[Grumbly]

Hey guys,

Who has rebuilt their Ohlins shock on their 996? Was it easy enough for a competent home mechanic to do at home?
Any special tools, replacement parts recommended? Valve upgrades?
Lastly, anyone know of any decent diy guides floating around that covers this?

Cheers for any advice/ help
David

 

[elmostro]

I suggest Ben brace at Ducati of Omaha or Thermosman ( Mike Fitzgerald )

It's a pain in the dick

 

[Grumbly]

Postage could be a killer though

 

[xracer]

I send them to Creamers here in Melbourne Dave. But there are other places here that do it. Suspensions are us is another mob. Even if you get it apart and get parts you will have to get it charged with nitrogen at 7 odd bar or something like that.

 

[xracer]

Surely there’s someone over there that can do it.

 

[Grumbly]

There's 2 highly regarded places locally. But, as per the initial post, I was wondering if anyone did their own, what was involved and how difficult it was for a do it yourselfer.
It's just something that intrigues me and I'd love to give it a crack.

 

[Weed]

You can do it yourself but you will have to buy a vacuum pump and then a nitrogen charging setup. We used to do our own when we were racing & it is not difficult but you have to be meticulous with cleanliness and procedure. If you want to spend $2-4K on setup kit go for it

 

[SS904]

I've done it. More complicated than an front fork service, but not beyond doing it at home. I did not do a complete disassembly or try to revalve it. I simply removed, cleaned and replaced all the main moving parts, Teflon bushings seals and o rings. The manual I linked below from my Dropbox has you pulling every component apart, shock eyelet casting off the shock body for example, I didn't go that deep.

I called Ohins USA for the parts, they were very helpful and sent what I needed right out. About $70.00 in parts, but this was maybe 3 years ago. Shock oil (not the same as fork oil at all) is oddly expensive.

Only special tools needed were a spring compressor that I had, a tool I made to remove and install the end cap / fill port and measure oil level (just a small threaded rod and small vice grips) and the nitrogen charge needle to bleed pressure off before disassembly. Linked below is not the one I got, but very similar and about the same price. I did not buy or rent a Nitrogen regulator and cylinder. I went to my local Honda motorcycle dealership. The service department charged the shock for me while I waited for $10.00. I called to see if they could / would do it before ripping in to my shock.

Getting ready to go at it again. Feeling a bit harsh lately.

Is it worth doing it yourself? For me the hardest part was the nitrogen charge. If I wasn't able to have it done at the Honda dealer, 20 mins away and it took about 15 mins for the work, I might not have tried. The tank and regulator are pricey enough that if you don't already have them, it becomes more costly to do it yourself than to just send it out. Also, if you need or want re valving or repair work, maybe send it. Although Racetech might have a gold valve kit, I didn't look.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/221676409196

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sa1xp2ssq9j3zi0/AABQpwPErrCOpC2eYderHmeca?dl=0