Can rebuilt forks compair to Ohlins?

[HandJuice]

Is it possible to rebuild the stock forks to be equal or better than Ohlins?

[TLRDoug]

I revealved and resprung my forks and they are way better than stock. The Aprilia Mille R I rode felt the same up front. That said, I saved about $1800.00 by revalving. So I think you can vastly improve the stockers, but if it was as good as the Ohlins, the AMA superbike guys and Jim Brewer wouldn't be runnning the Ohlins.

It is very good with proper springs and a revalve though.

[SDTLR]

Or you could just pretend



........for the time being

[BiG RiG NiG]

haha, nice

[doug]

I did my own on my gixxer and felt that it would be better than Ohlins because I could change the shim stack to my preference which when I finished would track over wash board roads and still give fabulous control. When you buy any after market shock you will get a compromise if you fit the profile for what they intended they will be great on my front forks I had them apart 3 times and on the rear shock I changed the shim stack 3 times in the end I felt it was better than going penske or ohlins but I had more time into it the parts come in the kit, my personal objective was to have the shim stack do the work not have the screw adjusters cranked in a long way as that slows down the reaction to bumps. When finished I had the front adjusters out 2 1/2 turns and the rear on the Showa at 2 3/4 turns and the reation was unbelievable also less sensitive to temperature changes. Also you can tweek low speed compression seperately from high speed in the shim stack currently only Penske allows adjustment of that on there 3 way but you pay the big price, and this was 1 of the big keys to getting the suspension to work properly.

[ama530]

The big difference between the stockers and aftermarket (Ohlins, WP, etc..) is the tolerances that the parts are manufactured to. Some friction reduction coatings are used also. If you want to save some money and want great forks; polish the internals, have the stanction tubes nitrite or diamond coated, and put the Race-Tech goodies in it. For a 1/4 of the price of Ohlins forks you can have something very close.

[Wingspan]

IMHO, reworked forks are good enough for the vast majority of people. Especially on the street where you won't be pushing the bike hard enough to realize that last extra bit of performace the Ohlins forks provide.

[HandJuice]

Originally posted by ama530
The big difference between the stockers and aftermarket (Ohlins, WP, etc..) is the tolerances that the parts are manufactured to. Some friction reduction coatings are used also. If you want to save some money and want great forks; polish the internals, have the stanction tubes nitrite or diamond coated, and put the Race-Tech goodies in it. For a 1/4 of the price of Ohlins forks you can have something very close.

How many of these shops are around? Can most shops do this or does one need to be very selective?

[Wingspan]

I had my forks done by Lindemann Engineering and am very happy with their work and customer service.

I didn't have the coating done, but they can do it as well.

[TLSBill]

If you have to ask that question, you shouldn't be considering Ohlins..

A lot of $$, and you'd have to be able to notice the difference and set it up right.. More adjustable ohlins = more wrong settings available... Unless you're on a track with prize $$ at stake, I wouldn't think it's worth it..

[HandJuice]

Originally posted by TLSBill
If you have to ask that question, you shouldn't be considering Ohlins..

A lot of $$, and you'd have to be able to notice the difference and set it up right.. More adjustable ohlins = more wrong settings available... Unless you're on a track with prize $$ at stake, I wouldn't think it's worth it..

My friend's Falco that he put Ohlins forks on are far better than the forks on my ST4. And the forks on my ST4 are noticably better than the TLR's that I test rode. Admitted, I don't need a full blown racing setup but I sure do like to have a little extra room when I am pushing it hard on the canyons.