bikes – what else matters!
Garage roof is being fixed in a few weeks and shed is nearly built then I can get my tools and all my bikes back.
Fantic XEF250 Trail soft spring is now available from Haines and is well worth the investment and the 10mins it takes to change.
Also slowly converting all images to webp format to speed up loading times.
Finally moved house to discover its in a worse state than expected. Ok, lets get some quotes – £24k for 10 windows and £50k to rebuild a single garage and new drive – WTF!
Need to come up with plan B as its driving me mad not having my bikes out of storage.
Did get the custom spring fitted to the Fantic XEF250 Trail though and everyone who’s tested the suspension has said how much better it is over stock, that you can actually feel the shock working instead of just fighting the spring.
Still don’t have anywhere to live, but have bought another bike to add to the project list.
I bought the Fantic XEF250 Trail demonstrator from Haines Motorcycles.
Already started working with Anthony at Haines to make things better. The standard shock spring is way too hard for your average rider and is overpowering the shock’s damping. I’ve found a spring that we’ve tested and am getting a second one produced that will be soon available through the shop.
| Stock spring | |
| Static | 675mm |
| plus rider | 590mm |
| Total sag | 85mm |
| Haines spring | |
| Static | 665mm |
| plus rider | 543mm |
| Total sag | 122mm (+37mm or 43%) |
The difference from just sitting on the bike is night and day you can actually feel the suspension working rather than just rebounding. Sag settings are a little on the large side, but that was with minimum preload on the spring so can be adjusted further to suit.
We’ll get some videos posted soon as possible.
