All 650's Redoing forks (ohlins kit)

Brammers · Feb 23, 2018

Looking at pics from

@miweber929 on the old forum... Definitely.

bobstrax · Feb 23, 2018

baugustine said:
Thanks Mike for adding some good data to this discussion.

I realized I should probably clarify something I said above as it seems like Mike and I are not in alignment and we are very close in the advice we are offering up.

I spent several years SCCA racing and I am also ASE Master technician certified (including steering/suspension), all of it with cars, not motorcycles, so I have some first-hand knowledge on this topic.. The Physics is the same, namely how the suspension loads and unloads. I should have included braking and acceleration in the above comment, because handling and acceleration/braking are two sides of the same coin here.

Most modern automotive suspensions use gas or liquid-filled struts, which is a combination shock absorber and spring. The main job of the spring is to keep the most amount of tire on the pavement during cornering, acceleration and braking. The suspension loads and unloads during all of those events. The shock/strut portion is there to remove the residual oscillations in the spring when its compressed and released. One way to test for a worn shock/strut on a vehicle by pushing down on the front fender and watching the rebound. It the fender comes up and stays put the shock/strut is “absorbing” the recoils, which is what its supposed to do. If the fender bounces a few times the gas/oil component of the shock is failing and unable to absorb/dissipate the recoils. If you have ever seen the front of a vehicle with a slight bounce going down the road, that is the symptom of failed shock/strut.

That is what I was referring to above. On the motorcycle the springs are internal and work together with the oil to do two primary things: (1) absorb the recoil when a suspension is unloaded. (2) provide resistance when the suspension is loading up. Hard acceleration unloads the front, braking loads the front. Hard cornering loads and unloads the two sides but in different rates, depending on the speed, lean angle & track. All the above scenarios will have a recoil when the suspension settles.

The progressive rate spring have different load values by design so it works well in both highway riding (compresses easily to absorb the potholes, road crown, pavement variations) and then the compression gets stiffer as the spring gets towards the end of its travel, to avoid bottoming out (like in hard cornering or braking).

The adjuster changes the preload, which alters how quickly the spring starts to compress. More preload, and the spring will be stiffer as it already has some compression in its default state.

The oil works as part of the rebound process and the loading/unloading. Viscosity will make a difference and oil level will make a difference.

How you plan on using the bike will be the best determiner of the what path you should do. I like Mike’s suggestion on the budget build and think for someone who has the time and patience to put it together its a great solution. If you want something turn-Key out of the box, the Ohlins kit is ready and easy to install.

My personal experience with the Ohlins kit was it firmed up the suspension, and cornering and braking were both significantly improved. The freeway ride is stiffer, but that was a compromise I could live with.

Good luck in the upgrade and let us know how it goes!

That is by far the best and most understandable explanation I have ever read, thank you

baugustine · Feb 23, 2018

Here’s the OEM stuff that came out and got replaced in the Ohlins kit. Notice the two very different spring rates of the OEM spring (red arrow & green arrow). Also, the spacers are plastic. I’m almost positive the spacers that came in the Ohlins kit were aluminum.

miweber929 · Feb 23, 2018

bobstrax said:
That is by far the best and most understandable explanation I have ever read, thank you

I agree, VERY well stated.

baugustine said:
Here’s the OEM stuff that came out and got replaced in the Ohlins kit. Notice the two very different spring rates of the OEM spring (red arrow & green arrow). Also, the spacers are plastic. I’m almost positive the spacers that came in the Ohlins kit were aluminum.

View attachment 1144

They are aluminum. Not that the plastic is an issue, most race to teams use PVC for spacers, but the Ohlins spacers are metal.

Brammers · Feb 24, 2018

I'll have a price confirmed soon for the kit and 2l of oil.

What were Honda thinking using 505ml per fork!? Grrr

miweber929 · Feb 24, 2018

One quart will do them both.

Edit: 1 liter for you metrics.

Brammers · Feb 24, 2018

Ok, with any left over?

By my count 505 doesn't go into 1000 twice. 😁

miweber929 · Feb 24, 2018

Brammers said:
Ok, with any left over?

By my count 505 doesn't go into 1000 twice. 😁

You’ll have almost nothing left over, a little pinch but you’ll never get every little last bit out so 505 ml spec is misleading.

Your call, I’m just going by what I used and what others have used. I now have an extra #20 quart, a 20w quart and a 10w quart sitting in the shelf because I didn’t believe Ohlins telling me I needed only 1 either

If you need that last little bit really any fork oil would work, you’ll never dilute what you have in the 5ml of anything, motor oil would probably work!!

Brammers · Feb 25, 2018

Fair point. I was going to flush the old oil, but I'll use some regular sae20 for that.

One litre bottle it is then!

Brammers · Mar 2, 2018

Had conflicting oil choices from two different ohlins places:

01316 - 1 liter front fork fluid with a viscosity of 98,0 Centistoke at 40°
01309 - 1 liter front fork fluid with a viscosity of 19,0 Centistoke at 40°

Any recommendations?

J

Brammers · Mar 2, 2018

Seems to be about £287 delivered for the kit and 2L of ohlins oil. Normal oil only seems to save £8 per litre, so hardly worth it in the scheme of things.

J

miweber929 · Mar 2, 2018

The installation manual states 01316-01, that was what Ohlins USA told me I needed, what they sent me and what all the FSK kits recommend.

Can get much clearer than that; again it’s a #20 oil, not a straight 20w.

miweber929 · Mar 2, 2018

01309 is a #5 oil for cartridge forks, it’ll be WAY too light.

Brammers · Mar 2, 2018

Cheers, now I know who to order it from (as one place doesn't know what they're doing by the looks of it)

J

Brammers · Mar 5, 2018

Kit ordered. Should be here early next week

Brammers · Mar 13, 2018

So because of reasons, I may have accidentally ordered a set of Hel brake lines, in carbon effect.

Something else to do while the forks are out of the way. 😁

J

baugustine · Mar 13, 2018

Will like to see pics of that

Brammers · Mar 14, 2018

Fork kit arrived. Ohlins sent the wrong oil.

Dealer handling it correctly and organising the collection & new delivery next week.

miweber929 · Mar 14, 2018

Brammers said:
Fork kit arrived. Ohlins sent the wrong oil.

Dealer handling it correctly and organising the collection & new delivery next week.

Not terribly surprised, Ohlins has a habit of things like that!!! Be sure your kit has the second set of spacers, they are thicker and shorter than the bigger ones, and the instructions mention the second set for the CBR. I’m sure by now they’ve filtered out the ones that don’t but before you go too far into it, be sure you ahve everything you’ll need.

Brammers · Mar 15, 2018

Yeah, the cbr spacer was the first thing I looked for after reading your experience.

Fork kit itself is spot on and the spacers helpfully read "for Cbr650f only" on them lol