Ohlins: OEM vs Aftermarket

[Robert Taylor]

Just a bit of a follow up on this i found this bit of info on the aprilia site, not to sure how accurate it is

' The Aprilia Ohlins forks are different from regular R/T forks. They are of a lesser quality, use steel shafts as opposed to aluminum, and are assembled somewhere in asia. There are also a few other minor differences as well.'

Okay, please refer back to my original post on this thread. As the exclusive and recognised Ohlins distributor to NZ I think I can speak with some authority on this subject. But following on;

The Aprilia Ohlins forks are very definitely not a lesser quality as they use EXACTLY the same generic components from the same component suppliers to Ohlins. The original first models of Ohlins R &T forks be they for oem supply or for aftermarket all used steel damping rod shafts. Later versions of these forks progressively adopted alloy shafts and many other detail improvements. Time doesnt stand still.

And yes it is true that up until now the forks have been manufactured in Japan but to a Swedish design. Ohlins AB is a Swedish company that is 90% owned by Yamaha Motor Co. YMC in turn have commercial interests in a Japanese shock and shock component manufacturer Soqi, who subcontracted in making many of the parts for this very successful line of forks.

But they have been due for an update. Having just last week attended the Ohlins distributor conference in Italy I can say that Ohlins have completey redesigned the road and track forks from the ground up. These are being progressively introduced, starting in 08 with models for 1000cc sportbikes. The new design is lighter weight with bottom castings that look much closer to their MotoGP forks and internal cartridges based on their highly successful line of 25mm aftermarket FGK cartridge kits. Given that they will perform very very well and lift the game even further, the new look of these forks alone is stunning. And component supply and manufacture has been moved to Sweden, closer to the engineers.

In answer to someone elses conjecture the oem supply Ohlins shocks on the Aprilias are little different to aftermarket Ohlins. EXACTLY the same components and nearly always the same settings. The biggest glaring difference is that the oem shocks have manual spring preload adjust collars, aftermarket have hydraulic preloaders. These preloaders can be purchased as an assembly to upgrade the oem shocks.

We also have upgrade valving specs for both Ohlins forks and oem supply shocks. The cold hard reality is that in NZ we have a higher ratio of bumpy roads that we regularly ride on. That means it affects Showa, KYB, WP, Sachs and Ohlins etc which are predominantly set for Euro and North American conditions. The higher quality suspension systems such as Ohlins are usually more ''amenable'' to bumpy roads because the tolerancing, precision and material choices result in a lot less friction. But the settings can always be improved and optimised to local conditions. A high quality unit gives you a MUCH better basis and responsive tool to work from.

[Cajun]

Cheers for that Robert, just something i read on another forum, i knew you would read this and clear it up for me.