Afternoon Woods!

 

On Monday, August 30, 2021, I, NoRegerts, received a package from Ohlins USA, located in Hendersonville, North Carolina, at my home. The package was secured my daughter and brought inside the residence to protect the package from the rain.

Prior to my purchase I contacted the company and spoke in depth about my motorcycle, the style of riding I do, and the weight of not only myself, but that of my passenger as well as any luggage I may have at any given time.

The shocks were well packaged in a medium density cardboard box and expanded polystyrene as padding within the box. Also included was a plastic bag that contained stickers, blue and yellow in color as well as black in color. Along with the stickers were an owner’s manual and a set up guide.

The install was quite simple and the shocks had the standard rate springs already installed from the factory as per my request. I was advised to set the spring collar to 24mm from the top of the collar and use that as the base line to make future adjustments. I verified the spring sag to be within 5 to 15mm range for solo riding.

The stock shocks were removed using a ¾” socket. The bolts were loosened while the rear tire was off the ground to prevent binding. The new shocks came with sleeves and spacers and required the use of the original bolts. The new shocks were installed at torqued to 50ft/lbs.

The test ride was done after the install was complete, however the road surfaces were wet and had standing water. This made the rear feel loose and the overall experience was not as exciting as I would have hoped initially.

The ride was stiffer than it had been with the stock shocks and I felt the road more as the rear was firm, but was not uncomfortable. The steering response improved making the front feel lighter and easier to turn. This is likely due to the higher shocks and reduced steering angle. This effect would be intensified on the highway which would be discovered later.

With my wife on the back the shocks felt soft and quite comfortable, but still firm. Bumps did not bottom out and they did not impart a jarring either, as previously experienced. My wife said she could not tell the difference.

While hitting bumps and holes to feel the reaction of the suspension, it was an odd experience. I felt the front hit and bounce over the terrain, but the rear was much smoother as it hit. The rear is improved enough that the front now feels deficient. That will be in a few months likely, as I will have to save again.

Overall, I believe I will have to adjust the preload and the dampening settings to fine tune and get it where I want it to be. However, at this time, I feel that it is quite an improvement. The ride still feels good, it did before too, but now the rough spots in the road feel much less noticeable and overall the entire machine feel more solid and more stable.

The only concern I have is that the front feels looser than it did, although nothing in the front changed besides the angle. Perhaps I’ll need to get used to the change. It did not feel dangerous, just something to note.

This concludes my brief experience with the Ohlins HD 159 shocks. I did not feel the external reservoir shocks would be beneficial enough to justify the added cost, but they do look neat.

 

I object Your Honor.
Are these Ohlins....or.........HD! Shocks ???

 

the door is open, and a new batch of cigars arrived last week.

 

@NoRegerts You forgot this........

//Nothing Follows//

 

Did I? Damn... Well usually an entry indicating the DA office it is going to follows.

 

Thats how hand written police (maybe others) reports are finished in the Army. Back before there were those high falutin 'lectronic werd typers with a TV

 

Mighty big words considering what you do for a living Mark. lol

Most of my reports are open ended as I continue my work on them. When they finish I end them with "Nothing further" or "No further action taken in this case." So MY BAD for not doing that this time lol.

 

More about aardvarks than I care to know.

 

The aardvark (/ˈɑːrdvɑːrk/ ARD-vark; Orycteropus afer) is a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa.It is the only living species of the order Tubulidentata,although other prehistoric species and genera of Tubulidentata are known. Unlike most other insectivores, it has a long pig-like snout, which is used to sniff out food. It roams over most of the southern two-thirds of the African continent, avoiding areas that are mainly rocky. A nocturnal feeder, it subsists on ants and termites, which it will dig out of their hills using its sharp claws and powerful legs. It also digs to create burrows in which to live and rear its young. It receives a "least concern" rating from the IUCN, although its numbers seem to be decreasing.

Aardvarks are afrotheres, a clade which also includes elephants, manatees, and hyraxes.

And now I know more about them than I ever cared to. Dangit!