I will measure mine soon. My bike is at my new house and I am still living in the old place. I have a fully sprung seat on my Rapide, I use the AVO coilover with the standard spring (I think that's what it is). I notice on the invoice for the coil over it says the part number is A8275 and there is also mention of a 1.9" coil spring. I don't know what that means. I know that when I ordered it I mentioned I would be riding two up with luggage a lot. I think the advice was to get the standard spring. The ride is very comfortable, better than some much more modern bikes. I run quite a bit of preload but I find I do bottom on the big bumps. I usually aim on my bikes to have the shocks compress about 25 to 30% under load. It may be more than that on the Vin. On my Norton and my Guzzi I had to put spacers under the springs so that I could get enough pre load. After a trip last year I had three broken spokes to mend. The trouble is I weigh 220 lbs and Allyson weighs about 150 (I guess) I think maybe I should have the stronger spring as this must be more weight than MVH and William. For solo the spring is right.
F: Frame Help required measuring coil lengths on AVO coil over rear dampers.
- Thread starter timetraveller
- Start date
And now William now has his own bike so he won't be going pillion any more.
Dear Norman,
My Rapide is up on the bench at present and partly dismantled so I can't give you any loaded spring lengths so I'm not sure if they will of any value for your table.
The measurements below are taken with the bike on the centre stand so the rear wheel is clear of the bench.
Rider weight 80 Kg (210 lb) With full riding gear: 95Kg (210 lb) (Must take some of that junk out of my riding jacket pockets!)
Passenger weight: 66Kg (145 lb) With full riding gear: 66Kg (147 lb)
Compressed spring length with pre-load set for Rider: 7.25" (184mm)
Compressed Spring length with pre-load set for Rider + passenger : 6.75 (171mm)
I think the spring is 325 lb/inch. The wire diameter is: 0.375"
I may be able to get it off the bench in the next week or so and get some loaded dimensions. A couple of shots of the measuring below.
My Rapide is up on the bench at present and partly dismantled so I can't give you any loaded spring lengths so I'm not sure if they will of any value for your table.
The measurements below are taken with the bike on the centre stand so the rear wheel is clear of the bench.
Rider weight 80 Kg (210 lb) With full riding gear: 95Kg (210 lb) (Must take some of that junk out of my riding jacket pockets!)
Passenger weight: 66Kg (145 lb) With full riding gear: 66Kg (147 lb)
Compressed spring length with pre-load set for Rider: 7.25" (184mm)
Compressed Spring length with pre-load set for Rider + passenger : 6.75 (171mm)
I think the spring is 325 lb/inch. The wire diameter is: 0.375"
I may be able to get it off the bench in the next week or so and get some loaded dimensions. A couple of shots of the measuring below.
Nigel, the A8275 is, as far as Chris and I can tell, can be decoded as follows. The '8' is the length in inches and '275' is the spring rate in lbs/inch. The outside diameter is about 2.69"
Nigel, the spring is the standard 275 lb spring, I recently got a 350lb one and it has A8350 etched or engraved on the end, from that (and my original spring which has A8275 on it) I am assuming the A is a diameter code, 8 is the length and the last three numbers the rate. I was running 1" of preload and bottomed out on a bump solo.
We have found that the 275 lb spring is right for a standard set up but as soon as you go to a fully sprung seat the loads on the spring increase massively, whereas on the standard set up they hardly vary.
We have found with the standard set up around 55% of the riders weight is carried on the spring, the remainder is on the rear seat stays and carried directly to the RFM, any pillion and/or luggage is almost entirely carried by the seat stays straight to the RFM, most of it pushing on the rear axle whereas with a fully sprung seat EVERYTHING is carried on the spring.
I think that AVO possibly didn't appreciate the difference between a standard a fully sprung seat set up.
Chris.
We have found that the 275 lb spring is right for a standard set up but as soon as you go to a fully sprung seat the loads on the spring increase massively, whereas on the standard set up they hardly vary.
We have found with the standard set up around 55% of the riders weight is carried on the spring, the remainder is on the rear seat stays and carried directly to the RFM, any pillion and/or luggage is almost entirely carried by the seat stays straight to the RFM, most of it pushing on the rear axle whereas with a fully sprung seat EVERYTHING is carried on the spring.
I think that AVO possibly didn't appreciate the difference between a standard a fully sprung seat set up.
Chris.
Looking at my Avo invoice, I see i ordered a PC1511 which has a 275 pound spring. I also ordered a 350 pound spring which shows as A8350 and referred to as a 1.9" coil spring.
Could the ID be 1.9", which would make sense as it has to go on the damper.
Ed, I lke your spilt collar system for the adjuster........keep those threads lubed.......that's my only advice.......Cheers.
I forgot to say in my last post that my Rapide has stays to make it fully sprung.
Dear Greg,
I quite often ride with my wife on the pillion so I made up the additional collar so that I could change the pre-load without using the "C" spanner than can be a little awkward. The "wings" on my extra collar would ideally be a bit longer to give more leverage but they foul the tool tray if made any longer.
I definitely agree about lubricating the thread. I give it a smear of grease each time I alter the pre-load.