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TAKEGAWA Lowering Heavy-Duty Rear Shock
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2015 9:32 am
by GeeGusKahn
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I know some of you have installed the TAKEGAWA
Lowering HD Rear Shock.
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Opinions wanted:
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How is the ride ??
Hitting potholes ??
Rough roads ??
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Interested in all rider inputs on these.
Re: TAKEGAWA Lowering Heavy-Duty Rear Shock
Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 8:48 am
by Mel46
We put them on both of our pcx 150s. They are great. Because they are adjustable, hitting pot holes is dampened somewhat as long as they are not set at their lowest setting. Certainly the ride is much better. I would recommend a change from the original shocks for anyone who wants to enjoy long rides on their pcx. The shocks don't have to be the lowering ones. We purchased the lowering ones because my wife is only 5 ft tall and we swap bikes ever so often. They lower the bike about an inch or more. Every little bit helps her be able to put her feet on the ground when at a stop.
Re: TAKEGAWA Lowering Heavy-Duty Rear Shock
Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2015 10:20 pm
by Branyers
But wouldn't it make sense to install the lowering springs for the front as well?
Re: TAKEGAWA Lowering Heavy-Duty Rear Shock
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 11:54 am
by Mel46
As i understand it, there is a bit of work involved with lowering the front forks. I don't have that much skill.
Re: TAKEGAWA Lowering Heavy-Duty Rear Shock
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 3:55 pm
by Valiant
Hmm, must've had it all wrong because I thought it was just a case of "install these":
http://japan.webike.net/products/20916906.html
Re: TAKEGAWA Lowering Heavy-Duty Rear Shock
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 6:28 pm
by Mel46
You have to take the front apart to do this. I believe one of our members took his apart and cut his springs. Still a lot of work.
Re: TAKEGAWA Lowering Heavy-Duty Rear Shock
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 7:29 pm
by Indyglow
I have Takegawa lowering shocks. The only reason I got them was to lower the bike. The ride is a bit better than stock shocks. Hitting potholes seems about the same because you still get the jolt from the front.
Re: TAKEGAWA Lowering Heavy-Duty Rear Shock
Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2015 6:48 pm
by GeeGusKahn
Indyglow wrote:I have Takegawa lowering shocks. The only reason I got them was to lower the bike. The ride is a bit better than stock shocks. Hitting potholes seems about the same because you still get the jolt from the front.
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Indyglow and Mel
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What setting do you use for the preload ??
I am assuming that 1 is soft and 5 is hard.
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thanks
Re: TAKEGAWA Lowering Heavy-Duty Rear Shock
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 10:37 am
by Mel46
We set our right in the middle...well, as close to the middle as we can...3
Re: TAKEGAWA Lowering Heavy-Duty Rear Shock
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:41 pm
by GeeGusKahn
So, where did you order them from ??
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Thanks
Re: TAKEGAWA Lowering Heavy-Duty Rear Shock
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 10:21 am
by Mel46
http://www.j-mart.biz/j-parts/index.php ... s_id=11706
They aren't cheap but we love them. By the way, I noticed that you live at Lake Hartwell. How do you like it? Where do you ride, and what city do you go to when you need to shop or go to a doctor? Atlanta is a long distance from there.
Re: TAKEGAWA Lowering Heavy-Duty Rear Shock
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 6:07 pm
by GeeGusKahn
Mel46 wrote:http://www.j-mart.biz/j-parts/index.php ... s_id=11706
They aren't cheap but we love them. By the way, I noticed that you live at Lake Hartwell. How do you like it? Where do you ride, and what city do you go to when you need to shop or go to a doctor? Atlanta is a long distance from there.
Mel, thanks for the link.
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Love Hartwell, small and rural. The county, Hart, has way more cows, horses, chickens, etc than people.
As for rides, I just head North.
Lots of windy back roads plus easy ride to places like Dalonega and North Carolina.
They just built a new hospital, Ty Cobb Regional about 15 miles from here.
Also about 40 miles either direction is Athens Regional or Greenville with trauma centers and all the bells and whistles.
Hartwell has a Wally World and Mickey Ds, what more do you need ?? 
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Downtown Anderson SC is about 20 miles to the east with lots of stuff.
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It's mostly very quiet and laid back. Occasional street fairs or similar and you can watch the grass grow.
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By the by, I moved here in 2010, prior residence was Mableton in South Cobb Co.
Don't miss it at all.
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Re: TAKEGAWA Lowering Heavy-Duty Rear Shock
Posted: Tue May 05, 2015 11:39 pm
by maddiedog
I had a set on my PCX for a bit, but switched back to stock. I scared the crap out of myself, because the lowered suspension means less cornering clearance by a fair margin. I nearly lowsided.
They severely diminished my ability to curbhop too, which is necessary in Atlanta.
Regardless, the ride was WAY better and I could flatfoot the PCX, which is never a bad thing. I tippietoe it on the stock suspension. I didn't notice any bottoming out on potholes either. They're great suspension setups.
Re: TAKEGAWA Lowering Heavy-Duty Rear Shock
Posted: Wed May 06, 2015 1:55 am
by relic
Got some on my bike think maybe gives a false reading on oil dipstick
most purchase for more flat footing
get rid of the plastics around the mid bike make your own foot rests
ergonomics plus servicing is way lot easier
Re: TAKEGAWA Lowering Heavy-Duty Rear Shock
Posted: Wed May 06, 2015 9:57 am
by Mel46
Dave got the best solution to his shock problem though. He bought a V Strom. It is a beast. Now he has the little rocket (his pcx 170cc) and his big beast (his V-Strom 650) , so he can scream around locally or jump on his beast and hit the freeways. We took our pcx 150s on the freeway recently and they kept up with traffic, but that was about it. Dave can not only keep up, but he can pass them with either of those two. I am guessing that he wanted more weight though, so he purchased the bigger bike. I noticed on our little scooters that they get a lot of cross winds from traffic on freeways. New shocks don't help in that situation.
Re: TAKEGAWA Lowering Heavy-Duty Rear Shock
Posted: Fri May 15, 2015 4:38 pm
by GeeGusKahn
maddiedog wrote:I had a set on my PCX for a bit, but switched back to stock. I scared the crap out of myself, because the lowered suspension means less cornering clearance by a fair margin. I nearly lowsided.
They severely diminished my ability to curbhop too, which is necessary in Atlanta.
Regardless, the ride was WAY better and I could flatfoot the PCX, which is never a bad thing. I tippietoe it on the stock suspension. I didn't notice any bottoming out on potholes either. They're great suspension setups.
Dave, I have seen you ride on your Buddy 125 and I am no were near as an aggressive rider.
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So for normal everyday Easy Riders like myself - do you see any problem ??
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Mel, your thoughts on this would also be appreciated.
Re: TAKEGAWA Lowering Heavy-Duty Rear Shock
Posted: Sat May 16, 2015 2:42 am
by Alibally
If you lower the bike do you also have to shorten the side stand as well?
Re: TAKEGAWA Lowering Heavy-Duty Rear Shock
Posted: Sat May 16, 2015 9:45 am
by Mel46
When we lowered our two pcx 150s we weren't sure what to expect. Well i can say that we really love our bikes now. No, the sie stand does not need to be adjusted in any way. The bike only drops about 1 1/2" and is still quite capable of taking the dragons tail at a decent speed, though not like Dave likes to ride. Dave had to take his center stand off because of the year model his pcx is. This also helps him take the curves at a sharper angle because the center stand is the one thing that restricts the bike from leaning much.
As for riding comfort for us normal riders, I am glad that we have the lowering shocks on our bikes. They add to comfort while riding the normal roads. They would not work well, I believe, if you wanted to go off road for camping, unless you are following a path that has very few pot holes.
Re: TAKEGAWA Lowering Heavy-Duty Rear Shock
Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 4:59 pm
by maddiedog
I agree with Mel, I think you'll be fine.
I used to say I ride like grandma, but the more I ride, the more I realize I ride harder than most scooterists. If you're cruising and going easy, you'll do fine.
Re: TAKEGAWA Lowering Heavy-Duty Rear Shock
Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2015 11:13 am
by Drifter
Does takegawa or anyone else make a softer spring shock for someone light weight?