on the AVO suspension damper that Rob Staley has been developing in conjunction with AVO. The webpage (link below) has been updated with a fairly extensive rewrite to include a slightly longer version of damper and also to better explain Petteford fitting issues.

Note this the damper fits in place of the standard Vincent rear hydraulic damper without modification to the Vincent RFM/UFM or the AVO damper.

http://coventryvoc.co.uk/rob_staley_specification_damper.htm

 

[bmetcalf]

Will Dave Hills have to curtail his honeymoon to design another variant of his centerstand now?

 

[clevtrev]

Will Dave Hills have to curtail his honeymoon to design another variant of his centerstand now?

Bruce, you did notice Dave had joined the Norton Owners Club, and got himself the fully suspendered model !