New Ohlins front end review

[Toot Toot]

maybe, maybe not - but wot sort of gay fookn name is toot toot

U been watching chitty chitty bang bang??

Yeah its pretty gay alright, but I had to think of a name quick.
It is what my boy used to call the bike as when I would come home I would toot the horn so he could press the garage door opener for me.
He would say, "Here's toot toot". So that's what I'm called.

What sort of a name is "Patch" anyway. Sound like the Golden books My first little puppy... his name is patch.

[Sensei]

60% or so of the content of that bill was replacement of a very large part of the componentry that was cracked, much less of it was a piston upgrade. Just so no-one misunderstands....

Wasn't ment as a dig at your price Robert I was very happy with that , just to make sure that is clear to you , Will talk to you about how the new mod has changed my front forks .

[Robert Taylor]

Thanks a whole heap Toot Toot for the very comprehensive report. Technically this is not an Ohlins upgrade even though these forks sport our very sexy CKT / Ohlins logo. We did though use Ohlins shims but on the stock piston and filled with Ohlins oil that has very stable flow properties at cold temps.
The late model GSXR600/750 series has very weak rebound damping and that manifests itself as a ''flighty'' front end on sudden flip flop ( side to side ) direction changes, especially over the crest of a rise etc. It also means that when in transition mid corner and off the brakes the front end tries to stand up. We cure that totally with a new rebound stack that we both developed on our dyno and also with road and track tests. I guess we can also indirectly thank Ohlins because we have some very proven Ohlins rebound and compression curves on our dyno database and we emulate those as closely as possible with the work we do revalving oem cartridges or when fitting Race Tech upgrade components. It wont turn the suspension into Ohlins but makes a huge bang for buck improvement nonetheless.
The ''increase'' in fork travel before it reaches the bottom is accounted for by the fact we disarm approximately 80% of the bottoming control hydraulic stop device, which happens too early and too aggressively. This is a common issue on many sportbikes, if we end up with a second tier class in 600 sports production that only allows spring changes this is one issue where if not modified it WILL cause the odd crash or two, on its own account. That is because the compression damping force suddenly goes through the roof when the hydraulic piston stop comes into play, 25mm or so before ''full closed'' distance. Not ideal when you are peeled into a corner close to the limits of grip and suddenly the suspension locks up. I bet thats one that a lot of people havent thought of.
This modification / upgrade runs out at retail $479 gst inclusive and is available through Shaun at Motodynamix. Shaun is largely acting as our ''man at the coalface'' because he is more geared up to being constantly out in the field than we can be. Moreover, as an extremely successful road racer ( including Isle of man winner ) and an extremely articulate test rider ( used by me over many years ) he is the ideal guy to assist in helping optimising the settings once reinstalled in the bike.
Currently also we are developing revalve specs for standard ( oem ) rear shocks, again drawing on ''Ohlins damping profile''.

[Robert Taylor]

Part 2! There are a lot of misconceptions in this game and also a bit of skulduggery going on. As follows;

1) As pointed out by an overseas suspension contributor some time ago many people are fooled into thinking that their oem suspension woes can be fixed with a few external clicker and spring preload changes. Ride into the shop, have it adjusted with those clickers ( that many think have an adjustment range 2 miles wide ), wind up the preload and ride away like being in a land of milk and honey. 9 times out of 10 that just isnt so and so often the riders are ''conditioned'' by magazine tests or manufacturers pr hype thats economical with the truth.

2) In the case of the GSXR750 with the weak rebound issue the instinct of the rider / tuner is to keep winding in the external rebound clicker at the top of the forks. So often we have found the adjuster to be only 1/8th of a turn out or less. As this regulates bypass flow through the centre of the shaft it ''cross talks'' so also affects compression flow. It only fixes a small percentage of the issue because fundamentally the shim stack opening pressure is too weak. CLICKERS ONLY ADJUST INTERNAL BYPASS FLOW AND THE RANGE OF EFFECTIVE ADJUSTMENT IS IN FACT QUITE NARROW. If there is an internal shim stack calibration or piston isuue no amount of external adjustment is going to fix the problem!!

BUT ALSO, on that GSXR fork ( which has a bending shim stack midvalve ) if you wind in the rebound clicker too far ( even 1/2 turn out is very marginal ) the fork has huge hysterisis ( cavitation ) on flow reversal from compression ( bump) to rebound strokes. It cannot ''pressure balance'' fast enough on flow reversal from one side of the rebound piston to the other. Simply put, thats a delay in damping response as for a few milliseconds there are vacuum pockets in the oil and that reduces control and rider feel. There are probably more than a few othetrwise unexplained crashes that can be attributed to that.

3) Ist world European and North American countries have their share of bumpy roads but they also have a much much higher ratio of relatively smooth A grade roads. Here in our own ''shaky isles'' we have a much much higher ratio of bumpy roads, potholes, bad surface condition and ''g out'' circumstances. Because of that we are attentive to suspension issues that in the aforementioned countries are relatively minor. We are for example selling more and more Ohlins shocks for Harleys as they deliver ride height control but also deliver square edge bump compliance that is light years better. Most of the US sourced aftermarket shocks for Harleys deliver a dissappointing level of improvement because they are only made to ''ride down the boulevard'', as it were. You have to read between the lines.

[Robert Taylor]

Part 3, more misconceptions;

4) '' Im not fast enough for an Ohlins, theyre only for racers'' Absolutely 100% not true. Most of our customers are in fact ordinary everyday road riders who want much better control ( and often tyre life ) but predominantly also want suspension that is actually going to comfortably absorb bumps without a visit to the chiropractor in later life.

5) We are not only about Ohlins!!!

Level 1; Service / revalve oem suspension. Much like the GSXR fork example. Relatively low cost, great bang for buck.

Level 2; Upspec oem suspension with Race Tech components. Respring, re-piston etc. We are the biggest Race Tech centre in the country and specialise in road / road race ( assisted by what we have learnt with our dyno and on road and track ) We are also doing lots of dirtbikes and race car stuff right through to the very highest levels.

Level 3; Upspec with Ohlins suspension.

WE SERVICE / REPAIR / UPSPEC MOST SUSPENSION SYSTEMS AND ALWAYS PROVIDE A COST MENU AFTER INSPECTION AND PRIOR TO PROCEEDING FURTHER

6) ''They are only interested in helping the top riders and they will cost you an arm and a leg'' ( Mischievously perpetuated by competitors trying to seek business )
In fact we will help anyone that asks and many readers of this diatribe will testify to same. Weve lost count of the number of people we have helped at absolutely no charge.
FURTHER, we are always very mindful of costs and the riders budget.

7) And this is the most insidious recent example.........we were a touch late to the first round of VMCC at Taupo recently and a competitor brazenly told one of our customers '' they are not coming''. We know what goes on!

WE WILL HELP AND OFFER ADVICE TO ANYONE THAT ASKS.

[Shaun]

Thanks for the thorough tech brake down on these fork specs, and other options open for people. I see this set up spec as very very good value for $

[dipshit]

I see this set up spec as very very good value for $

Indeed. I may have to take a ride up to New Plymouth one day.

[Shaun Harris]

Indeed. I may have to take a ride up to New Plymouth one day.

It will be worh it! Pussy- Toot Toot And many more, that have all been a part of the the learning process Are very happy riders with this product, " IT IS NOT THE BEST PRODUCT FOR $ $ $, BUT IT WORKS

[Pussy]

It will be worh it! Pussy- Toot Toot And many more, that have all been a part of the the learning process Are very happy riders with this product, " IT IS NOT THE BEST PRODUCT FOR $ $ $, BUT IT WORKS

Slight correction, Shaun.... it's Gassit Girl's bike that has the OEM rebound mod.
She is very happy with it (in fact, I think it was her bike that had the first one).
The stock Showa forks are pretty good on these bikes... apart from the weak high speed rebound characteristic. This mod sorts that problem perfectly.

We also tried the Racetech G2R cartridges for a few weeks in Annie's bike, they were bloody good, too... but of course come at a higher price

[NZsarge]

This modification / upgrade runs out at retail $479 gst inclusive
Very interesting, quite a bit cheaper than I thought it might be...

Currently also we are developing revalve specs for standard ( oem ) rear shocks, again drawing on ''Ohlins damping profile''.

Hmmm, again, very interesting.

[Robert Taylor]

Hmmm, again, very interesting.

Well thats good that its cheaper than people percieve!

[NZsarge]

Well thats good that its cheaper than people percieve!

I guess so, then again if people did'nt perceive the price as high as I did you'd probably be over run with business (that's if you are'nt already), btw, I only perceived it be more expensive than what it cost Toot toot because I based my ideas on a previous costing you gave me on my FZ1 which unfortunately I could not afford.
I realize that's not fair but it's what I was using as a guide and there by putting myself off asking you what it was going to cost me if I wanted to do my new bike, plus I really did'nt want to get you doing anything like costing things until I was pretty serious about spending hard earned, I was going to ask you if it would be possible to rebuild my rear shock to a better spec along with a re-spring too so all-in-all it look more positive that I can get something done about the shocking forks on my bike (ZX14 Probably ok for most but most definitely not me!) at least and perhaps the shock to at some point.

[SPman]

Indeed. I may have to take a ride up to New Plymouth one day.

Pity we can't do that from Perth!

Anyone know who does a similar service over here?

[Pussy]

The other two things we did to Gassit Girl's 750 were:
Respring it for her weight (linear Ohlins springs)

Used Ohlins 15cst oil (the stock oil looks like treacle)

Respringing adds to the cost a bit, but that is outweighed by having the bike set up "just so"

[Robert Taylor]

I guess so, then again if people did'nt perceive the price as high as I did you'd probably be over run with business (that's if you are'nt already), btw, I only perceived it be more expensive than what it cost Toot toot because I based my ideas on a previous costing you gave me on my FZ1 which unfortunately I could not afford.
I realize that's not fair but it's what I was using as a guide and there by putting myself off asking you what it was going to cost me if I wanted to do my new bike, plus I really did'nt want to get you doing anything like costing things until I was pretty serious about spending hard earned, I was going to ask you if it would be possible to rebuild my rear shock to a better spec along with a re-spring too so all-in-all it look more positive that I can get something done about the shocking forks on my bike (ZX14 Probably ok for most but most definitely not me!) at least and perhaps the shock to at some point.

Not all jobs are ''tarred with the same brush''. The GSXR forks are a very good production fork with one glaring issue that we can sort out at a good price. Of course, if the rider weight is outside of the average range they will also require springs, which of course adds to the cost.
Conversely the FZ1 forks are like most naked bikes starting from a lower base line and in this case are a particularly bad example. The pistons are little better than check plates. To get these things to work properly at all they need rebound pistons, rebound piston holders, compression pistons, compression piston holders, springs, spring guides, spring preload spacers and a bit of clever machining. That unavoidably is a dollar exercise.