I haven't done a Ohlin's rear ride report yet because I have done zero riding since I installed the shock about 6 weeks ago.. Up until this last week that is.
During the week I managed about 400kms on the bike with the new shock fitted, which includes about 75kms of trail (very nasty rough) today.
I can categorically state that the fully adjustable Ohlins shock for this bike is a world apart from the standard (spring pre-load + rebound dampening only) shock.
I knew that the standard shock was very heavily over compression dampened, but I didn't realize exactly how much until having the adjustability available with the Ohlin's unit.
On the road the standard rear shock is not that much of a burden, although for my weight of 115'ish kg clad it was under sprung and over compression dampened. It's in the dirt and trails when it starts to get rough where non compliant suspension really starts to become a chore.
You would think it's just a case of winding up the rear spring preload as they will go quite firm, however, with a shockabsorber that has non adjustable compression dampening, all that does is increase the already overdampened valving to the point where there is so much compression dampening that the shock absorber doesnt really absorb much shock...
Because of all this, the rear shock must be run relatively soft (WAY beyond the usual static and loaded sags) and therefore the front forks must be set similar to keep the bike relatively balanced.
I have a theory that Yamaha, who we must remember was a majority shareholder in Ohlin's, has over dampened the (one spring fits all) rear to assist in stopping this heavy bike (that may or may not see dirt - and can generally be quite heavily loaded) from bottoming out in suspension travel.
Anyway - My findings with the (correctly spring weighted) Ohlin's are:
1/ I now have the static height and ride/load heights set correctly.
2/ Because it is such a heavy spring I can now reduce the compression dampening and have the shock conforming to surfaces a lot more eagerly and with less sharp edge hits.
3/ I have been able to wind the spring preload up on my front forks (not ideal but will suffice till I can get correctly weighted springs) to balance the bike front to rear.
4/ I have been able to reduce the compression damping on the front forks to balance with the rear and offer a lot more supple action while remaining firmer in the ride than previous.
5/ I believe I stand a chance of getting a lot less rim damage now because my suspension (carry's a heavy wheel moving one way vs a heavy bike moving the other way) is moving with undulations instead of fighting against them.
6/ My brakes feel stronger as the front is diving quicker and loading slightly more as the suspension functions correctly...
I still have a lot of fine tuning to do with the suspension settings, but I am very exited that NOW (because of the Ohlin's rear) I can finally achieve what I want from the feel and handling of this bike.
Everyone has a different requirement, use, and expectation from their bikes and a lot of folks would say that I do shit with mine that probably should not be done with a machine of this size.. That's me, that's the way I ride, and that's the way I like my bikes to handle..
Greg.
During the week I managed about 400kms on the bike with the new shock fitted, which includes about 75kms of trail (very nasty rough) today.
I can categorically state that the fully adjustable Ohlins shock for this bike is a world apart from the standard (spring pre-load + rebound dampening only) shock.
I knew that the standard shock was very heavily over compression dampened, but I didn't realize exactly how much until having the adjustability available with the Ohlin's unit.
On the road the standard rear shock is not that much of a burden, although for my weight of 115'ish kg clad it was under sprung and over compression dampened. It's in the dirt and trails when it starts to get rough where non compliant suspension really starts to become a chore.
You would think it's just a case of winding up the rear spring preload as they will go quite firm, however, with a shockabsorber that has non adjustable compression dampening, all that does is increase the already overdampened valving to the point where there is so much compression dampening that the shock absorber doesnt really absorb much shock...
Because of all this, the rear shock must be run relatively soft (WAY beyond the usual static and loaded sags) and therefore the front forks must be set similar to keep the bike relatively balanced.
I have a theory that Yamaha, who we must remember was a majority shareholder in Ohlin's, has over dampened the (one spring fits all) rear to assist in stopping this heavy bike (that may or may not see dirt - and can generally be quite heavily loaded) from bottoming out in suspension travel.
Anyway - My findings with the (correctly spring weighted) Ohlin's are:
1/ I now have the static height and ride/load heights set correctly.
2/ Because it is such a heavy spring I can now reduce the compression dampening and have the shock conforming to surfaces a lot more eagerly and with less sharp edge hits.
3/ I have been able to wind the spring preload up on my front forks (not ideal but will suffice till I can get correctly weighted springs) to balance the bike front to rear.
4/ I have been able to reduce the compression damping on the front forks to balance with the rear and offer a lot more supple action while remaining firmer in the ride than previous.
5/ I believe I stand a chance of getting a lot less rim damage now because my suspension (carry's a heavy wheel moving one way vs a heavy bike moving the other way) is moving with undulations instead of fighting against them.
6/ My brakes feel stronger as the front is diving quicker and loading slightly more as the suspension functions correctly...
I still have a lot of fine tuning to do with the suspension settings, but I am very exited that NOW (because of the Ohlin's rear) I can finally achieve what I want from the feel and handling of this bike.
Everyone has a different requirement, use, and expectation from their bikes and a lot of folks would say that I do shit with mine that probably should not be done with a machine of this size.. That's me, that's the way I ride, and that's the way I like my bikes to handle..
Greg.
