anuther friggin Ohlins post (and Sundowner seat)
#1
08-09-2011, 10:59 PM
anuther friggin Ohlins post (and Sundowner seat)
I ride my bike daily...mostly solo. There is one trip my lady (Amy) and I take every year from our home on the coast of Delaware to Front Royal, VA (top end of Skyline Drive... about a 4hr trip to get there...and riding throught the weekend). Amy has a cornucopia of medical issues: fibromyalgia, arthritis, bulged discs and bone spurs in her neck. Half of the times we have gone, she's been toast by the end of the weekend and finds someone in a cage to ride home with. So, this year, I figured I'd try to make things a bit more tolerable.
So, I've been reading the shock and seat threads. At the same time, I'm not a fella with lots of spare dough.
It sounded like most people who have actually owned Progessive shocks and Ohlins prefer Ohlins. Ricor is intriguing but a hair out of my budget. I was intrigued by the new HD premium ride shocks, but for the price range, figured I'd go for Ohlins. I checked out the websites and spoke with Howard of Motorcycle Metal and with Ohlins USA (I thought it was odd that the HD022 was listed on the European website and not the USA website). The Ohlins USA guy pretty much said that Howard knows more about using Ohlins on our bikes than anyone from manufacturer. I called Howard again and ordered a pair of #2-2(b) shocks.
On the seat end; I've owned a Mustang seat and loved it. However, there are so many great reviews for the Sundowner, and it is a LOT more affordable, so I decided to give it a try. It was also necessary for the seat to work with grab rails. When I installed the Sundowner, I did notice it is a bit thinner overall compared to the stock seat. One does sit a tiny bit lower. One sits a tiny bit closer to the tank too as some have mentioned, but it seemed pretty miniscule of a move to me. The real test was when Amy sat on the bike. She did like the feel of the seat. However, the deal breaker ended up being when her thighs rested on the grab rails. The Sundowner is a lot thinner in the passenger area too. Amy wondered if she would get used to the grab rail issue, but there is no way I was going to have it really start bothering her 2 hours into a weekend of 12hours plus of riding. The stock seat went back on and I'm regrettably returning the Sundowner.
The shocks came the day after I got the seat, and I proceed to install everything. The factory directions appeared a bit different from what I recalled reading on Howard website (factory instructions implied using all the spacers in the box. Howards intructions say don't use any spacers on a 2009). It took me quite a while to find the same directions again on www.motorcyclemetal.com. I kept thinking it would be in the DIY section or on the Touring Ohlins pagike, but it was acutally in the area where one prints the order forms.
It was after hours, but to be sure, I figured I try Howard with just a quick question about the spacers. I got Howard on the phone, and besides answering the one question, he wanted to make sure we went over the whole install and setup. He also gave some tricks and techniques on tailering the setup to my likeing after the shocks are broken in. He said the setup instructions are a good starting point, but I should feel free to adjust the shocks to my liking (the only adjustment on my low end shocks is spring pre-load).
Considering the time Howard put in both pre-purchase, during the sale, and during setup, I kinda wondered if he even made any money on the whole deal with me on the low end (for the Ohlins line) shock.
So, it was off for a 4hr trips, 2 up with gear for the weekend and riding in the hills of the Shenandoahs of Va. As many have said, the experience with the shocks is huge and subtle at the same time. As far as bumps go, the teeth jarring stuff and bottoming out is gone. There are still bumps, but it is as if all the peak spikes are rounded off. There is a diffence in handling too. It reminds me of the 2009 frame upgrade. I is hard for me to describe exactly what the diffence is except I just have a better feel and confidence, especially in turns on bumpy pavement (common in my neck of the woods). Amy was able to ride with me the whole trip.
After the trip, I've run through the setup again since the shocks should be broken in now (600+ miles) and I'm back to mostly solo. I plan to ride for a week with the basic setup then try the wire-tie tricks and tweakin the pre-load to see what it does for me.
So, I've been reading the shock and seat threads. At the same time, I'm not a fella with lots of spare dough.
It sounded like most people who have actually owned Progessive shocks and Ohlins prefer Ohlins. Ricor is intriguing but a hair out of my budget. I was intrigued by the new HD premium ride shocks, but for the price range, figured I'd go for Ohlins. I checked out the websites and spoke with Howard of Motorcycle Metal and with Ohlins USA (I thought it was odd that the HD022 was listed on the European website and not the USA website). The Ohlins USA guy pretty much said that Howard knows more about using Ohlins on our bikes than anyone from manufacturer. I called Howard again and ordered a pair of #2-2(b) shocks.
On the seat end; I've owned a Mustang seat and loved it. However, there are so many great reviews for the Sundowner, and it is a LOT more affordable, so I decided to give it a try. It was also necessary for the seat to work with grab rails. When I installed the Sundowner, I did notice it is a bit thinner overall compared to the stock seat. One does sit a tiny bit lower. One sits a tiny bit closer to the tank too as some have mentioned, but it seemed pretty miniscule of a move to me. The real test was when Amy sat on the bike. She did like the feel of the seat. However, the deal breaker ended up being when her thighs rested on the grab rails. The Sundowner is a lot thinner in the passenger area too. Amy wondered if she would get used to the grab rail issue, but there is no way I was going to have it really start bothering her 2 hours into a weekend of 12hours plus of riding. The stock seat went back on and I'm regrettably returning the Sundowner.
The shocks came the day after I got the seat, and I proceed to install everything. The factory directions appeared a bit different from what I recalled reading on Howard website (factory instructions implied using all the spacers in the box. Howards intructions say don't use any spacers on a 2009). It took me quite a while to find the same directions again on www.motorcyclemetal.com. I kept thinking it would be in the DIY section or on the Touring Ohlins pagike, but it was acutally in the area where one prints the order forms.
It was after hours, but to be sure, I figured I try Howard with just a quick question about the spacers. I got Howard on the phone, and besides answering the one question, he wanted to make sure we went over the whole install and setup. He also gave some tricks and techniques on tailering the setup to my likeing after the shocks are broken in. He said the setup instructions are a good starting point, but I should feel free to adjust the shocks to my liking (the only adjustment on my low end shocks is spring pre-load).
Considering the time Howard put in both pre-purchase, during the sale, and during setup, I kinda wondered if he even made any money on the whole deal with me on the low end (for the Ohlins line) shock.
So, it was off for a 4hr trips, 2 up with gear for the weekend and riding in the hills of the Shenandoahs of Va. As many have said, the experience with the shocks is huge and subtle at the same time. As far as bumps go, the teeth jarring stuff and bottoming out is gone. There are still bumps, but it is as if all the peak spikes are rounded off. There is a diffence in handling too. It reminds me of the 2009 frame upgrade. I is hard for me to describe exactly what the diffence is except I just have a better feel and confidence, especially in turns on bumpy pavement (common in my neck of the woods). Amy was able to ride with me the whole trip.
After the trip, I've run through the setup again since the shocks should be broken in now (600+ miles) and I'm back to mostly solo. I plan to ride for a week with the basic setup then try the wire-tie tricks and tweakin the pre-load to see what it does for me.
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