New technology

[wilkin250r]

I got a glimpse of a new technology in suspension design.

We know that as shocks heat up, the viscosity of the fluid changes, causing the damping to change. External rezzies help alleviate this problem, but they don't cure it totally.

I saw an oil that can change viscosity INSTANTLY.

As a damping fluid in a shock, this would give you the ablility to adjust the damping from plush to rock hard (and anywhere in between) instantly, in mid air if you wanted to.

You can stiffen your shocks going into a corner to limit chassis roll, then soften it up for the whoop section, then set it to absorb a big jump.

The technology is still a few years away.

[honda400exrider]

sounds pretty technological if u ask me.... lol


no but wouldnt that suck if u where flying full speed and the suspension tightened and u hit a rock or something? or would it be manually?

[Ryan]

You mean it automaticly ajusts itself to the terrian? Thats a little weird if you ask me :huh . I don't really like that idea :ermm: .

[wilkin250r]

The adjustment would be manual. It's done by varying the current to a small electromagnet within the shock, so you would have a small control mounted somewhere on the handlebars.

[CT300]

I read about this maybe last year. GM was gonna use it on the cadillac. What they do is suspend minute iron particles in the fluid and magnetize the orifice the fluid goes through, the particles collect to the orifice and slow the fluid. The stronger the magnetic field the slower the fluid will move and the shock gets stiffer.

[vtwoodsrider]

yeah i think my brain is too slow to be worried about pushing buttons other then the throttle when i am comming down off a jump and out of a corner

[Predator36]

This technology has been around for a few years and was available to the general public as early as 2001 that I know of. I first had some hands on with one of these shocks in November 2001. With computer controlls and proper programming it has great potential. Due to the complex programming needed to work properly I dont think we will see it any time soon on atv's.

[ridesa02400EX]

wouldnt that defeat the whole purpose of learning how to ride good and use your skill and all that i mena you would be able to go into a corner and set your suspension so soft that you wouldnt even have to shift your weightor anything

[Evan]

If it was any good, wouldnt the pros have it now?

[ridesa02400EX]

i wouldnt buy it i thinnk it would take all the fun out of riding think about teaching your kids how to ride a quad you would have to tell them to push a button

[beerock]

this is used on the vette and some cadillac models.

it uses a central brain to tell the shocks how to react, it is far from being used on quads.

[airheadedduner]

We sit pretty far back on the ol tech curve:p

Its sad to say that my 86'R is top-of-the-line:blah

[muff]

Originally posted by airheadedduner
We sit pretty far back on the ol tech curve:p

Its sad to say that my 86'R is top-of-the-line:blah

yes it is, we have had the same shock technology for a few years now, however if there is a change shocks will be costing more than our fourwheelers are worth

[Leo]

GM's been using it for a bit..

If used in quad applications you wouldn't have to have a computer brain adjusting it on the fly..

Just the ability to adjust it with a simple knob (similar to compression / rebound adjustments on conventional shocks) would be pretty cool..

Expensive, but cool :D

Leo

[Pappy]

i geuss it could be used in baja or desert racing.....but i dunno how well you could adjust it on a mx or xc track. if it was automatic maybe....but the terrain and speeds that we ride change from second to second....i think it will be a long time before they figure this out on a full race quad. it could be used on utilities i would imagine.

[exriderdude]

i dont think this will ever be used on a quad unless the factorys do it, it would to expensive for the aftermarket companys

[Fluid400]

Cost would probably be way too high. With everything else out there

[forum]

some people thought the same about hi and low speed adjustment, ohlins and elka now do it! same with titanium shaft coating.. elka also does that.

[LuckyCharms]

This is the exact technology thats being used on the 50th anniversary vette that my mom is picking up for her 50th!!!. Ive been doing research on this technology and its amazing. I've seen videos of the car going over bumps and small whoops with it on and with the system off. They have a camera inside the car - the difference is night and day. With the system on the guy hardly moves when he goes over the bumps and with it off (aka a normal suspension) he looks as if he's in an airplane thats going through heavy turbulence. Chevy calls it their Magnetic Selective Ride Control but it's really just a fancy name for an electronically controlled real time damping system. The on board computer "reads" the wheels and adjusts the viscosity of the shock fluid accordingly. And it does this only about 100 times a second!!!!!

[Guy400]

Maybe this will be found on full race quads that sponsors pay for but I don't ever see it on production quads. I'd be willing to bet the 3/4 of the members on this board said that Cannondale's lineup was too expensive and that's why nobody bought them. How expensive do you think a factory quad with this suspension technology is going to be?? The prices of quads are surely outpacing the rate of inflation. I remember our first LT cost my father $26xx OTD in 1987. Compare that with today's MSRP's of over $5500. The cost of quads have more than doubled and yearly salaries have surely not doubled at the same position from "cost of living" increases. The sad part is the technology has hardly gotten any better. Show what on a 400EX is technologically any better than a 15 year old 250R. I don't want to even think about what the cost of a production quad in 8 years is going to be with this suspension system:huh

[wilkin250r]

I think it would be a manual adjustment, a small knob on the handle bars, just as easy as switching gears on a ten-speed. A computer-controlled system that not only adjusts the compression, but also monitors shock velocity and travel would be a very expensive system.

This would probably be best in mx applications where you can set your suspension soft through the whoops, then stiffen it up for a big hit. The best of both worlds.

[R-Crazy]

you just wouldnt wanna screw up. I wouldnt like going through whoops with a setting ready to hit a 150ft landing:eek:

dave

[Woz]

Yes, This is basically what is being used in the 50th anniversary Corvette. I have driven it. It works well here. The best thing about it though really isn't the shocks, and there adjustability, but the amazing computer that controls them.

Motowoz has done some research into this technology. It is being used (at least something similar) by an aftermarket company for stock car racing with manual adjustment, and no computer.

In this form, I can almost see it being practical for ATV applications. I'm just not sure that without a bazillion dollar computer system that it will be revolutionary enough to justify the additional expense and complication.

I expect to do some more research and possibly some testing in the future with this technology, but it's not on the top of my list of priorities, nor do I have very high hopes that it will be any sort of holy grail. It will (no doubt) add cost, and I have other concerns as well.

reliability, complexity, the ability of the user to understand and adjust it properly, the characteristics of the adjustments, longevity of the fluid, etc...

If you see it on an ATV at all, I think it would be AT LEAST 2 years away, but don't hold your breath.