[Baldrick72]

Anyone else had Hagons fitted and seen this happen?  After 2K miles the rubber bush on the offside unit is protruding from the metal eye.
The washer under the bolt head is (barely!) stopping the eye from going any further.  I may fit a bigger one just to be sure but if the top and bottom mountings are out of line and the eye wants to move further to the right then restraining it might cause some binding of the shaft.
I've spoken to Hagons and they say it's not uncommon on mass-produced bikes and nothing to worry about.

[JessHerbst]

…
I've spoken to Hagons and they say it's not uncommon on mass-produced bikes and nothing to worry about.

Wait, Hagon is blaming the bike that their shock is mounted to?

[NJ Mike]

Typical, they point the finger elsewhere. Why am I not surprised?

My YSS shocks don’t do that.

[zimmemr]

Anyone else had Hagons fitted and seen this happen?  After 2K miles the rubber bush on the offside unit is protruding from the metal eye.
The washer under the bolt head is (barely!) stopping the eye from going any further.  I may fit a bigger one just to be sure but if the top and bottom mountings are out of line and the eye wants to move further to the right then restraining it might cause some binding of the shaft.
I've spoken to Hagons and they say it's not uncommon on mass-produced bikes and nothing to worry about.

I agree with Hagon's assessment: absent a damaged or improperly assembled shock, or one that's installed with the wrong bushings or something, the only reasonable explanation is that a minor discrepancy between the frame and swing arm mounting points is loading the shock and causing it to walk off the bushings. And I also agree that it's nothing to worry about.

The first thing I'd do is remove the shock and make sure the mounting points on the frame and swing arm are parallel or damn close to it. If they are, or the misalignment is very slight, refit the shock and make certain that it's not biased to one side or the other when it's bolted in place. You may have to shim it with a washer or two if it isn't. I generally install washers large enough to cover the diameter of the bushing and the shock eye which will prevent the shock from walking off its perch like yours has.

What you're seeing isn't unheard of, and it isn't the end of the world, so absent any real problems, a bent or cracked mount for example, I wouldn't worry much, there's a lot of flex in those bushings, that's why they use them so it's unlikely you'll have a binding problem even if there is some minor misalignment.

[Baldrick72]

Typical, they point the finger elsewhere. Why am I not surprised?

My YSS shocks don’t do that.

Neither did the Hagons on my Harley so I don't think you can blame Hagon outright.  At the end of the day the Interceptor is a cheap bike made in India - not a traditionally mechanically skilled nation.  Even a slight lack of alignment in any of the mounting holes could cause it but be undetectable during assembly.  Why am I thinking about a few brand new Triumphs and BSAs I worked on back in the late 60s?
Of course it could equally be a cock-eyed weld on that particular suspension unit.  Unless or until other Hagon owners chime in with further evidence to cause concern I think I'll do as Hagon and zimmemr suggest, check the washer is big enough and stop worrying until it gets worse.  Fingers crossed!

[Quest]

Neither did the Hagons on my Harley so I don't think you can blame Hagon outright.  At the end of the day the Interceptor is a cheap bike made in India - not a traditionally mechanically skilled nation.  Even a slight lack of alignment in any of the mounting holes could cause it but be undetectable during assembly.  Why am I thinking about a few brand new Triumphs and BSAs I worked on back in the late 60s?
Of course it could equally be a cock-eyed weld on that particular suspension unit.  Unless or until other Hagon owners chime in with further evidence to cause concern I think I'll do as Hagon and zimmemr suggest, check the washer is big enough and stop worrying until it gets worse.  Fingers crossed!

For peace of mind, just get a plastic triangle (drawing tool) and find out what is square and what is out of square.
I suspect that everything is in fact square. I would be looking at the rubber bushing / outer washer size ratio. Is the washer small enough to get tightened "into" the shock eyelet? Did that washer come with the new shock? You get where I'm going with this....

[whippers]

Hard to tell from the photo but if the bike is an Interceptor and you have removed the centre stand lifting handle without putting on a washer then the shock can come right off the top mount.

[zimmemr]

Neither did the Hagons on my Harley so I don't think you can blame Hagon outright.  At the end of the day the Interceptor is a cheap bike made in India - not a traditionally mechanically skilled nation.  Even a slight lack of alignment in any of the mounting holes could cause it but be undetectable during assembly.  Why am I thinking about a few brand new Triumphs and BSAs I worked on back in the late 60s?
Of course it could equally be a cock-eyed weld on that particular suspension unit.  Unless or until other Hagon owners chime in with further evidence to cause concern I think I'll do as Hagon and zimmemr suggest, check the washer is big enough and stop worrying until it gets worse.  Fingers crossed!

I'm a huge fan of Alf Hagon and I've always found his shocks to be good ones, I won a lot of races on them. For those that don't know, Hagons are basically the old Girling shocks with Alf's upgrades, though I suspect the basic versions aren't much different from the garden variety Girling's that came standard on so many great British bikes.

Like Quest suggests, a square will help verify things, but my semi-educated guess is that you're going to find everything is within spec. I suppose the obvious if unasked question is how did it handle before you noticed the bushing had squeezed out?

If the answer is fine, then check everything over, if only for "peace of mind," put it back together and make sure that the shock is snug against the frame when it's all tightened up. I should have mentioned this before, but it's possible that there's a slight mis-match between the bushing length and the stud, which may have allowed the shock to "check" slightly and over time walk the bushing out a bit.

[Hoiho]

Hard to tell from the photo but if the bike is an Interceptor and you have removed the centre stand lifting handle without putting on a washer then the shock can come right off the top mount.

Yep, looks like a wrong sized washer... seems to be inside the eye.

DW's pic shows the washer is insufficiently big to prevent it, without the handle

[Baldrick72]

Hard to tell from the photo but if the bike is an Interceptor and you have removed the centre stand lifting handle without putting on a washer then the shock can come right off the top mount.

It's the offside unit, not the nearside where the lifting handle is located.  Both sides had a washer outboard of the suspension unit eye.

[Baldrick72]

Yep, looks like a wrong sized washer... seems to be inside the eye.

DW's pic shows the washer is insufficiently big to prevent it, without the handle

Again, this picture shows the nearside which is not the issue.

When the bolt and washer were removed the outer face of the bush was flush with the eye so the original washer was doing it's job but I've replaced it with a bigger one anyway.  Since the bush is still fully supporting the eye I've not bothered to try to re-centralise it.

Still hoping some other Hagon users will pop up to share their experience...

[Baldrick72]

For peace of mind, just get a plastic triangle (drawing tool) and find out what is square and what is out of square.
I suspect that everything is in fact square. I would be looking at the rubber bushing / outer washer size ratio. Is the washer small enough to get tightened "into" the shock eyelet? Did that washer come with the new shock? You get where I'm going with this....

I get it

Using the square I made when I was an apprentice last century you are partly correct.  I could relatively easily check the lower mounting but the upper is a blind hole in a slightly tapered welded boss so a little more complicated.  Of course I'd also need a plumb line to check vertical alignment between top and bottom.  Of course then the question arises - what could I do if it was "out"?  Get a new frame from Royal Enfield?  At the moment I'd rather not know

As for the washer, your question leads to another.  Is it there to retain the bush (by bearing against the inner metal sleeve) or to retain the eye?  If it is supposed to bear against the eye then surely it will wear the paint off? Until I'm sure what's occurring I've fitted a bigger washer but I suspect it's supposed to be the same outer diameter as the bush.

[Blazingatom]

Stupid question what kind of roads are you riding as I know some people have scramblered theirs. I have hagons on the back of my gt650 and they are fine. Did you get your spring rates done or where they an off the shelf set from a retailer?

[Hoiho]

Again, this picture shows the nearside which is not the issue.

When the bolt and washer were removed the outer face of the bush was flush with the eye so the original washer was doing it's job but I've replaced it with a bigger one anyway.  Since the bush is still fully supporting the eye I've not bothered to try to re-centralise it.

Still hoping some other Hagon users will pop up to share their experience...

I have no idea what nearside and offside refer to, unless you’re talking about football.

When I swapped the OEM shocks for Hagons I realised a larger washer was required so I fitted the RE finishers. Not been an issue.

[Baldrick72]

Stupid question what kind of roads are you riding as I know some people have scramblered theirs. I have hagons on the back of my gt650 and they are fine. Did you get your spring rates done or where they an off the shelf set from a retailer?

Mostly typical Somerset lanes - a mixture of ancient tarmac, mud, misc. farm-sourced brown stuff and pot-holes.  The units (20mm shorter than OEM) were supplied by the dealer off the shelf.  I'm relatively light so run them on the softest setting and have no complaints about the ride - but I gave up racing around a lot of years ago.

Thanks for your feedback!