View Full Version : Ohlins or which other shock? please help.
hi... all i know this is a subject that comes up alot, I have been through the search button and looked but didn't find what i was looking for...
i'm looking in upgrading my suspention, but don't wanna use a gsxr front end, what rear shock is good for the track and road? and what do u do with the front? been looking at ohlins but u get hogens and a few others to!!!! :D
hi... all i know this is a subject that comes up alot, I have been through the search button and looked but didn't find what i was looking for...
i'm looking in upgrading my suspention, but don't wanna use a gsxr front end, what rear shock is good for the track and road? and what do u do with the front? been looking at ohlins but u get hogens and a few others to!!!! :D
If you're not the DIY type then I can strongly recomend a cartridge fork conversion by Maxton Suspension. Had my 2001 SV650S done about 5 years ago and am very happy with it ; infact it was so good I bought a rear shock from them too that had only done a few races - you might be lucky and get a similar deal at this time of year as sponsored people will be returning shocks Maxton provided for the season. Very nice & helpful people; just contact them for a quote.
http://www.maxtonsuspension.co.uk/
andrewsmith
22-09-10, 09:08 PM
ice for rear shock have a read http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=137793
yorkie_chris
23-09-10, 08:34 AM
What bike, pointy or curvy?
couple of options for the back in order of price
Premium shocks, ohlins, penske, WP et al. I'd only bother with the penske for the curvy, 8983 for the road. Ohlins is OK on the pointy.
Slightly less premium shocks... like the penske 8900E sport or hyperpro emulsion one, stuff like that. Nearly as good as having compression adjustment riding up to 90% effort, then they start to lose composure a little bit. Not that you'd notice unless you'd already tried the better option.
Hagon. Supposedly premium price, but stock length and no adjustment of ride height, which you need masses more of. They don't care how much you weigh when they send it you and they have a single damping adjuster (which means it will be squishy in compression compared to an ohlins or penske with one way valve in shaft). No idea what spring rate. Basically a stock shock with better surface finish.
GSXR/ZXR swaps. Good cost effective option but not comparable to premium shocks.
There's also option of revalving and springing a shock from another bike to better suit the SV. Still not close to premium shock but can get past the most glaring issues of the stock one (and stock ones from other bike) which will get you 90% of the improvement possible.
For the front end the best option is a GSXR conversion revalved and sprung to suit you. But if you don't want to go down this road then here are options
Oil only. dead cheap, still crap. springs too soft to work at all, you will bottom everywhere but might get some stability on smooth corners back.
Oil and springs, getting there. more useable. Still no compression control so braking is difficult.
Oil, springs, emulators. Not bad setup, compression not too good though, rebound still very dependant on oil viscosity which changes a lot with temperature.
Cartridge conversion, I think these are the best for the job. The oil is far more temperature stable and you've got complete control over rebound and comp damping. But it is more expensive, however they bring the damping performance to as good as you would expect from full cartridge forks like the GSXR.
Paul the 6th
23-09-10, 08:47 AM
:D http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=157852 :D
SV650Racer
23-09-10, 08:52 AM
Ohlins/Nitron or Penske shock for the rear. If budget can stretch then id put the Ohlins first, Penske race shock and Nitron race shock equal, then the Nitron Track and then Sport shock next in that order. All very good though and far better than the stock unit or using a GSXR shock etc. Just depends on how much wonga you have to spend.
Ohlins/K-tech or Racetech springs/Emmulators in the forks. This combo keeps the simple fork, simple and its won us 5 minitwins championships now and works very well on the road too. Dont go too over complicated, IMHO the cartridges dont work any better than the emmulator for the money. Rode on both and prefered the emmulators for feel.
You've got some worthy advice from the suspension gurus there.
I'm not in that bracket, but I'd strongly recommend chosing your oil carefully, it's not "all the same". It's the cheapest component so a little care in choosing it returns huge bang-for-buck.
Have a look here (http://www.peterverdonedesigns.com/lowspeed.htm) and look through the (white) table halfway down which lists commercially available oils and some of the properties.
The oil you choose will depend on your set-up, type of damping, your weight etc, but what you do want is one with a high viscosity index (VI), basically saying the viscosity doesn't change much with temperature, then your damping will be more consistent during varied use.
I've only tried a few oils but having used Silkolene PRO RSF I would be pretty reluctant to use anything else now. For me the consistency is very noticeable, other oils have felt hard when the bike was cold but improved as everything warmed up. I use a lower nominal grade than you might expect (7.5W instead of 10W) but a look at the table shows the PRO RSF 7.5W viscosity is equivalent to most other makes of 10W. Your choice will depend on what you prefer and what works for you.
SV650Racer
23-09-10, 10:38 AM
We only use the Pro RSF fork oils. The main reason behind them staying stable for longer is they are an ester based fully synth oil, fork oil has a fair amount of work to do and often even after one seasons use it will come out like stinky gone off gravy which does nothing for your damping whatsoever.
Same goes for engine oils..mineral based semi's and fully's dont remain as stable as the ester based semi and fullys meaning the mineral based oils require more frequent changes.
yorkie_chris
23-09-10, 10:55 AM
Even pro RSF (my choice too) is not as good in VI in the thicker grades (like the 15W you probably need with stock damper) and can be noticeably slow in rebound. This is why I think cartridge is better because you use 5W oil which has a massively high VI.
Even pro RSF (my choice too) is not as good in VI in the thicker grades (like the 15W you probably need with stock damper) and can be noticeably slow in rebound. This is why I think cartridge is better because you use 5W oil which has a massively high VI.
thats sum fantastic advice thanks all..... is ther anywere in kent i can have this work done?
im a noob at bike work...
yorkie_chris
23-09-10, 02:35 PM
I don't think so. Maybe PDQ are down there?
Maxton is over west near liverpool, I am in Yorkshire. Few other places do it but it is not common work because there is no need to do it for power rangers.
You could post your forks if you were prepared to remove them and refit.
I don't think so. Maybe PDQ are down there?
Maxton is over west near liverpool, I am in Yorkshire. Few other places do it but it is not common work because there is no need to do it for power rangers.
You could post your forks if you were prepared to remove them and refit.
post them 2were mate.:D i could do that... i think... lol..
northwind
27-09-10, 11:11 PM
A lot of the US tuners don't rate Ohlins... For me it's been great, also mine is now pretty old (it looks awful after too many scottish winters) but it's never needed any real surgery, just routine servicing year on year and it keeps going. High performance but not highly strung.
Think I'd go Nitron now maybe. Not sure what's good these days. Ohlins is simple to work with and there's plenty of people who'll tune and service them.
Dicky Ticker
28-09-10, 07:34 AM
Not quiet on your doorstep but you can make an appointment and ride in ride out,easily do able from Kent
M.C.H.Stowmarket,ask for Darren-----Professional specialist who builds suspension for some of the leading race teams.
He will guide you on the correct road for your budget and what you want out of your bike for your style of riding.
Not exactly cheap but I can assure you,you will be happy with the results
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