RaceTech Gold Valves
A couple of years ago now Sensei contacted me one evening to advise that there was an Ohlins shock for a Hornet on Trade Me. Not long thereafter I was the owner of a near new, very low mileage, all-singing all-dancing, Ohlins. A thing of rare beauty. If you've ever unpacked one of these out of the box you will understand... More than one person has been known to just sit and stare at their new Ohlins for an hour or so. True :-)
Sensei, generous fellow that he is, offered to fit the shock, which task he promptly performed the next weekend. In the ensuing weeks I followed the Ohlins manual as to adjustments, but as I recall the standard settings were pretty much on the money.
I'm no Valentino Rossi so I'm not interested in dragging my knee. Then again Robert does say that most of his customers are road riders. The main benefit of the Ohlins for me was a more supple ride which although more comfortable than the standard shock, still provided vice free handling if I did decide to hurry.
When I eventually sold the Hornet I took the shock out with a view to either selling it, or perhaps trading it on another shock for the VFR. While in the process of making up my mind an incident occurred which helped clarify matters. I was heading south back over Mt Messenger one day when the bike hit a series of sharp corrugations in the road surface. The bike suddenly "jarred" a couple of feet to the outside of the lane toward the Kenworth coming in the opposite direction.
OK, so we're definitely buying a new Ohlins for the VFR.
I called at NorthWest Motorcycles and got prices for the various models of shock available for the VFR. Later, after discussing the alternatives with Robert, including rebuilding the Hornet shock to fit the VFR, and taking into consideration his reasonable offer for my Hornet shock, I again opted for the whistles and bells model. A week or two later I bungeed the box to the back of the bike and headed for home.
Once again the Ohlins manual was consulted, to the point I almost think I now know it off by heart. Having tried all of the sensible adjustments,and some of the others as well, I still wasn't totally happy. It didn't seem possible to get a setting much below harsh. This impression compounded by having forks that when passing over short sharp bumps gave a very good impression of a rigid front end.
Recently it happened that I likely wouldn't be needing the bike for a few weeks,so I arranged to see Robert at Crown Kiwi Enterprises where he is located these days. He looked at the bike, checked the static sag, listened to what I thought the symptoms were, and to what I thought I wanted. He asked my weight, and after I divulged this mildly embarrassing detail, he told me what he thought he could do (and what it would likely cost).
Robert fitted Race Tech Gold Valves to the forks with valving adjusted to our road conditions, revalved the rebound stack, and fitted appropriate springs for my personal stats. He also replaced the spring on the rear shock.
Having read and re-read the manual, read the suspension threads on KB, and purchased a copy of "The Sportbike Performance Handbook," I am beginning to understand how suspension works and what effect the various adjusters have on the way the bike behaves. One still mystified me though, I could never really understand how to use the hydraulic pre-load adjuster. It doesn't have clicks and it just turns, and turns, and then turns some more. On the Hornet I used it to adjust the sag at the back so that the rear matched the front. On the VFR the sag was OK so I didn't really know what to do with it. Robert told me the other day that two complete turns of the knob (720 degrees) adds 1 mm to the preload.
Where there was darkness there is now light.
After I picked the bike up I rode home across town riding over every little bump in the road I could find, and New Plymouth has a good selection. The initial impression was that the ride was more supple than previously,and that "harsh" seemed to be a thing of the past. A more comprehensive test was required though, in fact a ride (or two) up the south side of Mt Messenger seemed like a good idea.
So today was the big day. Got the bike out, checked and adjusted the tyre pressures, and headed up the road, riding over the cats eyes when there was no other traffic around. First impressions were that the ride was firm rather than harsh, definitely more compliant than it had been, especially the front end. The real acid test though would be the return trip over the hill.
When I hit the corrugations they could be felt but much less dramatically than previously, and this time they didn't upset the bike at all. A big improvement. Circumstances prevented me turning around for another pass but I'll likely be back that way in a few days anyway.
The road between Whangamomona and Tahora is a very nice piece of motorcycle road but a lot of the locals don't see too much of it because their bikes won't go past the pub. On the way back from the Kaeto Cafe there is a series of bends with woop de woos (sp?) built in. If a bike is going to wallow anywhere it'll do it there. I feel a Devonshire tea coming on. If there is wallowing on the way home I'll add a couple of extra clicks of compression damping and go back and have another run through.
So the first impressions are good. I'll leave Robert's settings alone for a while until I've done enough miles to have experienced a sufficient variety of road surfaces, velocities, and loads. I'm happy so far though, and if I learn anything new y'all will be first to know...
There is a grey blur, and a green blur. I try to stay on the grey one. - Joey Dunlop
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SENSEI PERFORMANCE TUNING 
Originally Posted by Fatjim
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