While my Xdiavel handles like it’s on Ducati rails, a chunky pothole can make it buck like an Italian bronco. So, I’m after pothole solutions. What are you thoughts on a new Nitron shock, compared to a re-valve of the OEM Sachs shock? Nitron has developed two shock absorbers for the Xdiavel, and I’ve heard they make a significant difference. But it’s spendy! For half the price of a new Nitron, Andreani has a shock modification kit for the Xdiavel. Could anyone tell me what Andreani kits are generally like?
Can't help with the Andreani kit, but I would say that if Nitron have developed units for the Diavel then they would be a good upgrade. Their stuff is beautifully made & I have one of their units on my 955i, which made a massive improvement over the standard Triumph unit. Another option/company that you may have overlooked is Maxton. They can make a specific unit for your bike suited to your weight and use. Cost wise I'm guessing they will be much the same as Nitron. I've always found Italian suspension to be very hard no matter what make bike we are talking about or suspension manufacturer. My thoughts are that a modified standard Sachs unit is never going to be as good as a custom build unit, which the Nitron or Maxton unit would be.
I don't know what Andreani do to the damper but "valves" are nothing more than a needle valve for bleed across the shaft and a piston with some shims. Sachs dampers are actually real quality pieces of kit and highly tuneable. Whilst some dampers like Öhlins might have more range on the adjusters I'm sure your Sachs can be set so it works better for you. From your description I would suggest you need more high speed rebound damping. What I mean by that is more damping at higher damper shaft speed and not higher road speed. I used to develop dampers for a living although for F1 cars and not bikes.
I've got a Nitron on my 900ss ie and as @CAT3 said beautifully made and has really improved my bike!!
‘You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear’ seems pretty apt in this instance. The Sachs rear shock really is not worth the time, effort and money IME. The Nitron is probably the most cost effective upgrade although I stumped up for an Ohlins on my girlfriends Diavel and she hasn’t regretted it once Andy
My Hyper feels the same but my view is to have better (some!) fork-damping adjustment as I reckon the rear is doing ok.... The vanilla Hyper has no fork adjustments (damping or preload), so I'm looking at Andreani internals.....
My bad! The Andreani isn’t a re-valve but a ‘suspension modification’ comprising a new spring (with harder rate) and piston for the OEM Sachs shock. And I should have posted this thread in the Suspension Forum. Whoops!
