I received my Ohlins #6 shocks from Howard at Motorcycle Metal earlier this week. I installed them and I am now in the process of fine tuning the ride. Nothing much to report right now, but I do have a few pics of the install if you are interested. You can go here to see them:

https://picasaweb.google.com/joeyafe...lassicLimited#

I will be adjusting spring pre-load, compression damping, and rebound damping, a little at a time, to suit my bike, weight, and riding style. I'll be back soon to share my experience for those of you interested in possibly upgrading to Ohlins for your touring bike.

I would also appreciate any suggestions from those of you that have Ohlins, your approach to fine tuning, and any tips you might have for an Ohlins newbie. Thanks!

 

Wow. Those are dead-sexy.

What'd they run you?

 

Killer setup! Bet it rides nice!

 

Thanks.

You can get all the model and pricing info on the motorcycle metal website. Contact Howard and he will make you a great deal on a pair, with pricing well below retail. Here's the link to the MM site:
http://www.motorcyclemetal.com/gpage32.html

 

Keep a shock tuning notebook. Put down the intial settings in it and your impressions and then note your adjustments and your impression of how your adjustments affected your ride. As a prior race mechanic this is the only way to get shock(s) tuned properly, otherwise it's like being blindfolded and throwing darts at a moving dartboard. I have serious shock envy by the way. Have fun!

 

Thanks. With the adjustments I have made so far, I am totally satisfied with the ride and feel of the bike. Especially going over RR crossings, through dips, in curves with questionable surfacing, and manholes/potholes. Still some fine tuning to do, but getting there. The most significant adjustment for me was the spring pre-load setting. If that is not measured and adjusted to the recommended setting, you can sure feel it on the road.
I know that Motorcycle Metal is currently working on a complete front-end solution for touring HDs, so I am anxious to see what they design. The front end on my Ultra is just "ok", and it could use some flex stiffening and definitely a suspension upgrade.

 

Thanks for the tip QTRracer! It is a process, and I wish I had someone like you around that has the experience in race tuning that you apparently have. I believe the rebound dampening adjustment will be a little elusive for me. If you have any ideas on what I should be feeling with proper rebound dampening, I am all ears. I have read all the Ohlins manuals, etc., and know what the rebound dampening adjustment is supposed to do, but "feeling" it is another thing. Right now, compression and rebound are set to the Ohlins recommendations for a "starting" point.Thanks again.

 

Just a note...the spring preload was a little stiff when rider sag was measured. I had to adjust (relax) the preload to get it to the desired 31 mm, and after that it rode like a different bike. Still have some compression and rebound to play with, but so far so good. It's raining here this morning, but maybe this afternoon I can get in a couple of test rides.

 

I had too little sag also when originally installing my Ohlins last year. Moved the clip 1 groove up and the ride was transformed.

 

Looking foward to the final report. Also do you think it was worth the money?

Thanks