June 26, 2009
OHLINS
Oh, hey! You're still there? Glad to see you.
No, I haven't forgotten about this. I just haven't felt like posting anything. But I did check this the other day and it occurred to me that the two of you still reading were left in a bit of a lurch as to the state of affairs with the suspension upgrade. So, to complete the story: it works. I tore off the entire front end, drained the forks of oil, removed the springs and drilled 2 new holes in each damper rod. I'll spare you the really boring details of damper rod forks. All you really need to know is that when installing cartridge emulators, you have to negate the damping effect of the rods because you are turning over all responsibility for that operation to the emu's themselves. To do this, you drill out the existing holes to about 10mm and add a few more for good measure. Then the entire fork is reassembled with the emulators sitting on top of the dampers and the springs hold the emu's in place. Fill with 20 wt. fork oil and we're off to the races. So to speak. It wasn't all smooth sailing, but I got it down with only a few issues and I can say that now I know. And knowing is half the battle! Next on the list is an OHLINS shock! Yes, that OHLINS. I once heard a rumor that OHLINS is so good at what they do that everyone buys their suspension. Not even Valentino Rossi or Ben Spies gets a pass (Or should that be FIAT Yamaha and Sterilgarda Yamaha, respectively). Apparently, OHLINS is so good, they dont have to give away their bits to the top racers to get the free press. I found a sweet deal on a used one from a guy in Houston who was converting his race bike back to a street bike. Why he chose not to keep it on the bike, is a mystery to me, but I'm diggin' that he did. I sent it back to the factory for a full checkup and I got it back Monday. God willing, I'll be able to put it on the SV this weekend! Then comes the fun of deciphering the settings. You see, I've never before had a bike with adjustable suspension. The emu's are also adjustable, but you have to take off the caps, pull out the springs (dripping fork oil everywhere, I might add) then fish out the valve with a magnetic rod or parts grabber before you can make your adjustment. On the rear shock with the remote res, all you do is "click in" the amount you want. So we'll see how that goes.
More to come...
No, I haven't forgotten about this. I just haven't felt like posting anything. But I did check this the other day and it occurred to me that the two of you still reading were left in a bit of a lurch as to the state of affairs with the suspension upgrade. So, to complete the story: it works. I tore off the entire front end, drained the forks of oil, removed the springs and drilled 2 new holes in each damper rod. I'll spare you the really boring details of damper rod forks. All you really need to know is that when installing cartridge emulators, you have to negate the damping effect of the rods because you are turning over all responsibility for that operation to the emu's themselves. To do this, you drill out the existing holes to about 10mm and add a few more for good measure. Then the entire fork is reassembled with the emulators sitting on top of the dampers and the springs hold the emu's in place. Fill with 20 wt. fork oil and we're off to the races. So to speak. It wasn't all smooth sailing, but I got it down with only a few issues and I can say that now I know. And knowing is half the battle! Next on the list is an OHLINS shock! Yes, that OHLINS. I once heard a rumor that OHLINS is so good at what they do that everyone buys their suspension. Not even Valentino Rossi or Ben Spies gets a pass (Or should that be FIAT Yamaha and Sterilgarda Yamaha, respectively). Apparently, OHLINS is so good, they dont have to give away their bits to the top racers to get the free press. I found a sweet deal on a used one from a guy in Houston who was converting his race bike back to a street bike. Why he chose not to keep it on the bike, is a mystery to me, but I'm diggin' that he did. I sent it back to the factory for a full checkup and I got it back Monday. God willing, I'll be able to put it on the SV this weekend! Then comes the fun of deciphering the settings. You see, I've never before had a bike with adjustable suspension. The emu's are also adjustable, but you have to take off the caps, pull out the springs (dripping fork oil everywhere, I might add) then fish out the valve with a magnetic rod or parts grabber before you can make your adjustment. On the rear shock with the remote res, all you do is "click in" the amount you want. So we'll see how that goes.
More to come...
// posted by wayne @ 6/26/2009 05:24:00 AM 
