Ohlins Front Fork Inserts?

[Willie B]

I was wondering if anyone has gone with the Ohlins front fork upgrade? I'm 5'10", 215 lbs. and tend to ride fairly aggressive. I've played with mine with little or no improvement and have convinced myself to bite bullet this the winter and send them off. They seem too soft. I installed a zip tie around each fork leg, and it appears they come close to bottoming. I was reading the thread regarding steering dampeners and head shake and was wonder if the real solution isn't fixing the suspension? I've yet to experience violent head-shake but have had several hard bar jolts when encountering pavement indications and bridge abutments in turns at speed. Your thoughts would definitely be appreciated.

[disgo duc]

use search option theres oddles of info on cart kits..tells you all the problems with these mardookies...

[mental999]

I have the Ohlins cartidges in my '08 and honestly can't tell the difference. I'm certainly not going any faster on it.

[Willie B]

I was wondering if they seemed to rectify the bottoming feel that the originals had?

[NYSport]

Best upgrade I've done to date. Completely transformed the bike, especially on the track.

Ohlins fork cartridge kit owners...

[08hyper]

Originally Posted by 08hyper

OK I had to do something with my front end, just too soft & mushy for me, but before investing for a high dollar fork cartridge kit, I decided to see what I could do with the stock fork first.

I did find out that the stock springs for the 08's & std 09's are 0.65 too soft for my weight, 225lbs+

So I contacted Lindemann Engineering, new (owner Ed Sorbal) at 408-371-6151 and commissioned him to make me a set of custom springs to my spec, basically the springs I had made are perfect "drop-ins" with stock dimensions but with a spring rate of 0.85 cost of the springs are $175.

I used Golden Spectrol 7.5w fork oil (stock) and set the air gap level at 120mm with the forks collapsed.

Now with 2 track-days on the newly sprung front end, guess what? their not bad at all, really good in fact, with the help of the track suspension specialist (at the track) I got the suspension front & back dialed in, and can now say that its never felt better.

I did trade bikes with Ben (mental999) for a track session at Laguna Seca, his Hyper has the Ohlins cartridge fork kit, and while his forks worked good, but for me, not necessarily better than mine, so at this time I will not be rushing out and getting a fork kit any time soon. Thank goodness.

Moral of this story? try making the stock stuff work for you first, you might be surprised & save some some money! Aloha Alex

Maybe try this first. Aloha Alex

[Willie B]

Thanks NYSport for providing the link to the previous thread. I'm not one to spend money foolishly, but gathering useful information always helps when making a sizable expenditure. I've used the Ohlins products on several BMWs and Aprilias with fantastic results. It seems that everyone has experienced the same issues as I. Should I deduct that the fork fix should eliminate the need for a steering stabilizer?

[disgo duc]

Originally Posted by mental999

I have the Ohlins cartidges in my '08 and honestly can't tell the difference. I'm certainly not going any faster on it.

wow..maybe your install was done incorrectly or something...its night and day w/the carts..or maybe your not ridn her hard enough.... or maybe no oil in one fork? i heard that story on here already and his were installed by ohlins....

[CDONA]

My race tech kit made a world of difference in feel.
And, the first time I burned off the sides of the front tire before the middle.


Disclaimer, I spent most of the summer on goat roads of Sonoma, Mendo, and Hum, counties, then the Bridgeport Blast.

[Willie B]

CDONA, You are the man! Be sure to keep the tires for garage art. I've always got the little chicken strip on mine. Maybe someday?