My Suspension Upgrade Report - Ohlins and Monotubes
#1
07-11-2011, 12:58 AM
My Suspension Upgrade Report - Ohlins and Monotubes
I have been wanting to do the suspension on the King for ages. The premium choice for the rear seemed to be Ohlins from Howard at motorcyclemetal.com, and the #6s with the remote reservoir. The front was a bit tougher, as there isn’t a clear choice. Howard is working on an Ohlins kit for the FLH front end, but it isn’t out yet.
Howards advice was to leave the front stock and wait for the Ohlins. I didn’t like the sound of this, I was thinking that the front and rear would be radically different in the way they respond and end up fighting each other even more than they do now.
Anyhow, I was ebaying for crap, and I found a Progressive Monotube kit for $260 or so. Considering that the rear Ohlins were gonna be $1600 or so, and I would expect the front Ohlins kit to be even more , I figured I could chuck in the progressives, run them until the Ohlins kit is out and upgrade. As a bonus if the Progressives turn out to be ok then I could spend the difference on beer and *****, or just waste it on something frivolous.
If the progressives don’t make the cut I can flog them on ebay and easily get $100 for them, maybe $200, so the total lost on the progressives is negligible in the scheme of spending over $3000 on the suspension.
So that’s what I ended up with - #6s on the back with a custom spring from Howard, and standard ride height Progressive monotubes on the font from ebay. I really hate lowered Harleys, they border on unrideable, I like cornering clearance and the more the better.
Monotube Install
So the first job was to install the monotubes. Overall this was much quicker and simpler than I thought. I had never changed my own fork oil, and I never even had the nacelle apart, but with the aid of the service manual it took me about 45 mins to get the callipers, wheel, guard, light bar and nacelle off.
Tip for others that follow – undo the 6mm inhex damper rod retaining bolt in the bottom of the fork legs after you pull the wheel off, before you pull the guard. That way the legs are held still and you can easily break out the bolt. Don’t remove the bolt completely yet, wait till the oil is drained. I didn’t need to get out my impact wrench, I did it easily with a breaker bar.
So then each leg is easy to get out, and its easy to break way the spring retainer and drain the fork.
The 09 King forks don’t have a cartridge, so each leg just requires you to remove the 6mm bolt, drop out the stock damper rod, and put the monotube in with the top out spring on the bottom. Replace the 6mm bolt, (no need to torque it up – wait until the leg is back in the bike and held still) and that’s the monotube installed. Then add some 10wt fork oil, compress the spring slightly, screw the top of the monotube into the fork tube and its done.
The FLT bikes with a cartridge need you to pull the leg apart, which means pulling the fork leg seal.
So the legs go back in and the front end goes back together like clockwork.
Ohlins Install
Time for the Ohlins. I figured they should take about 30 mins, and involve about 8 bolts total.
The first disappointment was that the Ohlins had been damaged in transit. The units are packed in expanding foam, but the foam doesnt separate the reservoir from the spring and some baggage handler must have dropped the box, resulting in the bolt on the reservoir hitting the spring and taking a number of chips out of the powdercoat. Also the Ohlins stickers on the reservoirs had been damaged by in transit and were torn up. Howard is sending me new stickers.
Unfortunately Howards kit leaves something to be desired in a number of areas. Obviously the shock unit goes on easy enough. Be aware that the #6s are longer than the stock shocks and therefore you cant just unbolt one side and replace it with the Ohlins. You need to put a trolley jack or something under the back wheel, take the weight, remove both shocks, slightly lower the trolley jack to the right height and fit the Ohlins.
The axle on my 09 hit the mufflers after the longer shocks were installed. The kit comes with 4 spacers to put on the shock bolts if they don’t line up straight, I used these spacers to lower the mufflers so the axle wouldn’t hit them. Luckily I had 4 longer bolts of the right type to bolt the mufflers on with. This is another omission from the Ohlins kit.
Next comes mounting the reservoir. The ohlins instructions are super vauge, it doesn’t explain where the reservoir is supposed to go, and the diagram doesn’t show the mounting position or the saddlebag rail brackets so you kinda have to figure it out for yourself. My bike has the optional rear saddlebag to guard fillers, which are a genuine accessory, and these made it very hard to fit the reservoir.
For the right side of the bike I used the supplied stainless bracket, but when I put it on I couldn’t put the bag on and I couldn’t put the clamps on as the head of the bolt fouled on the saddlebag rail.
The plastic saddles that hold the reservoir have studs built into them in the Ohlins instructions, but the ones in my kit came with bolts and it was not possible to get any spanner onto the recessed bolt heads. Howards solution was to jam a screwdriver between the bolt heads and the plastic body. This didn’t work for me and the bolt jumped and span. So I cut slots in the head of each bolt with a hacksaw so I could hold them still. Howard suggested that I don’t use the supplied nylok nuts and just use some normal luts with Loktite, neither of which I had or were supplied with the kit. I suggested that these bolts should be cap screws so you can just put a hex key in them and Howard said “I do not know how to do your job as I am sure you are much better at it than I”. In other words keep my improvements to myself.
Long story short I flipped the bracket around and it now clears the saddlebag, but the reservoir is 5/8” from the rear disc. I have seen that rear brake “blue” which means it has been over 1000F so I am worried the heat will affect the shock performance. I am not really happy with this, I asked Howard about it 3 times in different emails but he never commented on it.
The Ohlins instructions say that if you want to make sure the clamps don’t scratch the reservoir then you should put electrical tape on them. IMHO this is pretty crappy coming from Ohlins, who wants their reservoirs scratched up??? Ohlins should supply the clamps with protection on them already. I suggested this to Howard, don’t hold your breath. So for my clamps I slipped some heatshrink on them, and hit it with a gas torch. The result is a very neat matt black coating that protects the resy. Why Ohlins couldn’t do this at the factory on a $1600 product is a mystery.
The left side is even more complicated. With the saddlebag fillers you cant put the resy at the back of the saddlebag rail, and if you use the stainless bracket supplied by Howard then the belt pulley will wipe out the resy on the first bump.
So I bent the saddlebag filler brackets a bit and created a space for the reservoir to sit in, then I mounted it using some heavy duty cable ties. This needs some improvement, but is working ok so far. I am doing to need to re engineer something this week to get it held right.
So how does it ride?
Well, its radically different. I am very impressed with the Progressive front end. The brake dive is reduced and the front end just feels planted.
The back is just superb, it seems to just soak up everything whilst just feeling very composed.
The front Monotubes do allow more imperfections to make it thru to the bars, and the ride quality is not as good as the back. Its almost as if the monotubes have more friction in them and therefore more imperfections make it thru to your hands whereas the Ohlins are seamless in the way they move, soaking everything up.
I have read that the Ohlins will free up and bed in once after 500-1000 miles, and they will need re adjusting as this happens. At the moment I havent played with them much, I have set the sag and gone 1 notch of compression damping softer and I am happy as a clam.
There is a level crossing not far from my house that used to nearly throw me off at 45mph. I hit it at 45 today and I didn’t even need to get out of the seat.
So both products get a big thumbs up from me, I just cant get over what good value the Progressive Monotubes are. If / when the Ohlins front end comes out it will be really interesting to see just how much better the front end can be on these tourers.
Photo Description
These photos are of the monotubes, first one is of whats in the box - a monotube unwrapped. Notice that the spring is not a progressive rate spring which is what I expected (this is a good thing). The shock is a sealed unit and not rebuildable or serviceable unlike the Ohlins which can be rebuilt over and over again. At this price you bin them and buy new ones.
Second pic is of the leg with the damper rod and stock top out spring removed. To get these out just undo the 6mm bolt and invert the leg. Ideally keep the leg compressed so that the bottoming cone stays put, but it is easy enough to locate if it comes away.
Third pic is sliding the monotube into the leg.
Last one is adding 5oz of 10wt fork oil. this oil just lubricates the bushes, it has no damping role.
Ohlins pics will follow in a different post.
Howards advice was to leave the front stock and wait for the Ohlins. I didn’t like the sound of this, I was thinking that the front and rear would be radically different in the way they respond and end up fighting each other even more than they do now.
Anyhow, I was ebaying for crap, and I found a Progressive Monotube kit for $260 or so. Considering that the rear Ohlins were gonna be $1600 or so, and I would expect the front Ohlins kit to be even more , I figured I could chuck in the progressives, run them until the Ohlins kit is out and upgrade. As a bonus if the Progressives turn out to be ok then I could spend the difference on beer and *****, or just waste it on something frivolous.
If the progressives don’t make the cut I can flog them on ebay and easily get $100 for them, maybe $200, so the total lost on the progressives is negligible in the scheme of spending over $3000 on the suspension.
So that’s what I ended up with - #6s on the back with a custom spring from Howard, and standard ride height Progressive monotubes on the font from ebay. I really hate lowered Harleys, they border on unrideable, I like cornering clearance and the more the better.
Monotube Install
So the first job was to install the monotubes. Overall this was much quicker and simpler than I thought. I had never changed my own fork oil, and I never even had the nacelle apart, but with the aid of the service manual it took me about 45 mins to get the callipers, wheel, guard, light bar and nacelle off.
Tip for others that follow – undo the 6mm inhex damper rod retaining bolt in the bottom of the fork legs after you pull the wheel off, before you pull the guard. That way the legs are held still and you can easily break out the bolt. Don’t remove the bolt completely yet, wait till the oil is drained. I didn’t need to get out my impact wrench, I did it easily with a breaker bar.
So then each leg is easy to get out, and its easy to break way the spring retainer and drain the fork.
The 09 King forks don’t have a cartridge, so each leg just requires you to remove the 6mm bolt, drop out the stock damper rod, and put the monotube in with the top out spring on the bottom. Replace the 6mm bolt, (no need to torque it up – wait until the leg is back in the bike and held still) and that’s the monotube installed. Then add some 10wt fork oil, compress the spring slightly, screw the top of the monotube into the fork tube and its done.
The FLT bikes with a cartridge need you to pull the leg apart, which means pulling the fork leg seal.
So the legs go back in and the front end goes back together like clockwork.
Ohlins Install
Time for the Ohlins. I figured they should take about 30 mins, and involve about 8 bolts total.
The first disappointment was that the Ohlins had been damaged in transit. The units are packed in expanding foam, but the foam doesnt separate the reservoir from the spring and some baggage handler must have dropped the box, resulting in the bolt on the reservoir hitting the spring and taking a number of chips out of the powdercoat. Also the Ohlins stickers on the reservoirs had been damaged by in transit and were torn up. Howard is sending me new stickers.
Unfortunately Howards kit leaves something to be desired in a number of areas. Obviously the shock unit goes on easy enough. Be aware that the #6s are longer than the stock shocks and therefore you cant just unbolt one side and replace it with the Ohlins. You need to put a trolley jack or something under the back wheel, take the weight, remove both shocks, slightly lower the trolley jack to the right height and fit the Ohlins.
The axle on my 09 hit the mufflers after the longer shocks were installed. The kit comes with 4 spacers to put on the shock bolts if they don’t line up straight, I used these spacers to lower the mufflers so the axle wouldn’t hit them. Luckily I had 4 longer bolts of the right type to bolt the mufflers on with. This is another omission from the Ohlins kit.
Next comes mounting the reservoir. The ohlins instructions are super vauge, it doesn’t explain where the reservoir is supposed to go, and the diagram doesn’t show the mounting position or the saddlebag rail brackets so you kinda have to figure it out for yourself. My bike has the optional rear saddlebag to guard fillers, which are a genuine accessory, and these made it very hard to fit the reservoir.
For the right side of the bike I used the supplied stainless bracket, but when I put it on I couldn’t put the bag on and I couldn’t put the clamps on as the head of the bolt fouled on the saddlebag rail.
The plastic saddles that hold the reservoir have studs built into them in the Ohlins instructions, but the ones in my kit came with bolts and it was not possible to get any spanner onto the recessed bolt heads. Howards solution was to jam a screwdriver between the bolt heads and the plastic body. This didn’t work for me and the bolt jumped and span. So I cut slots in the head of each bolt with a hacksaw so I could hold them still. Howard suggested that I don’t use the supplied nylok nuts and just use some normal luts with Loktite, neither of which I had or were supplied with the kit. I suggested that these bolts should be cap screws so you can just put a hex key in them and Howard said “I do not know how to do your job as I am sure you are much better at it than I”. In other words keep my improvements to myself.
Long story short I flipped the bracket around and it now clears the saddlebag, but the reservoir is 5/8” from the rear disc. I have seen that rear brake “blue” which means it has been over 1000F so I am worried the heat will affect the shock performance. I am not really happy with this, I asked Howard about it 3 times in different emails but he never commented on it.
The Ohlins instructions say that if you want to make sure the clamps don’t scratch the reservoir then you should put electrical tape on them. IMHO this is pretty crappy coming from Ohlins, who wants their reservoirs scratched up??? Ohlins should supply the clamps with protection on them already. I suggested this to Howard, don’t hold your breath. So for my clamps I slipped some heatshrink on them, and hit it with a gas torch. The result is a very neat matt black coating that protects the resy. Why Ohlins couldn’t do this at the factory on a $1600 product is a mystery.
The left side is even more complicated. With the saddlebag fillers you cant put the resy at the back of the saddlebag rail, and if you use the stainless bracket supplied by Howard then the belt pulley will wipe out the resy on the first bump.
So I bent the saddlebag filler brackets a bit and created a space for the reservoir to sit in, then I mounted it using some heavy duty cable ties. This needs some improvement, but is working ok so far. I am doing to need to re engineer something this week to get it held right.
So how does it ride?
Well, its radically different. I am very impressed with the Progressive front end. The brake dive is reduced and the front end just feels planted.
The back is just superb, it seems to just soak up everything whilst just feeling very composed.
The front Monotubes do allow more imperfections to make it thru to the bars, and the ride quality is not as good as the back. Its almost as if the monotubes have more friction in them and therefore more imperfections make it thru to your hands whereas the Ohlins are seamless in the way they move, soaking everything up.
I have read that the Ohlins will free up and bed in once after 500-1000 miles, and they will need re adjusting as this happens. At the moment I havent played with them much, I have set the sag and gone 1 notch of compression damping softer and I am happy as a clam.
There is a level crossing not far from my house that used to nearly throw me off at 45mph. I hit it at 45 today and I didn’t even need to get out of the seat.
So both products get a big thumbs up from me, I just cant get over what good value the Progressive Monotubes are. If / when the Ohlins front end comes out it will be really interesting to see just how much better the front end can be on these tourers.
Photo Description
These photos are of the monotubes, first one is of whats in the box - a monotube unwrapped. Notice that the spring is not a progressive rate spring which is what I expected (this is a good thing). The shock is a sealed unit and not rebuildable or serviceable unlike the Ohlins which can be rebuilt over and over again. At this price you bin them and buy new ones.
Second pic is of the leg with the damper rod and stock top out spring removed. To get these out just undo the 6mm bolt and invert the leg. Ideally keep the leg compressed so that the bottoming cone stays put, but it is easy enough to locate if it comes away.
Third pic is sliding the monotube into the leg.
Last one is adding 5oz of 10wt fork oil. this oil just lubricates the bushes, it has no damping role.
Ohlins pics will follow in a different post.
Last edited by kingkingking; 07-11-2011 at 01:50 AM.
#2
07-11-2011, 01:07 AM
Ohlins Pic
The first pic is from Howard showing how you should "jam a screwdriver in it" because you can get a spanner or socket on the bolt. An inhex cap screw would be a much more elegant solution, but I am told I should stick to my day job instead of suggesting improvements to Howard.
The second pic shows me slotting the bolt heads with a hacksaw as when I "jammed a screwdriver in it" the bolt head still rotated, and I was worried the bracket would break.
The third pic shows the heat shrink applied to the clamp. Again, for $1600 Ohlins should do this in the works, but anyhow.
The 4th pic is the completed right side. Note the saddlebag fillers reduce the available room, and the saddlebag rail brackets are also in the way. Howard suggested I cut these off with a cut off tool, which I respectfully declined!!
The 5th pic is the completed left side, this still needs work as I am not happy with it.
I suppose I could get rid of the fillers but I really like them and they were expensive.
The second pic shows me slotting the bolt heads with a hacksaw as when I "jammed a screwdriver in it" the bolt head still rotated, and I was worried the bracket would break.
The third pic shows the heat shrink applied to the clamp. Again, for $1600 Ohlins should do this in the works, but anyhow.
The 4th pic is the completed right side. Note the saddlebag fillers reduce the available room, and the saddlebag rail brackets are also in the way. Howard suggested I cut these off with a cut off tool, which I respectfully declined!!
The 5th pic is the completed left side, this still needs work as I am not happy with it.
I suppose I could get rid of the fillers but I really like them and they were expensive.
#5
07-11-2011, 05:00 AM
Ultimate HDF Member
I can see why you didn't like the mounting of reservoirs. I to would worry about them falling off. If you're anything like me that will drive you crazy. I'm glad the shocks work great. I've been thinking about some for my bike but not the $1600 ones. It looks like they need to do some work on mounting & hardware supplied with kits. Good luck.
#7
07-11-2011, 05:36 AM
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#8
07-11-2011, 05:48 AM
Club Member
In addition to Bob's link above, here is the Custom Cycle Engineering website.
To King, a great post on improving the breed. The #6s weren't available at the time I bought my #3s, although I think they would have broken the bank! Sounds as if the #6s have some teething troubles with the reservoir mounting. Best of luck sorting them out.
Best of luck to Howard also, in sorting out the Ohlins fork inserts! As for the CCE kit, I like the top yoke/triple tree, which is along the lines Howard is working towards, but what is missing is an upgrade in damping control to improve ride quality.
To King, a great post on improving the breed. The #6s weren't available at the time I bought my #3s, although I think they would have broken the bank! Sounds as if the #6s have some teething troubles with the reservoir mounting. Best of luck sorting them out.
Best of luck to Howard also, in sorting out the Ohlins fork inserts! As for the CCE kit, I like the top yoke/triple tree, which is along the lines Howard is working towards, but what is missing is an upgrade in damping control to improve ride quality.
#9
07-11-2011, 06:49 AM
Ultimate HDF Member
I've got the #3-4 shocks which are the same length at their lowest adjustment, and I had the same issue with the axle nut contacting the muffler at full droop. I'm pretty sure they would have cleared the Fatcat, and they work fine with the stock mufflers and the 4" Jackpots. Basically any slip-on with the axle relief dent that the stock ones have. Once you get past the 1000 mile break in and start really adjusting them to your tastes, I think you'll be amazed with them.
