Tested: Neken SFS – arm pump solution?
The Neken SFS which stands for ‘Smooth Feeling System’, is a replacement top triple clamp with built in air dampeners under the handlebar mounts. Basically it is air suspension for your handlebars allowing 10mm of shock absorbing travel.
French Company Neken have been around the motocross industry for a long time. The Star Yamaha Team in the US are literally taking their handlebars to the front of nearly every moto in the AMA 250 Motocross championship. (And look to have a title locked in with Dylan Ferandis). Aside from handlebars and other products, Neken produce the triple clamps that come standard on KTM, Husqvarna, Gas Gas and ShercoMotorcycles.
The results:
In deep sand and choppy hard pack this part really shines. I would go as far to say it is the best part I have ever bolted onto a motorcycle!
- Less vibration way less arm pump
- No sore hands
- Faster lap times
- Feeling safer at the end of motos
Track Test:
My first ride with the SFS was In deep beach sand. Neken recommend to run the air pressure at 75 PSI for the first 1 to 2 hours for run in. It was a strange feeling to feel the handle bars moving up and down independent of the suspension and I could feel them bottoming out occasionally. Following the run in period I settled on a pressure of 85 PSI for deep sand and 75 psi for hard pack tracks. These air pressures allowed me to use about 8mm of travel and ment that it was never bottoming out. I was really surprised at how good the SFS is. Typically I don’t get sore hands whilst riding in sand and I didn’t think the SFS would add anything to my riding in those conditions. But I was very wrong!!
The amount of vibrations through the bars is significantly reduced. In deep bottomless sand you are constantly really high in the RPM range which makes a lot of engine vibrations. As soon as I hit the track I noticed the vibrations though my hands had reduced dramatically. Arm pump has always been a huge problem for me and something I have just grown to accept. But I was able to go out cold and do a 20min moto without any major issues. As well as the reduced vibrations the second area I noticed was that any sharp hits to my hands from braking bumps was reduced and any hard landings too. Because I wasn’t getting the same harsh feeling on braking bumps I felt more in control and that allowed me to push harder and faster going into corners and keep more momentum in the deep sand.
Hard Pack tracks: This is where I struggle the most with sore hands. Again with the Neken SFS the front end just feels so much more plush. I feel like the SFS works best once your suspension gets down into the harsh area of the stroke. Any square edge bumps or big g outs that’s where I noticed I wasn’t getting the same aggressive feedback through the handlebars. Again this smooth feeling allowed me to ride mostly arm pump free.
I started to doubt myself that maybe I was getting less arm pump because I was just riding practice tracks so I entered a few races. Typically at a race I get arm pump super fast due to the nerves. But again my arm pump was massively reduced and I felt in control the whole moto.
Having had time to analysis this I feel that subconsciously when my hands get harsh impacts I naturally tend to grip harder to hold on (Probably because my brain thinks im taking a risk or might crash) which in turn gives me more arm pump. Lessening the harsh impacts and vibrations allows my hands to stay free and lessens the arm pump. I also found that I was able to run stiffer suspension settings as the SFS was taking care of the harsh impacts so good.
I have now put around 40 hours on this part and I can say that I wouldn’t want to ride without it. I have a practice bike which I use the rubber mounted bar mounts on and you cant even compare the two. The Neken is far superior in every way. The rubber mounts allow the handlebars to rock a little from side to side which makes it slightly harder to turn. The SFS has no rock as both sides of the air suspension move together. I have tried a lot of different things to help reduce arm pump and some with slight success, but for me this made a massive improvement.
Fitting:
The Neken SFS was fairly straight forward to fit. They have a good tutorial video on youtube with torq settings and It took my about 1.5 hours to swap out my old clamp for the SFS the first time around.
The drawbacks:
This is not a cheap part. At around £435 for the clamp plus the recommended air pump it is a lot of money to put down. However having used it, I would rather spend the money on this and have reduced arm pump and hand fatigue than say an exhaust and have more power. Neken also recommend that after 100 hours the clamp is shipped back to them for a service. The service includes an oil and seal change and costs approximately 100 Euros.
Lastly the SFS does not have any screw holes to mount the hour meter that comes standard on KTM Group motorcycles. To get around this I bought an Hour Meter Mount and bent it into shape then fixed it behind the front number plate as per my photo. This is a small inconvenience but from speaking to Neken they hope to have a new version in 2021 which you can attach an hour meter to. The SFS is also about 400g heavier than the standard top clamp on my FE450 SXF.
This smooth feeling may not be for everyone depending on your level, what you want and how you ride. I am a vet rider who likes his comfort but most Pro riders actually want a stiff feeling on the front end and have chosen not to run the SFS. However,it is currently used by Benoit Paturel in MXGP.
Words: Stephen Megarry
