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Ohlins basic kit, everyday effect


bugeyes

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19 hours ago, pattonme said:

Kind of made it also seem like cartridges would get me most of the way but wouldn't really do anything for rebound damping.

Huh? The whole reason for going cartridge has to do with rebound damping changes. GVE/DDC etc. have very little if any rebound adjustment capability - you have to screw around with oil viscosity. The difference in rebound between full open and full closed on a cartridge system is dramatic and trivially observable. 

 

 the Lite was a lot harder to work on so would cost a lot for maintenance if it needed it,

The shock bodies and internals are almost identical. The placement of the separator piston is basically it. Of course he wants to sell you a $750 shock vs a $500 unit.

 

> $1400

ch*st, where are you that you're paying thru the nose for labor?

 

The Ohlins doesn't have ride height which IMO is a silly omission. Nitron, K-Tech, Bitubo, Matris all do.

 

I've got some new, left-over Matris F15K's (4-piston cartridge) I need to off-load. Install is so simple anybody can do it - 1 bolt, shake upside down, install cartridge. ~$570 delivered (CONUS), a bottle of oil, new bushings, and a Razor-Lite and you're just over a grand.

Sorry when I said cartridges would get me most of the way I meant the emulators.  My mistake.  

 

As far as the labor goes, he was going to charge me $250 to install the front and $50 to install the rear.  I thought the front seemed expensive but he's the first person I spoke to about them so I just thought I might not know better.  

 

So the K-Tech Razor-Lite would be better than the Ohlins?  At $500 I'd be happy with that haha.  

 

With the Matrix F15K, would I also need to purchase springs?  I literally know nothing about maintenance for motorcycles so I might not say anyone can do it lol but I could try my best.  

 

Edit:  After reading about some of the F15K issues, I can't say that I'm super comfortable purchasing them.  

 

 

Edited by darinja
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16 hours ago, darinja said:

Sorry when I said cartridges would get me most of the way I meant the emulators.  My mistake.  

 

As far as the labor goes, he was going to charge me $250 to install the front and $50 to install the rear.  I thought the front seemed expensive but he's the first person I spoke to about them so I just thought I might not know better.  

 

So the K-Tech Razor-Lite would be better than the Ohlins?  At $500 I'd be happy with that haha.  

 

With the Matrix F15K, would I also need to purchase springs?  I literally know nothing about maintenance for motorcycles so I might not say anyone can do it lol but I could try my best.  

 

Edit:  After reading about some of the F15K issues, I can't say that I'm super comfortable purchasing them.  

 

 

I've had Ohlins on every bike I've owned since the early 90's....... You can't go wrong with Ohlins (IMO). They put out a quality product, even on a base/entry level shock. I've done the entry level shock on my last two track bikes, and have ZERO regrets-

""W.O.T. until you see god, then brake"

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23 hours ago, darinja said:

With the Matrix F15K, would I also need to purchase springs?  I literally know nothing about maintenance for motorcycles so I might not say anyone can do it lol but I could try my best.  

 

Edit:  After reading about some of the F15K issues, I can't say that I'm super comfortable purchasing them.  

Yes the Matris comes with springs.

The F15's are considerably modified by me to fix their shortcomings before they get sent to anybody. I think there are a dozen or so on this board who have them. Or would you rather try your hand at Andreani? (joke)

The Ohlins NIX-22 needs some help as well...

Edited by pattonme
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Like all of these commercial solutions the compression damping is too stiff for normal street riding. What I do is flip the Comp piston over and redo the shim stack. I have a kit sitting on the shelf if you're interested - factory fresh.

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  • 1 year later...

Guys I love this topic. Hope someone is still around to answer my question.

I love my XSR 700 - its style, sound, riding position and also power. But I've tested Ducati Monster 821 on the track an was amazed how planted it felt in the corners. I need this in my life (-:

My question is - if I upgrade suspension (and tires) on my XSR, will it be comparable with properly build bikes? Or will I just find out, that other components (frame, triple-tree, swing arm, front forks, etc.) are also budget components and not good/stiff enough?

I'm not able to ride any bike to its limits, but I was easily able to tell the difference between XSR and Monster even with my poor riding skills. Was it only/mostly suspension or has other components that significant impact that even poor rider can tell the difference? I mean - of course other components are important, but Yamaha build great bikes so I expect that XSR/MT07 isn't complete trash. And Monster 821 is also somehow "budget monster", so maybe aftermarket Ohlins for MT07 are even better than stock suspension on Monster (there are lot of complains on Monster's forum) and maybe it's more important then diamond frame on MT vs trellis on Monster which will give you just last 10% of performance what mediocre rider can't tell anyway. 

Simply - is there someone who can directly compare upgraded MT07 with Monster, StreetTriple or some other "well build" motorcycle?

thanks.

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16 minutes ago, curio124 said:

Simply - is there someone who can directly compare upgraded MT07 with Monster, StreetTriple or some other "well build" motorcycle?

thanks.

I have not ridden the Monster, but I have a friend with a stock Street Triple.  My FZ-07 with a Nitron shock and Maris cartridges handles better than his stock Triumph.  I did the shock first and was really surprised at the improvement as I had thought the forks were the weakest link.  Having decent suspension set up for your weight makes a huge difference even in just spirited street riding.  

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Thanks for quick response. This is hard to get info. Every reviewer compares just stock motorcycles. But MT07 with some upgrades will be still cheaper than lets say StreetTriple and maybe not that easily put on 2nd place anymore. 

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It really depends on the person. I am the guy who likes to upgrade a lot to make it to my liking. Straight out of the box the others probably have an edge. 
I have done Ohlins front and rear along with a host of other upgrades and I keep liking this bike more and more. 
I would do the same thing with any bike I get so I started with a lower price canvas with a bulletproof motor and went from there. I will never in a million years get what I put into the 07 if I were to sell but that is not going to happen. This bike can do a lot more than my abilities at this point and that’s okay with me. I have something to strive to. My .02 and good luck in your decision!

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Depends how you think about it.  FZ-07 comes with a crap stock suspension and the Street Triple R comes with a crap stock suspension.  The Street Triple R crap suspension has more adjustability, forks may not cavitate like the FZ suspension, but serious riders would still replace that stock suspension.  It’s still made as cheaply by the mfg as possible.  Consider the junk ZX-6R Kawasaki/Ohlins steering damper...Ohlins tuners can replace its internals and make them right now.

 

Back to the topic of budget suspension, I see I’m a little late to the party, but has anyone considered spending a little more to save?  Is that correct that the $650 Ohlins shock doesn’t have any compression adjustability?  WTH?  I could spend $900 for a Penske double clicker, get compression control, and can replace the connectors on it and use it on another bike if I want in the future...I have a triple clicker on my GSXR and love it!  

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1 hour ago, HulkHogan said:Back to the topic of budget suspension, I see I’m a little late to the party, but has anyone considered spending a little more to save?  Is that correct that the $650 Ohlins shock doesn’t have any compression adjustability?  WTH?  I could spend $900 for a Penske double clicker, get compression control, and can replace the connectors on it and use it on another bike if I want in the future...I have a triple clicker on my GSXR and love it!  

The ohlins shock has rebound & compression functions combined. The other shortfall is that the height is not adjustable (it is a few mm longer than standard which raises the rear slightly). For its price it works well, probably not the best for racers but works fine for me at track days.

Yes, you can always pay more in life to get a better alternative.

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14 hours ago, curio124 said:

Guys I love this topic. Hope someone is still around to answer my question.

I love my XSR 700 - its style, sound, riding position and also power. But I've tested Ducati Monster 821 on the track an was amazed how planted it felt in the corners. I need this in my life (-:

My question is - if I upgrade suspension (and tires) on my XSR, will it be comparable with properly build bikes? Or will I just find out, that other components (frame, triple-tree, swing arm, front forks, etc.) are also budget components and not good/stiff enough?

I'm not able to ride any bike to its limits, but I was easily able to tell the difference between XSR and Monster even with my poor riding skills. Was it only/mostly suspension or has other components that significant impact that even poor rider can tell the difference? I mean - of course other components are important, but Yamaha build great bikes so I expect that XSR/MT07 isn't complete trash. And Monster 821 is also somehow "budget monster", so maybe aftermarket Ohlins for MT07 are even better than stock suspension on Monster (there are lot of complains on Monster's forum) and maybe it's more important then diamond frame on MT vs trellis on Monster which will give you just last 10% of performance what mediocre rider can't tell anyway. 

Simply - is there someone who can directly compare upgraded MT07 with Monster, StreetTriple or some other "well build" motorcycle?

thanks.

A short answer without going into the technical stuff as I started this tread with the same questions as I think you have.

Yes, you will note a huge difference if you upgrade the suspension also in normal street riding. The bike gets much more planted and holds the line much better when cornering. The biggest difference comes from the upgrade of the rear shock but fork springs adapted to my weight was nice too. No need for expensive fork upgrades for me, bike is fine now for my use.

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On 12/12/2019 at 9:25 PM, stickshift said:

The ohlins shock has rebound & compression functions combined. The other shortfall is that the height is not adjustable (it is a few mm longer than standard which raises the rear slightly). For its price it works well, probably not the best for racers but works fine for me at track days.

Yes, you can always pay more in life to get a better alternative.

 

Thanks, that's good feedback.  Do the combined rebound and compression appear to work as expected?  Maybe it's not as bad as I thought.

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On 12/12/2019 at 9:25 PM, stickshift said:

The ohlins shock has rebound & compression functions combined. The other shortfall is that the height is not adjustable (it is a few mm longer than standard which raises the rear slightly). For its price it works well, probably not the best for racers but works fine for me at track days.

Yes, you can always pay more in life to get a better alternative.

 

Also, would you consider the Ohlins shock a night-and-day difference from the stock shock?

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45 minutes ago, HulkHogan said:

 

Also, would you consider the Ohlins shock a night-and-day difference from the stock shock?

Yes very much so. 

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1 hour ago, HulkHogan said:

 

Thanks, that's good feedback.  Do the combined rebound and compression appear to work as expected?  Maybe it's not as bad as I thought.

If adjusting one thing also changes other than it does work as expected :)

Point of using aftermarket shock is to have adjustability. Buying shock that does not separate rebound and compression and does not have ride height adjustability is waste of money imo.

Yes it is better than stock door closer but if you spending money get at least something with more adjustability. There are affordable shock with more adjustment.  

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48 minutes ago, twf said:

If adjusting one thing also changes other than it does work as expected :)

Point of using aftermarket shock is to have adjustability. Buying shock that does not separate rebound and compression and does not have ride height adjustability is waste of money imo.

Yes it is better than stock door closer but if you spending money get at least something with more adjustability. There are affordable shock with more adjustment.  

I get what your saying, but at half price used with 2 springs I couldn't pass the Ohlins STX-46 up, theres that ,and I had never even been on a track before. I just think that we all have to start somewhere, get a base, and work from there. Budget determines a lot of people's choices. Slightly off topic, but still suspension related. I mean why are people putting pvc spacers and mixing fork oil to get something better out of the front suspension?

Start somewhere: Stock is crap.

Get a base: Buy what you can afford.

Work from there: Why the f**k didn't I buy the fully adjustable front/rear suspension in the first place?

Budget!!! Thats why. Not everyone has the experience or coin to throw down right off the bat when they realise that this needs to be fixed (suspension) Unfortunately, people fork out cash on farkle prior to this realisation. To each their own.

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Well, you asked does it work and I just answered what I think about it :)

I see a lot of people going cheap route and end up changing it again and spending more on the end. My opinion is based on retail cost, not what you paid for used one. There are better options for that money.

However if you happy and works for you that is all it matters. 

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12 hours ago, fzar said:

Get a base: Buy what you can afford.

That is so true fzar!. The cool thing is that sometimes you end up seriously saving money.

I got a great deal on a new Bitubo XZE11 rear shock which is the cheapest in their line for my FZ-07. It made a huge difference. I had already put heavier springs and heavier oil in my forks, and was happy with them. Now the combo of the shock and the fork mods made my ride great especially compared with the stock crap (started with a 2016 which was before Yamaha bettered their suspension).

The story doesn't end there... seeing that the motorcycle junkie was the first tweaker long before the meth heads, I couldn't leave well enough alone. So, I went and bought a set of brand name fork cartridges (name omitted on purpose), and I was seriously not happy with them. Semi-fortunately I was able to get a buyer, and I only lost $100. I switched back to my aftermarket heavier fork springs and heavier oil, and haven't looked back.

I don't race, and most of my riding is long days trips in the 200-300 mile range with an occasional 400-500 mile day. My suspension is absolutely great for that. Had I not had a hickup on those fork cartridges, I would have spent only a grand total of $400 for the shock and fork springs. Sure you can put $1000-$1500+ into your suspension, but if you are not a racer (arguably only a winning racer) why bother especially if money is tight as it is with many of us. If I'm going to put serious money into my suspension on my FZ-07, I'll do it in the form of a Triumph Street Triple or a KTM 790 😁

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
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Just a FYI for anyone thinking about going down the road of: Ohlins NIX-22 cartridges.

Apparently, Ohlins USA, based in NC, no longer keeps the Nix-22 in stock. I had ordered a set on new years eve and I recently got an email from the company I ordered from, that it will be a 2-3 week lead out time (instead of 2-3 days)as they have to be ordered from Sweden, which in turn, sends them to Ohlins USA in NC and then to the company I ordered from +2day then send it to me +2days.

How much of this is true? I don't know!! I went ahead and ordered them anyway. I can wait 3-4 weeks, as I recently tore down and rebuilt the forks with new bushings,seals, oil @ 130mm and it's a lot better than before.

Just a heads up , if its a road someone is wanting to explore before spring gets here. You should get your order in........... ASAP.

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1 hour ago, fzar said:

Just a FYI for anyone thinking about going down the road of: Ohlins NIX-22 cartridges.

Apparently, Ohlins USA, based in NC, no longer keeps the Nix-22 in stock. I had ordered a set on new years eve and I recently got an email from the company I ordered from, that it will be a 2-3 week lead out time (instead of 2-3 days)as they have to be ordered from Sweden, which in turn, sends them to Ohlins USA in NC and then to the company I ordered from +2day then send it to me +2days.

How much of this is true? I don't know!! I went ahead and ordered them anyway. I can wait 3-4 weeks, as I recently tore down and rebuilt the forks with new bushings,seals, oil @ 130mm and it's a lot better than before.

Just a heads up , if its a road someone is wanting to explore before spring gets here. You should get your order in........... ASAP.

Not sure what's going on with Ohlins these days??? I ordered a Ohlins FSK-143 "street kit" for the front end on my 2019 Yamaha R3. I ordered it through my local Ohlins suspension guy last week. I got a call from him yesterday. They are back ordered until the first week of March!!!! Glad I got an early start on this one-

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""W.O.T. until you see god, then brake"

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  • 1 year later...

I just bought a used NIX22 kit and wanted to install it but i dont know the oil quantity. I know the oil level is 110mm but how much thats translates in milliliters(ml) . I dont have tool to measure oil level and normally work with quantity.
I would like to know the oil type too, i seen  people saying 5w and 20w. I am thinking in got a lower oil because the spring rating is not the ideal.
I am 145.5lbs and have 9N/mm springs.
Thank You.

 

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16 hours ago, kaiserkaiser said:

I just bought a used NIX22 kit and wanted to install it but i dont know the oil quantity. I know the oil level is 110mm but how much thats translates in milliliters(ml) . I dont have tool to measure oil level and normally work with quantity.
I would like to know the oil type too, i seen  people saying 5w and 20w. I am thinking in got a lower oil because the spring rating is not the ideal.
I am 145.5lbs and have 9N/mm springs.
Thank You.

 

Dip a straw or zip tie or something in to the fork leg to measure the level. Like a dipstick on a car. Measure off and make you a mark on your dipstick. 

 

I usually just use a long screwdriver. Be careful not to scratch things up tho. 

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