International Dealer News IDN 122 Dec/Jan 2014/15 | Page 32

PRO GuIDe

New suspension
options from Showa
SHOWA made their European expo debut at EICMA
this year and showed a range of new suspension
options and technologies.
Highlights of the product launch were its ‘Balance
Free Front Fork’, which the company says uses worldfirst technology consisting of a "balance-free
structure with an inline piston unit, and a ‘Dual
Bending Valve Front Fork’, employing a dual-bending
valve structure".
The Balance Free Front fork and matching BFRC lite

Showa claims its Dual
Bending Valve fork
technology is lighter than
equivalent fork cartridges

(Balance Free Rear Cushion - lite) rear shock have
been designed to cure the issue of conventional
dampers suffering pressure balance fluctuation via
the use of a new hydraulic circuit.
Showa has paid attention to the outside of the
cylinder of the damping force generation mechanism
on the compression and rebound sides to enable
smooth and optimum oil flows. The company says
that the resulting improvement in damping force
responsiveness enables outstanding traction and
absorption properties.
Showa’s Dual Bending Valve is claimed to achieve a
performance level equivalent to that of a fork
cartridge, which enables the company to offer
innovative technology at a competitive price. It uses
original technology developed by Showa (a claimed
world-first) to provide linear damping characteristics
in accordance with the stroke speed, while at the
same time offering a weight reduction of 250g per
unit compared to a conventional cartridge structure.
Further new products include the ‘SFF-BP lite’
(Separate Function front Fork with lite design Big
Piston). It is a high-performance inverted front fork
from the company’s Southeast Asian production
facility, which makes it possible to offer the product
at a competitive price. Fitting the damping force
generation mechanism into one fork leg reduces the
number of parts and the complexity of the design.
The ‘SFF’ (Separate Function front Fork) has been
created for light motorcycles and small commuter
models with engine displacement of 150cc or
smaller.
SFF has a structure, with its spring reaction and
damping force generation in tubes on either side,
that reduces the number of parts and complexity.
Using only one spring is said to reduce by half the
sliding resistance with the inner tube, improving
responsiveness and ride comfort.
SHOWA EUROPE
Martorellas, SPAIN
Tel: [phone]
www.showa1.com

The ‘SFF-BP lite’ (Separate
Function front Fork with
lite design Big Piston) is a
high-performance
inverted front fork

The BFRC lite
(Balance Free Rear
Cushion - lite) rear
shock is designed
to complement
Showa’s Balance
Free Front fork

Showa’s Balance
Free Front fork has
been designed to
cure the issue of
conventional
dampers suffering
from pressure
balance
fluctuation

The ‘SFF’ (Separate
Function front
Fork) has been
created for light
motorcycles and
small commuter
models with
engine
displacement of
150cc or less

Showa has
developed the
‘SSIF’ (Showa
Smart Inverted
front Fork) for
the Asian market
where growth in
the number of
small capacity
bikes is
expected

PARTS AND ACCESSORIES

32

INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - DECEMBER 2014 / JANUARY 2015