Why are the Scrambler 1200 XE rear shocks bad? 

@Kevin Haynes I'm always surprised that no reviews mentions the harsh ride quality (In fact I've read comments on facebook and forums where people weren't happy about the suspensions, but all journalists and even youtubers reviews say how amazing they are and how they soak up everything like nothing else...to the point where I wonder if all bikes are the same. I'm exactly your height and weight and after spending nearly 1000$ in the suspensions I just gave up on it and sold it for an Africa Twin. I really do hope they manage to setup your suspensions properly so you can enjoy the bike to its fullest. I dont have the part number for the tender spring, only the specs: 5"x 2.25" x 300 lbs. Keep us posted, I'm sure many other will appreciate an alternative setup!

@@Speedytrip I think most of the riders of the Scrambler XE/XC are mostly riding on streets and they are not experienced ADV or off road riders. I will say I love the XE and hopeful the Beemer shop can find a great solution, as I think they want to market the solution to Triumph & Ohlins.

Kevin Haynes Ill be shocked if Triumph dont improve the suspensions on the next 2020 model. And I suspect when they do, all journalist will say the previous year wasnt what it should have been hehe

@@2tuf4u25 : i bought a new 2022 scrambler 1200XC after all the ama ing reviews. i agree with you guys, nobody ever said anything about the ride. there is only 25 miles on this bike, but have noticed. bumpy ride no matter where i ride it. have taken just a few short rides on pavement so far. newly paved smooth roads, still bumpy ride. can i fix this with the adjustments ? the tire pressures front and back k are good. 31 & 36psi. i was thinking flat spot from the bike sitting in the show room so long, but you guys have illuminated that. could tire balancing be a factor? so is it possible to get a decent ride on the scrambler by adjusting front and rear suspension? do you guys have a tutorial on how to adjust the settings on the forks and the rear springs with the upper and lower turn knob screws? what am i looking for when it comes to rebounding? i’m keeping this bike, but want to fix this bumpy ride.

Mondo Oso At 250lbs it certainly helps (though you would also benefit from the mod). Also depends on your road conditions, you can see in parts of my video, itspretty bad here. If you like the suspensions, the rest of the bike is easy to fall in love with :) I unfortunately also have issues with the gear indicator sensor. It causes cruise control not to work, gears no longer appear on the display, check engine is on and I cant start the bike with the kickstand out cause the bike no longer knows that its in neutral....I get great service at the dealer and its still under warranty, but it makes me wonder how all this electronic will age. After 2 hours they found the problem I need to take it back for another 2 hours when they receive the new sensor.

That’s lame dude...I’m sorry to hear you’re having such bad experience. I had a high beam issue that required three shop visits (an hour away) but was resolved with swapping the whole headlight out for a “new” one. As for shifting, I too run into the occasional goofy shifter moments...mostly between 1st and 2nd, but never an indicator issue and instead a clumsy N if I’m not giving the shifter lever a good smack with my toe. Lastly, I did have a warning about my key fob being out of range while riding into work last week...and it was in my jacket as it always is. Once I got to work, I dreaded shutting the bike off as I’ve heard about people being stranded at that point but luckily it restarted right away. Anyhow...good luck and ride on!

@@oso_nomada Unfortunately bikes won't get any simpler as we go...they will only become more complex. Key fob is a classic issue, still happens to me once every couple days (with it in my pocket). I just make sure to keep that pocket zipped and no longer worry about it. Mine shifts well its really just the gear position indicator that failed. You can try raising or lowering the shifter a bit, that's a common cause of false neutrals, sometimes it's too low and it doesn't allow a complete release before pulling in the next gear, sometimes it's too high and requires a harsher pull. 9/10 adjusting the shifter position will get rid of false neutrals. Even with all the little issues I've had on top of the suspensions that though are better are still not what I was hoping for, every time I think of selling it, I go for a ride and it's just so much fun...:) I really just wish Triumph would have reduced the number of gadgets if they couldnt make them reliable. My dealer is also an hour away, so a 2 hour job means 4 hours total...Fingers crossed that Triumph sorts out the issues and we can ride trouble free after!

@wilfried Stahl So far the only suspensions I've tried that could really suit everyone, from light weight to heavy weight, from sporty to comfort, is the electronic suspensions like on some of the BMW, Ducatis, Yamahas, etc...But I still think at least for the XE ( I wasn't able to try the XC yet) they missed the mark of what the average person would expect from an adventure type bike. Way too harsh, while at the same time not providing the best handling either, like everything was compromised, but for no gain. The changes that were made to my suspensions really helped, but still harsher than I would like it to be when you ride 5-600km in a day...and people could have still been able to stiffen it up if that's what they really wanted. As for the exhaust, it's a pretty common complaint on these bikes. Someone spending a lot of time in the city will probably want to look at better options (I can't think of any bike I've owned or tried that got this hot). Maybe the R1 with the underseat exhausts got pretty unpleasant...but on the Scrambler 1200, some installed a decat, which seems to help reduce the heat buildup behind the front heat shield, some also wrapped the exhaust to reduce the radiating heat even more. When riding I rarely ever feel it but at anything above 20-25C when you're at a red light, you'll start noticing it before it turns green. I'm sure a few aftermarket companies will start selling better options in the next 2-3 months max.

@@Speedytrip Thanks for the information, the picture becomes more complete ... Greeting Wilf

Thanks! I hope you got it sorted out! I sat on the Desert sled and it felt really soft (just like when I sat on the XE) so I can see how both would be harsh once on the road. I almost bought a Desert Sled when it came out, looks like such a fun bike, but the maintenance schedule was just too much and dealer too far away for the 25-30000km I ride in a year.

H Markham Really depends a lot on your weight and the roads you're riding 4:30 Glad you enjoy it, it does have a lot going for it! (Even if I preferred my 2015 Scrambler and am much happier with my Africa Twin).

@@Speedytrip It is a really nice Bike that I enjoy. It does have a lot lot going for it, to be honest its one of the best all rounders I think you can get. I think bikes like this are a bit of a compromise as they try to cover all the bases, on road, off road, classic looks. I do think that Triumph have hit a winning combination with this one though. I am sorry that you didn't get on with yours.

Glad some appreciate it :D I really hope I can put my hands on an XC this summer to compare. Dealers around here are really not fond of having demo bikes...

I ride an XC, I do not average as much miles as @speedytrip, but I do put in between 15K & 20K on my bikes. I have had mine now for 3 months it is a 2020 model, and I got it with 4K miles on the clock and have put in another 3.5K on it. I am a 290 punder slab. So i can fairly give you my opinion on the XC suspension. Should be better, definitely interested in @speedytryp Hyperpro springs because I work with HP rep in NJ, EMP Suspension, and they were clear that there is no availability of springs for Scramblers XC. TEc USA does have a 25% stiffness increase rear springs, but i am being hesitatant to go for those because of previous experience with quality other previous scram shocks. But I have to for confort i would give them an 8 out of 10, off road....geez ...mixed feelings, i just did a 750-mile trip with almost 20 pounds of luggage on the side case and 7 pounds of tools on a small SW Motech small tail pack and without adjusting suspension to full load and I was impressed becuase i was expecting complete failiure and that was not the case. From good tarmac, wicked twisties to 10-inch gravel bed roads to clay pot holed under heavy rain at 40 MPH standing up sitting down the only issue I had was that stupid tail tidy gimmick set by the previous owner and license plate was eaten up by the rear tire while suspension was working other than that I have to say again really impressed. The XE I tried out yes suspension in even the hardest setting was too plush, but again, with my weight I make all suspensions plush!!! Enjoy your Scram, am loving mine!!!

@@bepacman : do you get a bumpy ride on pavement, even newly paved roads? i just bought mine last week. only 25 miles on it, and it “always” feels bumpy, new streets included. it’s not crazy bumpy, but there’s it’s like exactly like riding with big knobby dirt bike tires only these tires are mezler stock tires.

@ginoasci2876 you should not get that even from factory settings. Check the manual and adjust accordingly. It is very user-friendly. My advice is to start from the confort setting and work it up to full load settings so you understand how the bike rides, and then you can customize the compression, rebound, and pre load just make sure you understand what these adjustments do because even after reading and understanding when I re adjust I have to read again to remember!! Enjoy yiur Scram!!

Yeah Id say your settings are possibly off. Havent tried the XC nor a recent XE. Mine was just damn harsh I could have felt going over a grain of rice, felt more like a hardtail than a scrambler. Your tires could be unbalanced. Would be suprising stock, but not impossible.

It can definitely be improved without replacing anything, but not enough to achieve a comfortable ride (again those on nice roads won't suffer from it, but where I ride it will rattle your teeth out. Before changing the springs I tried the recommended settings in the manual, then had a suspension shop try 2-3 different setups, and ended up having it revalved and resprung at another shop, thats what gave the best results of everything else I've tried, yet still not what I was hopping for. I have the fender extender and it does help protect mostly the top part of the radiator that otherwise cakes up pretty easily, if you ride a lot in the mud, definitely worth considering.

i have a brand new XC with a whole 25 miles on it, and it feels like i’m riding in knobby tires on smooth paved roads. do you get this ?

Sorry Im not sure I understand the question, you mean even if tires a smooth bike vibrates like on knobbies?

Britishshooter I wouldnt hold my breath for a recall, but Id be very surprised if the 2020 model had the same setup. I havent tried the Tenere 700 yet, only the Tenere 1200.

A friend bought an XC, can’t wait to try it and compare with the XE.

mojosdad68 Mine squeeked a bit the reason it doesnt make noise in theshowroom is probably that they are perfectly clean. When my suspension guy opened the shocks, there was nothing out of the ordinary, high quality but poorly setup for anyone of any weight. Finally got tired of it and bought an Africa Twin and its night and day. I lost a lot of money for 6000km, but Im over the moon. I used to tense up going over railroads, now I dont even flinch. My gf used to get a headache on the Scrambler, no longer the case on much longer rides.

@mojosdad68 Did they replace them?

Mike ZÖP Ballmann Glad you like em.

@Russell Buonasera I have a friend who has an XC, but haven't had a chance to try it yet. I'm very curious to see the difference, he seems to like his bike a lot :)

Not yet it's still winter here. Maybe this Spring I'll be able to compare :)

Gianfranco Cinelli Sorry I already sold the bike, after spending 1000$ on respring and revalving it improved but not enough to make it comfortable. Im your weight and before the respring and revalve It was as comfortable as a 2X4. By now some shops should be familiar with improving the setup, Id highly rrcommend bringing it to a shop that have worked on these before. Really fun bike but man o man I dont miss those suspensions and no longer had the patience to keep spending on trying to improve it.

Try this tip - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Cd6zpunZyso.html

ciao gianfranco, im the same weight, and have have a new XC, with just 25 miles on it. it feels like its like riding with knobby tires. smooth streets are bumpy. did you have this problem? what did you do to smooth out the ride? grazie

@@ginoasci2876 I got used to it…but it is still hard.

Ok nvm. My XC is a dream on bumpy roads 🤗 (78kg in touring setup)

@@kribaska Awesome! If you like the suspensions you'll love the rest of the bike. I unfortunately haven't tried an XC yet to compare (and probably won't be able to for a while). I can't imagine the suspensions being worse than on the XE hehe

@@kribaska Did you have any issue with the shorter suspension lenght offroad? How did it behave on tarmac? I'm looking forward to buy an xc too 😁

No problem for me, but I only do light offroad.

Sorry to hear that, I don’t recall anyone posting about that so far.

when i brought a $12,000 bank che k to the dealer, the warranty guy told me that triumph only warranties the engine, crank, and primary. EVERYTHING else is on me. if the clutch, suspension, display, tires, or anything else fails, it’s out of my pocket. you mentioned your spring was putt of warranty. are you sure it was ever under warranty? go check on that. i’m going to check on what this guy told me, because it didn’t sound right.

Ken Towers unfortunatly its very limited what you can do without having them revalved/resprung. Definately worth having it checked by a reputable suspension shop.

Speedytrip just think it’s strange that I’m only getting 65mm shock travel on the rear The shock travel must not equate to wheel travel I’ll have to get someone to measure from the mudguard while I’m sitting on it

Ken Towers Yes you definately dont want to measure directly on the shock itself as its not perpendicular to the ground. How much you weigh?

Speedytrip 95kg The front was very soft as standard with all preload removed and I think it made it feel harsh I have added 13 turns of preload and got it to 85mm which should be better I’ll have to get someone to help measure the rear as measuring the shock directly doesn’t seen to work

@@kentowers2802 At your weight I'm pretty sure you'll need to have the tender spring replaced on the rear shocks. It improved just about every aspect of the ride (more comfortable, better geometry, better solo, better with passenger, better on and offroad). The stock tender spring they use is ok if you're maybe 150lbs (which is probably like 5% of owners of this tall bike).

Thanks, glad someone appreciates :D At lower speeds the problem is less obvious (like city riding). But if you're going like 100-120km/h and hit any bump that is more than a line, it will go straight to your back as the high speed compression damping is too high, stopping the shock in the middle of its stroke. With that said, probably at a younger age, I wouldnt have minded as much, but after having owned and tried many bikes and ridden hundreds of thousands of km, you start knowing what you can live with and what you can't, what is reasonable to expect from a bike and what isn't. Like I mentioned above, some will be perfectly happy with the suspensions, and that's perfectly fine too, if it's not an issue for you the rest of the bike is really extremely fun to ride! For the heat, some have installed a decat, which allows the hot air to exit the exhausts faster instead of building up heat behind the front heat shield, it seems to help. I'm about to compare with another rider who lives close by, I will measure the temperature difference on the heat shield with and without the decat. What I can say, is if you spend alot of time in traffic on hot summer days, this is definitely a hot bike, you won't be resting your legs on the exhausts. Once on the move I really don't find the exhausts an issue at all, the hot air gets cooled off by the wind. Their just slightly in the way when standing on the pegs, but even then, not that bad considering how good they sound :) If you can it's worth trying the XC and XE back to back. The XC has less electronics, less things that can go wrong.

You could decat it.

@@michaelgodliman436 Of course, but would it completely solve the problem? The pipes (even de-cat) are anyway hot enough.

Terry Cox Im referring to the small spring on top of the main spring (each rear shock has 2 springs on the Scrambler, 4 springs total). If you increase preload, since the tender spring is weaker than the main spring, you initially squish that one before affecting the main spring, which results in having that small spring act like a spacer cause its compressed to the max.

@@Speedytrip by adding preload you are just simply rising the back end. Theres no more squishing of the springs in max preload than min preload.the only diffrences are the rising of the back and themodification of the motorcycles geometry.

@Dan Good time Hey Dan, I don't have the part number only the specs: 5"x 2.25" x 300 lbs (Good if you're around 200lbs and ride with a passenger once in a while). If you or your suspension guy send Hyperco an email with those specs they'll have something for you for sure. Mind you that changing the spring alone will improve the ride (provide proper sag, set the rear height properly (higher), but you'll also want to change the valving to reduce the high speed compression damping which is also where part of the harshness comes from. In my case it didnt make the bike as comfortable as I was hoping for, but it made a significant difference, and if the roads around here weren't so horrendous and I didnt also have electrical issues with the bike, it would have been perfectly fine with the new spring and valving. Definitely a world apart from the stock configuration. I highly recommend bringing it to a good suspension shop. Not many springs fit and there might be new options since. Cheers!

@@Speedytrip Thanks for the reply. I'm a bigger guy , and will try to reach out to them and see if they can point me in the right direction based on your advice. I really appreciate it.

Dan Good time You’re welcome. Happy if my experience with the suspensions can help point people in the right direction.

@@Speedytrip So , I'd like to bounce something off you. I contacted Hyperco , and as it turns out , they only sell to authorized dealers. I am a big guy , 6'4" , 300lbs. I have ridden for a long time , and ride aggressively when the situation call for it (on and off road). They make that spring in 5"x 2.25" x 400lb as well. Would that sound like it was more up my alley , based on my weight? I don't pretend to understand exactly how the math works on the springs , but if the 300lb spring was good for you , perhaps the 400 is more in my range. Any thoughts? Thanks , Dan

@@dangoodtime2535 I don't know the mathematical calculations they do to determine the spring rate, but what I can say is that the 300lbs spring rate was pretty good for my 200lbs+10lbs gear + 120lbs girlfriend+10lbs gear + 10lbs luggage= 350lbs total. In fact, it was better solo, 2 up, on and offroad, surprisingly, it improved everything in every condition, from handling to comfort. It might be worth bringing your bike to a suspensions shop and have a pro look at the stock one, and then see what he would recommend for your weight and usage. A 400lbs spring might be perfect, like it might be overkill as well.

Indeed, puzzling isn't it?

No electronic suspensions on the Scrambler. I HIGHLY recommend you try before you buy. Some people really like the suspensions, and some really don't. If you can't try it before buying, I would simply hold off on buying. If you can try it on rough pavement and you like it, then you should love the rest of the bike (I also have a detailed review of the Scrambler for other aspects). If you try if and feel like the suspensions are too harsh, chances are even with all the available adjustments, you will not get it to a point where it will become a comfortable ride. I through a lot of money at it, brought it to 2 different shops, also tried my own adjustments, and just ended up selling the bike, it was just too harsh for the long distance rides I do on bad pavement surfaces. Hope this helps!

@@Speedytrip Thank you for your reply! This will help a lot! One disappointment after another. I faced the impossible task of finding a versatile motorcycle. City - 70%, suburb with bad roads - 20%, and rare long trips. The motorcycle must be able to overcome light off-road conditions and have a comfortable suspension for trips up to 500 km. At the same time, the motorcycle must be very playful and daring to look. Well, at least not look like a retired motorcycle.) These were two candidates: Yamaha Tracer 900 and Triumph Scrambler 1200. But recently I discovered that the excellent Tracer is not able to drive off the asphalt on a bad road, because it has a very low ground clearance! And now you have knocked out the remaining candidate too! Least of all I could have imagined that a scrambler with such a long suspension would have hard shock absorbers! But maybe the XC version has a more comfortable suspension?

I wasnt able to compare with the XC unfortunately. Ive read some saying it was better, others that it was worse. It's a mystery how 10” of travel feels harsher than a Bonneville or just about any other bike I can think of. I'm very happy with my Africa twin. Isn't as sexy as the Scrambler but a heck of a lot more versatile, comfortable and practical.

Pesty Knight I barely kept it 3 months, its gone already 😁

In 20 bikes, I've replaced suspensions on maybe 2 bikes. Usually with the settings I have enough wiggle room to make it work for my needs. In this case, its simply puzzling, with the 10" of travel and adjustability, it should be able to easily the average rider. All those that have had the rear shocks worked on will tell ya, its not cheap parts, but they did design it to reduce cost of manufacturing. Some are starting to find solutions to compensate for that. If you buy a Thruxton R, you kind of expect a harsh ride on bumpy roads. When you buy a Scrambler, specially the XE, with supposedly high spec suspensions, you expect it to be able to soak up the bumps reasonably well. Yet the only bike I can remember that offered a harsher ride was a Monster 1100 evo.

Speedytrip I contacted Nitron to see if they had plans to make a set of shocks for the scrambler and they do! They need a bike for two weeks to do it. I’m in Australia so can’t but if there’s any UK folks on here willing to loan them their scrambler let me know. Can post the email I received here if you want.

@@dmbassett I already sold my Scrambler, I knew it would take a while before aftermarket options appeared on the market and I simply couldn't stand it anymore hehe

This might be more what you were looking for :) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JST1lcSvVGU.html

michael Godliman Sometimes yes. Currently all the time as the gear indicator sensor is broke which causes 4 issues: - Cruise control doesnt work - Traction control intervenes when theres no reason (like in 6th gear at 60km/h on a clean dry paved road. - Cant start the bike with kickstand out (even in neutral, as the bike doesnt know in what gear it is). - Finally, it no longer indicates the gear Im in. All this because of a bad 93$ sensor...still waiting for the replacement sensor to arrive.

Miras Khakimzhan depends on the bike.

@@Speedytrip I meant as in multi-cylindered dual purpose bikes.

@@khakimzhanmiras You're are correct, though none of those manufacturers have used twin shocks in the last probably 20 years (the only exception I can think of is the Ducati GT 1000).

@@Speedytrip there's no real performance benefit of having a twin shock setup. I was hoping Triumph would have at least been able to dial it in properly.

You don't have to believe me, I don't want to involve the suspension shop in the debate (even if I did, someone could say yeah but my suspension specialist is better), what I can say is he was actually collaborating with Ohlins USA because they knew of the problem and we're also interested in having a solution for the existing shocks. If you don't believe it, you can call Ohlins USA, they already acknowledge being aware of the issue. Sometimes manufacturers like Ducati or Triumph order shocks with their own specs, it doesn't automatically mean Ohlins recommended or even agreed to those specs, ( I can't 100% confirm it's the case here, but that's what it looks like). I was expecting some people would hate this video, but you will also find other people who have experienced exactly the same thing. Way too much high speed damping, tender spring way too soft to be of any use, and wrong geometry. Yes even big companies can make mistakes sometimes, and sometimes it's not even a mistake but an intentional compromise (for example last minute changes before production to try and make the seat height more accessible...). I was surprised myself that nobody else picked up on this in the reviews, but then again, had I been paid to test ride these bikes on a nice dirt roads (where you're mostly standing on the pegs) and then riding on smooth portugal roads, I probably wouldn't have found anything wrong with the suspensions either. I've read some finding the XE shocks harsher than the XC and I've also read the opposite. I can only testify for the XE as I haven't been able to put my hands on the XC. Even my friend who rides an S1000RR HP4 felt my suspensions were harsh...so it wasn't just me. Another owner on facebook from the UK actually said he hurt his neck from one of the bumps in the road, he too felt the high speed damping was way too high and the ride unnecessarily harsh over medium to big bumps. If you own an XE and are happy with it, then all good, really happy for you (really) and enjoy it, cause the rest of the bike is really awesome! If you don't own one, I won't try to convince you of anything, as it won't matter. The goal of this video is for people who are disappointed with the shocks to know there's a solution to improve it, and to tell the people that are in the market for one, to really test one before buying so they can decide if the suspensions is what they are looking for or not. This is my 5th Triumph, I'm not trying to bash any brands, just telling it like it is and I even sent my video the the suspension shop before publishing to make sure everything stated was accurate. You can make whatever you want of the information I provided. As for going back to the dealer about suspensions...might as well go to a muffler repair shop...they are not trained for that (unless it's a mechanical issue). I told them about the suspensions and they couldnt do anything about it. Even contacted Triumph Canada, they didn't care. Ohlins didnt reply to me, only to the suspension shop. Thanks for watching.

Speedytrip the rear shocks were developed specifically for Triumph for this bike by Ohlins.

The fact that you won’t reveal your suspension expert says it all.

andrew tavener Please tell us your source, how do you know Ohlins specifically decided on all the specs of the shocks for the bike? Of course they didn't build the shocks for a Harley they built them for the Scrambler, that doesn't mean all the specs were their decision, but you seem to know, you were part of the team of engineers that worked on them right?

andrew tavener lol Right. I don't name the shop cause it wouldnt change anything. Even if I said they were modified by Valentino Rossi's father, you'd find something to argue. Please, call Ohlins USA and ask them about the rear shocks and see how ridiculous my claims are ;) And most importantly, what would I gain from inventing this problem? If I was impressed with the suspensions, I'd be over the moon and screaming it at the top of my lungs.

We either didnt have the same suspensions, or your roads are smooth or we have significantly different weights. I can only speak for the suspensions I got on my bike not the suspensions others might have had. Mine was among the first deliveries so not impossible that they tweaked some specs down the production line, though many agreed with my assessment, others love them.

You can read other comments of owners disappointed with their suspensions (even the guy at Triumph customer service acknowledged that they received quite a few complaints). Happy if you love your suspensions, I still think not all Scramblers were made the same, as the one I had was horrendous stock, bad once adjusted, and just barely passable once revalved/resprung. I've gone through 3 suspension shops. I can't speak for YOUR bike, I can only speak for the one I bought and it was one of the worse suspensions I've ever experienced. My friends S1000RR HP4 wasn't any harsher and I've probably tried over 150 bikes in my life of all brands and models, I know what decent suspensions feel like, and they definitely do not give you back pain.

@@Speedytrip I did read the other comments and many of them sound exactly the same - user error. Mono shocks are not better, they have advantages and disadvantages. There is nothing wrong with Ohlins. Next time use the phone not email to contact them and be persistent. I’m all for advocating and being critical but that’s not what this is. You have the nicest scrambler on the road period and you don’t understand how to adjust the shocks (not uncommon) and now you’ve spent a large sun of money by replacing stock parts (not necessary) because you didn’t know what you were doing. Enjoy the bike or go back to whatever. Wanna know what shit suspension feels like? Ride a Harley

@@jjames2162 I spoke to Triumph on the phone and one of my suspension guys spoke with an Ohlins technician (on the phone as well) who also acknowledged that the rear shocks setup wasn't the greatest. You can keep assuming all you want, you clearly don't know how far I went down that rabbit hole. I've read some saying it was the best suspensions they've ever had in their life, out of the box, and others saying it was bad even after having them adjusted...thats what makes me think their might have been different batches (or some people only rode hard tails before). I've ridden over 350,000km on over 150 different motorcycles from Australia to California, Colorado, Canada, on sport, adventure, dual-sport, big touring and naked bikes, AGAIN, I cannot speak for YOUR bike, I can only speak for MY bike and MY experience. If you love your bike, that's awesome, that's what I wish everyone. I've owned a 2009 Speed Triple, 2010 Street Triple, 2010 Scrambler, a 2015 Scrambler and the 2019 1200XE, is one of my only regrets and I couldn't sell it fast enough, I loved all of my other Triumphs. If you want to keep thinking I don't know what I'm talking about and that I (and 3 suspension shops) just didn't know how to set them up properly, well, no need to reply, nothing I will say will change your mind and I wish you a good day.

@@Speedytrip You got me wrong mate - I’m not chastising you. You did make some good points here and I should have included that. I’m not brand loyal and honestly anyone that has a tough time with an expensive bike I am sympathetic to because that would just suck. But if you are telling me Triumph and Ohlins told you that their suspension system wasn’t very good is tough to believe. Could they have received a bad batch? I suppose as anything is possible in manufacturing. Would they tell you that? Unlikely

@@jjames2162 It wasn't Triumph's CEO but it was Triumph customer service, and I just asked him if he received an unusual number of complaints about the suspensions on the XE and he answered quite honestly, yes. The Ohlins technician, was certainly not involved in the development of the shocks, but he did work for Ohlins. My guess is either bad batch, or compromises were done to reduce cost, but based on how many say the suspensions are great, I keep coming to the conclusion that not all bikes got the same shocks. I haven't been able to try another one since, but if I do that could confirm my theory, as I can grantee you 100%, nobody I know, would ever qualify the Scrambler 1200XE **that I had*** as a compliant, comfortable bike. I used to ride 800km in a day on my 2015 Scrambler, and was ready to ride the next day and the suspensions on that bike were as cheap and basic as they get, but they were 10x as comfortable. On the XE just riding it back from the dealer (like maybe 70km) I had lower back pain by the time I arrived, something I've never experience prior or since.