TEC Shocks - wtf?

2

2volts

Senior member
Location
Perth, Western Australia
Anyone know anything about TEC Shocks?

Ridiculously cheap at $110 a pair from The Cafe Racer Shop online here in Aus.

Their website says - "We buy these shocks direct from a large O.E. suspension maker, they are made to our specifications and are not available to anyone else. With no middle man we can sell at exceptional prices.These have been selling worldwide now for over 3 years with great feedback."

If they are selling to the cafe racer market probably no ones done enough k's in 3 years to really try them out.

Doesn't pass the "if its sounds too good to be true it probably isn't" test to me.

pete
 
These TEC shocks were mentioned in the October Classic Motorcycle Mechanics here in the UK to be fitted to a Rickman/Suzuki bike being done by Metal Malarkey down in south Shropshire. They look the biz but whether-or-not they actually are remains to be seen. The CMM journo and MM appear confident. Personally I think that you MIGHT get what you do pay for but you definitely DON'T get what you don't pay for.
 
I bought a set of Chinese shocks at the start of the summer for ?70 delivered to my door. F*****g staggering price really.

These...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MOTORCYCLE-Biketek-365mm-Eye-to-Eye-Twin-Motorbike-Shock-Absorber-/310473819541?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts_13&hash=item4849ae8595

Weirdly, they look like they'd fit straight on my Laverda triple.

(Amazing fact #1329, Honda CB750s, HondaTL125 and Laverda SFC1000s all seem to have the same shock length @ 365mm.)

They went on my TL125 Honda though and to date, have successfully held the motorcycle off the ground and gone boing over bumps. There seems to be some damping too.

At that price, buy 'em, try 'em and if they're crap, stick 'em on your runabout / trail bike, whatever.

...and the TEC UK website in the UK seems to say "All our units carry a full 12 month replacement warranty,we also offer a no quibble 7 day refund policy if you want to return them for any reason whatsoever.

Mind you, quotes ?89.99+postage too. Bit pricey for me :-D


 
Ah, I've just realised that I do have experience of TEC shocks - we've got a pair on Aileen's Bonnevile.

Paid ?60 quid for them and when they expire (they've done 15k miles so far) we'll buy another pair - they work better than the Hagons they replaced and have not suffered as badly from the weather.

I've no direct experience of the ?99 piggy back ones yet, but the people I know who've put them on Thruxtons and CB900s seem happy with them. I'll be putting a pair on the SFC when I get round to it, be interesting to see how they compare with the Koni Dial-a-rides
 
sfc1000uk said:
Ah, I've just realised that I do have experience of TEC shocks - we've got a pair on Aileen's Bonnevile.

Paid ?60 quid for them and when they expire (they've done 15k miles so far)
Click to expand...

15000 miles...........further than most Bonneville's go ;)
 
pah, it's done way more than that - past 35k. The previous owner took it round Cadwell, Ramsey Sprint, all sorts of hooligan behaviour

Mind you, not impressed at the build quality, it's as badly built as an 80s Suzuki. Guess people weren't expected to use them as winter commuters
 
They're going to start selling Jota bars and these rearsets as well. If the price is the same as the shocks they'll sell thousands.




41a19dbe4939d2dbd2c73686a97b9238_du2g.jpg
 
In the Sepp, the Jota bars cost $99, non-folding rearsets with a lot more adjustment for linkage angle than most) are $99 for non-folding, $119 for folding. No piccies of the bars but the blurb says they're adjustable for shorter or taller riders, so I wonder if they're actually "Jota" style. Still, $99 sounds pretty good to me.

Ken
 
That's cheap for rearsets. I wonder how the folding pegs will go, they look bent already?
 
IMG_1198-L.jpg


TEC shocks arrived today.

Comparison photo to Gazi Sport X shock.

Very very basic (no surprise).

shaft 10mm diameter
7.7mm spring wire diameter
350mm between eyes

vs Gazi
15mm shaft
8.3mm spring wire diameter

Can't try them out for another 6 weeks (no riding until recovered from broken ankle)

pete
 
Agreed.
Shiny, Chinese and cheap don't necessarily make for quality performance.
You get what you pay for.
 
I can't speak for his ones but the TEC shocks we put on the bonnie perform better & have weathered better than the hagons* that preceded them. Was talking to a bloke earlier this week who has got a pair of the remote res ones on his CB900 - he's happy enough that he's putting them on his CB1100RB as well  :D

And the bloke selling them in the UK described them as "made in Britain". Mind you, christ knows how he managed to get them so cheap...

Bob

* but it has to be said that I was appalled at how lousy recent Hagons have been: much, much worse than Hagons used to be - one pair lost all the damping within 10000 miles, the chrome flaked, the "stainless" rusted and the paint pealed. Not buying them again
 
Retail price is not always a guarantee of performance as the original manufacturing cost can be a surprisingly small part of the final total.

I supply parts to a local engraver who automatically at least doubles the price to fit it into his price hierarchy.
After a bit of arm twisting my plastics supplier offers me a 70% trade discount on the theoretical retail price.

Bought a new oem japanese made radiator for my Toyota identical to the one being replaced. ?254.00 retail or ?79.00 with a
generous trade discount, which is the correct price?
The year old Hagons on the motorised sofa perform better than the originals but are cosmetically poor and show some odd wear patterns.
From what I can see for ?165 I would imagine a fairly small part of the purchase price went into the manufacture.     
 
For us mere mortals we have to go with retail price.
Big names didn't become big without developing a reputation for quality and performance.
Would I buy Ohlins? Probably not, but I have a Wilbers monoshock on POP and it's performance is worth the money.
Saying that I think Marzocchi or Ceriani shocks are enough for when I want to get a wriggle on.
The thin damping rods and springs on the TECs concern me for such a heavy bike as a Laverda.
 
I'll measure the rod n spring on the Bonneville shock tomorrow - I'm curious now as I was impressed by the quality of the things when I fitted them. Mind, I was comparing them with hagon so pressed cheese would likely have impressed.
 
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