“Past that, modern springs hold their rate and don’t degrade over time. “Honda could choose to simply design a mechanical spring that has the progressive rate they are achieving with a spring and a bumper,” said McAllister. McAllister also doesn't think it's a good idea to use the bumper as an active part of the suspension. "It is extremely undersprung and underdamped for the intended use of the motorcycle." “The stock suspension on the new Gold Wing follows a consistent philosophy as has been applied to the bike for decades," he said. I asked McAllister how he felt the new Gold Wing rode. Keep in mind there is no weight on this chassis, but also note the relative lack of deformity of the bumper. and here is the same shock with the wheel in the position it would be compressed. Instead, it’s an integral part of the suspension designed to add progressivity to the spring by offering greater resistance as the shock approaches its maximum travel. In essence, the bumper is not the traditional bump stop intended to reduce the sudden jolt (and clang!) that a bottomed shock delivers to a rider. This design, unique to the Gold Wing’s double wishbone front suspension, allows for a more progressive approach to the end of shock travel,” they responded in a written statement. Unlike a traditional shock design, where the bumper is used near the end of shock travel, the Gold Wing shock has a damper/bumper that is active during normal use. “The bumper is designed to be a working part of the suspension, much like a damper. McAllister sees this as a design flaw, so I approached Jon Seidel and Colin Miller of American Honda to get their explanation of the front suspension action. Note that the spring is removed for visibility. Honda created this demonstration so the suspension action is visible. McAllister’s video is titled “2018 Honda Gold Wing front shock sags onto bumper! It's sad…” He continues to effectively describe how the suspension setup works: When the bike is loaded with a rider, the shock absorber is a few millimeters away from beginning to compress what he calls the bumper, and that compression occurs all the way until the shock reaches its maximum front wheel travel, as given by Honda. McAllister, of course, is in the business of selling suspension components, and a customer who has both the budget and interest level in motorcycling to purchase a Gold Wing is probably a likely candidate to spend additional money to improve his mount. Obviously, both parties have some skin in this game: Honda wants to move units of their flagship bike, which has been plagued lately by flagging sales. That difference of opinion got me interested enough to investigate on my own. McAllister thinks there are some flaws with Honda’s execution of the new design. Honda, unsurprisingly, touts the benefits of its new system. If you’re unfamiliar with the 2018 version of the Gold Wing and Gold Wing Tour, you should know that Honda completely redesigned the fork, using a Hossack-style front end that they call a “double-wishbone,” a huge departure from the previous generation’s conventional telescopic unit. At the time of this writing, he has about 30 videos uploaded to his YouTube channel dealing with the front end specific to this bike. McAllister has clearly had ample time with a 2018 Honda Gold Wing.
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