Slightly loosen the fitting on the reservoir and rotate the hose.

 

The people in Sweden who write these directions use a boilerplate for all. A sportbike taxes the shocks much more than a touring bike does. First one must consider what the bike is used for. Generally a sport bike is used for the track (where the directions come from) and the shocks get so hot that the decals curl and peel. The oil degrades with heat just like a car motor does. Dirt is drug up from the shaft, past the scraper, oil seals, and bushing in the seal head (where the shaft comes out on the bottom)


and into the oil where it is agitated and circulates through the whole shock where all parts start wearing due to the abrasive nature of contaminates.

Touring and other Harley applications:

If you read your HDF history you will see that I was the first person who started using sportbike (Penske) shocks on HD's. I knew what that type of suspension could do when set up originally for that application. Ohlins did have HD shock applications but they did not work well and only sold 2 sets a year. Fast forward a few years.

I am a factory trained and Ohlins authorized service center and rebuild shocks. I have seen many shocks come in and when I go to shows I bring many different parts for educational purposes. I do not go to shows to sell suspension but to meet or assist previous customers, this is called customer service. The person(s) who convey to me at the shows, that they have had less than expected results in performance of my products, I adjust them using the exact same directions & techniques I send and nothing more. I have had 100% satisfaction results when they leave. There are other fine members here who are more than happy to assist their friends as they have learned. I will ask Omar from just last week if that is so. After a few years of the wife being unhappy with the ride and just a few minutes with Tim, the wife was than ecstatic and Omar felt nothing as he said the roads were too smooth, they were not.

I have seen shocks come in at 18,000 miles and needed new bodies, shafts, and naturally a full normal rebuild. Upon close examination it was caused bu several factors, (a) not reading my directions I sent for initial install (alignment) and (b) not cleaning the shock(s) as the shock oil was the consistency of sludge. This customer is a long distance rider and I became friendly with him over the years I knew him, his riding style was just get on the bike and let the rain wash the bike. He wears out brand new bikes in only a few (2~3 years) years. In these cases the Ohlins service interval would be correct.

I have also rebuilt shocks with 35,000 miles that only had dark amber oil and very little dirt. The shocks showed no sign of anything but normal wear for the mileage used. This customer actually read my instructions and cleaned his shocks and I am sure (so I will venture a guess) he also maintained his bike.

It is up to you and you alone to decide how long your shocks will last. There are have it. I put in all of my invoices before a customer ever has the opportunity to purchase anything from me:
Item:
#0 Maintenance: My shocks will last a lifetime. The warrantee is a conditional 5 years (must be maintained). The shafts and threads must be cleaned regularly. Service Ask me

00 I wish you to call me & we will put the shocks on together. Please have shocks in hand & instructions already read & understood.

And in my e-Mail that I send on each and every order prior to the shocks/items being shipped:

Paid Invoice w/tracking #

Please read these included install instructions and ignore the ones in the box. Please buy the tools needed. Problems or having trouble, please call me any reasonable hour 7 days a week E.S.T. I want you to have no drama in getting a good ride.


I can not make anyone do anything they do not want to do. I can not install every shock myself in order to insure proper installation. I can not tune (using the adjustments on the shock) every shock myself for the individual. I only can provide accessibility 7 days a week.


I go to shows for such a reason, to meet up and/or address any concerns. Outside of R&R the shocks to make sure the alignment is correct, I do nothing different and use nothing different than what is is in the box that you receive and the few tools I suggest you pre-purchase in my installation guide.


Brett is a really nice guy and only lives a few miles from where I was born and grew up. Brett, I am the guy who wrote the original directions that I e-Mailed you that looks very similar to the set inside of the box you received. I am the guy who developed those shocks for HD's, it was mine alone (original concept) that I went to Ohlins to manufacture. The shocks being sold now are a bastardized version of the original I specified.


Brett, I called you immediately and I answer my phone but to make your life much easier please do the following:


Item:
#0 Maintenance: My shocks will last a lifetime. The warrantee is a conditional 5 years (must be maintained). The shafts and threads must be cleaned regularly. Service Ask me

00 I wish you to call me & we will put the shocks on together. Please have shocks in hand & instructions already read & understood.

And in my e-Mail that I send on each and every order prior to the shocks/items being shipped:


Paid Invoice w/tracking #

Please read these included install instructions and ignore the ones in the box. Please buy the tools needed. Problems or having trouble, please call me any reasonable hour 7 days a week E.S.T. I want you to have no drama in getting a good ride.


Please do not assume but do the reading which will let you do the knowing!

 

And by doing that you dont loose any pressure? I have a close fitment issue where I was playing with rotating the reservoir to put a loop in the hose. It is tight. But moving the hose would make a big difference.
I notice you guys have the main spring nut pretty high in the adjustment range, mine is about an inch from the top, and I can adjust by hand. Im at 205 and ride solo. mine seems it could be a little smoother but Im afraid to F up the adjustment as it was adjusted to me from Ohlins.
Short story is I bought them from a forum member who got them from Howard. This winter Im going to call Howard for the fork cartridges.

 

I did not loosen them enough to leak, just enough to move the hose. Wrench in one hand hose in the other.

 

The adjustment is only there to compensate for the weight on the bike. If you buy from Howard he will install springs matched to your weight, then there is an initial adjustment to set them up when first installing them. After that they can be adjusted, say for riding 2-up, to compensate for the additional weight of a passenger.

 

I'm going to try that. But as you can see from my pictures, the vertical struts from my Bushtec hitch would interfere with mounting the remote reservoir on the saddlebag support.
I'm unhappy with the Bushtec hitch and just ordered a mchitch, which should be delivered to my house next week. The vertical struts on the mchitch follow the contour of the rear fender and should allow me to mount the reservoir on the saddlebag supports. I think I like that mounting location better and I'll post pictures of the installation.

 

I spoke with Howard and he does not recommend doing that. You shouldn't be touching that fitting.

 

I also looked at this install, please do the procedure we discussed, mount the hoses on the inside of the rack and turn the ressys. Bang done! You already know I answer the phone all reasonable hours on all days. I see no problems here.

 

I decided that I wasn't happy with mounting the reservoir under the tour-pak for a variety of reasons (I'll detail that in another post). I also decided to remove my Bushtec trailer hitch and install a Mchitch instead.
Removing the Bushtec hitch turned into a project in itself.
Two of the 5/16-18 x 1-3/4" low profile cap head screws were stuck/rusted in the frame. I had to dremel off the head of the fastener and heat up the rest of the fastener to get it out of the frame without damaging any threads. I'm sure anyone that has had to deal with stuck fasteners knows how frustrating this is!

Installed the Mchitch and made my first bracket to mount the reservoir out of aluminum angle.

My concern right now is how would I determine if the shock and/or swing-arm will hit the reservoir when it fully compresses?

Another question I have is does the heat from the exhaust effect the oil/gas in the remote reservoir? I know items in my saddlebags can get fairly warm.

 

One more picture, back of the installed bracket.