Mono Shock Vs Twin Shock Suspension !!


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Dear Friend,

I had been thinking about these two things since quite some time and felt to start a thread to know what is what and which best. Often we talk about the ride quality in cars, but no body really talk the same in Bikes as more of them really interested in its CC and FE most of the times. So I really would love to learn about these and may be this will be useful for many members too !!

Also with you experience indicate the best suspension bike according to which give great comfort in bad roads here you can explain its suspension set up too, of-course here I am not at all talking about an off roader, but talking about our regular bikes

Hope to see lot of information on this from experienced members[:)]
 
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Re: Mono shocks Vs twin shocks !!

Dear Friend,

I had been thinking about these two things since quite some time and felt to start a thread to know what is what and which best. Often we talk about the ride quality in cars, but no body really talk the same in Bikes as more of them really interested in its CC and FE most of the times. So I really would love to learn about these and may be this will be useful for many members too !!

Also with you experience indicate the best suspension bike according to which give great comfort in bad roads here you can explain its suspension set up too, of-course here I am not at all talking about an off roader, but talking about our regular bikes

Hope to see lot of information on this from experienced members[:)]
with mono shocks manufacture can achieve good ride and softer suspenstion, which in tern increases handling at high speed, but twin shocks are robust and I dont find any advantage in sports bikes.
 
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Re: Mono shocks Vs twin shocks !!

Am not an expert but one thing that comes to my mind is taking the tuning of the shocks,
a dual shock setup has the liability that one shock is going to compress differently than the other no matter how carefully you try to tune them. Monoshck eliminates any possibility of an imbalance between the two.
Many monoshocks are fitted with variable linkages, so that effective spring rate and damping can be increased or decreased as the suspension moves off "neutral" position.
 
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Thread Starter #4
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Re: Mono shocks Vs twin shocks !!

Am not an expert but one thing that comes to my mind is taking the tuning of the shocks,
a dual shock setup has the liability that one shock is going to compress differently than the other no matter how carefully you try to tune them. Monoshck eliminates any possibility of an imbalance between the two.
Many monoshocks are fitted with variable linkages, so that effective spring rate and damping can be increased or decreased as the suspension moves off "neutral" position.
+100 Vijay, really I often get this doubt and I really do not know that is that true about twin shocks set up [confused]

Because suspension set up was the main reason for me to sell out my brand new 1-1/2 year old bike Suzuki Slingshot last year !! The shocks were really stiff and all my efforts to get them set were gone in vain as even suzuki service was also pathetic and said no adjustment can be done any further
 
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Re: Mono shocks Vs twin shocks !!

Am not an expert but one thing that comes to my mind is taking the tuning of the shocks,
a dual shock setup has the liability that one shock is going to compress differently than the other no matter how carefully you try to tune them. Monoshck eliminates any possibility of an imbalance between the two.
Many monoshocks are fitted with variable linkages, so that effective spring rate and damping can be increased or decreased as the suspension moves off "neutral" position.
I agreed and nice explaination. I guess you also agree that handling is way better in mono shocks [:)]
 
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To quote Dilip Bam from his review of the Honda Unicorn:

"History apart, mono-shock really makes technical sense, because un-even-ness is impossible in this design. It is a fact that in our body, our two legs are not absolutely identical, neither are our two hands or eyes or ears. We might be born with identical pairs, but as we grow our limbs and components become non-identical due to the unequal work we put them to. Same with twin rear shock absorbers. As we ride any bike, our personal biases and external conditions cause them to wear un-evenly. And over time we get wobble, pulling to one side, instability etc. But in the Unicorn, this is obviously impossible. Indeed, rear mono-shocks are almost de-rigueur in most modern super bikes. I would not be surprised if the Pulsars too adopt this pattern sooner than later."
 
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Thread Starter #7
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I agree with Sam on this completely, now it is the time for to think about the ride quality on a bike rather than FE which is consistent most of the times from these new age bikes which always depends on the driving style and the traffic conditions I hope. So I wish every body focus on the ride quality much always[:)]
 
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On a motorcycle with a mono-shock rear suspension, a single shock absorber connects the rear swingarm to the motorcycle's frame. Typically this lone shock absorber is in front of the rear wheel, and uses a linkage to connect to the swing arm. Such linkages are frequently designed to give a rising rate of damping for the rear. Mono-shocks are said to eliminate torque to the swingarm and provide more consistent handling and braking. Having only one shock absorber, they tend to be easier to adjust than twin-shock systems
 
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On a motorcycle with a mono-shock rear suspension, a single shock absorber connects the rear swingarm to the motorcycle's frame. Typically this lone shock absorber is in front of the rear wheel, and uses a linkage to connect to the swing arm. Such linkages are frequently designed to give a rising rate of damping for the rear. Mono-shocks are said to eliminate torque to the swingarm and provide more consistent handling and braking. Having only one shock absorber, they tend to be easier to adjust than twin-shock systems
Sounds like Wiki :stupid:
 
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Both type of shocks foundd in Indian roads/Indian bikes have their on pros and cons in my view.

The twin shocks especially found in splendor and passion and the gas filled twin rear shocks present in the pulsar and gs150r are feel butter smooth in the ordinary roads and highways.
But in the very bad roads with the bigger potholes, Mono shocks are the best.
In the Indian roads we can expect a bigger pothole in every road whether it is highway or not. Mono shocks could be life saver, when you hit a bigger pothole unexpectedly in high speeds.
 
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For me mono shock is any day better than the other one.
It has that smooth ride on a bumpy surface which the dual mostly misses..
 
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For me mono shock is any day better than the other one.
It has that smooth ride on a bumpy surface which the dual mostly misses..
May I know which bike you are referring to? because I can see lot of complaints in many websites regarding back pain due to Unicorn's mono suspension. Don't know whether Honda's implementation is not good or generally mono suspension is only for handling and not for ride quality

But I feel your point true with Yamaha FZ. I feel FZ has better suspension than Unicorn
 
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Presently I am down with cervical spondylosis, I have noticed the suspension of a bike is an important criteria(after talking to doctor), hence I suggest members to focus on this point while selecting any bike which is more important than our beloved "kitna deti hai"[:)]
 
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What I feel is , the monoshock excels in high speed ride while cornering compared to twins while the twins are better than monoshock ones in terms of low speed ride for me. Here I did my comparo between shine and CBR but the underlying stiffness(rear) in CBR is obvious because of the sporty purpose.
 
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I felt the comfort in low speed/path holed, speed breakers roads is important thing to mind.

Does any body experienced a butter smooth suspension set up on any bike which behaves excellent(transfer the least amount of effect created by the speed breaker or a path hole) in low speeds and bad roads ??
 
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