All 650's Suspension

[Road Hog]

Just more info on the YSS shocks from thailand! Three to choose from for our bike.

https://www.yss.co.th/product-list.php?currentPage=&vehicle_type=1&brand=11&model=678&year=2014

 

[Jerry]

Same page in English:
https://www.yss.co.th/change_lang.p...icle_type=1&brand=11&model=678&year=2014&l=EN

 

[ADIOS600]

Just more info on the YSS shocks from thailand! Three to choose from for our bike.

https://www.yss.co.th/product-list.php?currentPage=&vehicle_type=1&brand=11&model=678&year=2014

The yss shock is just a upgrade not a custom shock ??????

 

[User2]

The ohlins s46dr1 shock arrived today. I’ll get it installed soon!

It really strikes me as odd just how short the travel is in relation to the length of the shock. It looks like less than 2” of travel for a shock that is 18” in length.

The shock is clearly Ohlins; it screams quality. Can’t wait to see how it improves my Cbr650f!

 

[ADIOS600]

The ohlins s46dr1 shock arrived today. I’ll get it installed soon!

It really strikes me as odd just how short the travel is in relation to the length of the shock. It looks like less than 2” of travel for a shock that is 18” in length.

The shock is clearly Ohlins; it screams quality. Can’t wait to see how it improves my Cbr650f!

Looks nice though. It looks like its using the standard rate spring as well, I am interested on how it performs for you.

 

[User2]

Just dropped bike off at the shop for the Ohlins shock install. Should be done tomorrow but the forecast is for rain until the weekend.

Probably get to really try it out on the weekend.

 

[ADIOS600]

Just dropped bike off at the shop for the Ohlins shock install. Should be done tomorrow but the forecast is for rain until the weekend.

Probably get to really try it out on the weekend.

Cannot wait

 

[User2]

The Ohlins shock is installed.

I rode it home in the rain so my bike isn’t very clean but the photos show what it looks like.

Could tell there is a new shock on my bike immediately. It was only a 5 mile ride in traffic on a rainy night. But I was enjoying how it absorbed everything without feeling at all bouncy or jarring.

I’ll go for a longer ride this weekend and give more detailed feedback soon.

 

[ADIOS600]

The Ohlins shock is installed.

I rode it home in the rain so my bike isn’t very clean but the photos show what it looks like.

Could tell there is a new shock on my bike immediately. It was only a 5 mile ride in traffic on a rainy night. But I was enjoying how it absorbed everything without feeling at all bouncy or jarring.

I’ll go for a longer ride this weekend and give more detailed feedback soon.

Cannot wait for a full report.

 

[User2]

Ok here goes with a more complete report. I’ve spent about 2 hours on the bike mostly in traffic since the shock was installed.

Ohlins stx46 s46dr1 rear shock was installed with the spring for a 210 to 230lb rider. I weigh (sad face) 225lb in gear including helmet gloves, and backpack with about 10lb of stuff in it.

This is what it is like to ride an otherwise stock 2014 Cbr650f that has 21k miles on it:

Bike responds to me climbing aboard with more composure it just moves to sag, no wasted motion. That seemed different from stock.

Pulling out of the dealer driveway, the bike seems to take bumps, accelerate and brake with less motion. It has to be the rear end isn’t squatting or lifting as much. Thay’s the feeling. I have no way to measure this motion.

Problem solved. The issue I was trying to solve was how jarring it feels when the rear wheel is hitting bumps at freeway speeds. With the Ohlins shock, at first, I was bracing for impact as the bike would pass over the bad section of road. Then it was over and I realized it was uneventful. After that, I’ve hit several bad spots on purpose and begun to enjoy how they don’t matter anymore.

With the better ride at high speed I have of course found myself riding faster when it is safe to do so. Put another way 80 feels like you’re only going 60mph so every time I look at the Speedo I find myself thinking “up oh!”

Nice problem to have.

What’s not good about the Ohlins shock:

Expensive: $600 parts and $150 labor to install

Now it is hard not to notice the fork is the worst part of the bike and so it is inevitable I will install the nix-22 cartridges in the fork.

When will I do the fork? Probably need a couple of months to fit it into the budget.

In the meantime I am really happy with my bike because it is a lot more fun to ride now. 😊

 

[miweber929]

Great report and pretty much what everyone finds with the setup. I’m also not surprised the updated rear highlights how soft the front is, the NIX system will be a solid update. Even the FSK kit is a nice change at $250

Wow, $150 labor? It’s kind of a pain but I put a bottle jack between the tire and rear fender, tipped up the tank and swapped it out in a half hour or so. Actually I swapped it in and out several times because mine came with an incorrect spring from Ohlins so I tried a bunch of things thinking the shock was bad before realizing that. Is what it is, however; in the end the sting only happens once

 

[bishop]

If you don't want to spend too much $

For your stock fork you could remove some fork oil, to give it more of a air gap to make it feel more plush and less harsh, IF YOU FEEL IT'S HARSH.

Some Chinese adjustable preload caps would be useful too.

Basically it's a poor man's Ohlins FSK129 imitation.

I have a ohlins FSK129 installed. It blows the stock honda fork aways, but feel it could be better if I had the FKS223. I'm too cheap to get it.

 

[ADIOS600]

Ok here goes with a more complete report. I’ve spent about 2 hours on the bike mostly in traffic since the shock was installed.

Ohlins stx46 s46dr1 rear shock was installed with the spring for a 210 to 230lb rider. I weigh (sad face) 225lb in gear including helmet gloves, and backpack with about 10lb of stuff in it.

This is what it is like to ride an otherwise stock 2014 Cbr650f that has 21k miles on it:

Bike responds to me climbing aboard with more composure it just moves to sag, no wasted motion. That seemed different from stock.

Pulling out of the dealer driveway, the bike seems to take bumps, accelerate and brake with less motion. It has to be the rear end isn’t squatting or lifting as much. Thay’s the feeling. I have no way to measure this motion.

Problem solved. The issue I was trying to solve was how jarring it feels when the rear wheel is hitting bumps at freeway speeds. With the Ohlins shock, at first, I was bracing for impact as the bike would pass over the bad section of road. Then it was over and I realized it was uneventful. After that, I’ve hit several bad spots on purpose and begun to enjoy how they don’t matter anymore.

With the better ride at high speed I have of course found myself riding faster when it is safe to do so. Put another way 80 feels like you’re only going 60mph so every time I look at the Speedo I find myself thinking “up oh!”

Nice problem to have.

What’s not good about the Ohlins shock:

Expensive: $600 parts and $150 labor to install

Now it is hard not to notice the fork is the worst part of the bike and so it is inevitable I will install the nix-22 cartridges in the fork.

When will I do the fork? Probably need a couple of months to fit it into the budget.

In the meantime I am really happy with my bike because it is a lot more fun to ride now. 😊

I hope my new shock gives me the same results. Not going to order until I start riding again so I get the full warranty period.

 

[Daniel]

Good write up! I agree too, this is something I'm noticing more and more lately as I get ever more familiar with the bike. Can someone explain to me the differences between fsk105 and fks223? Other than one does preload and the other does compression and rebound damping independently? Wish I could better interpret the benefit a cartridge kit has over the fsk105 and subsequently standard forks.

 

[User2]

The Ohlins cartridge kit adds a shim stack damper that handles sharp jarring bumps at higher speeds better than the stock damper rod fork ever could. It costs twice as much but the cheaper kit is just a spring change.

I’m starting to think the stock fork is nearly good enough. I’ve done a longer ride with just the Ohlins rear shock today.

The ride was 110 miles in the Santa Cruz Mountains from the Bay Area our to the Coast. Locals call this route Beat Creek Road to Skyline to Alpine to Pescadero Road. The return route was San Gregario to Hwy 84. I live in Newark, CA.

Lots of twisty roads, many of them wet with turns ranging from first gear uphill switchbacks to 80 mph sweepers. Most of these roads are old, bumpy and one lane narrow in many places. There are several places with passing zones to drop three gears and blast past traffic.

How did the Ohlins shock help?

The bike is much more composed. It’s easy to ride sequences of posted speed 20 mph turns at double that speed just letting the bike flow and shifting the body to the inside of each turn. It was sometimes bouncy in these situations in the past. I was having fun today without feeling like I was getting outside the limits of my skills.

At higher speeds the sharp bumps no longer disrupt the bike’s composure. It feels more locked in and stable. It is also more comfortable to ride in all situations. I tried a bit of triple digits speeds and the bike is just totally stable instead of feeling like every bump makes the bike nervous.

Is the shock enough or does it require the fork to be upgraded to match?

In slow steep downhill bumpy turns, you can tell the fork is moving too much and it feels “floaty”. Avoiding heavy braking and keeping constant speed with a bit of engine compression braking seems to solve this because it minimizes weight transfer to the fork while keeping speed under control.

After a few dozen turns I got my technique dialed in to the point it felt like I was using the forks weak springs to my advantage and the bike was just ripping the turns with zero drama.

I’m going to say the bike is good enough with just the shock.

I’ll upgrade the fork someday in the future when I’ve cash to burn and really want to dial the bike in to perform better with less need for so much fancy pants steady-handed, surgeon-precise riding technique.

I actually like riding best when I am “in the zone” so now that my bike is a canyon carving weapon it seems part of the fun to be focused on perfecting my role in the whole affair.

 

[miweber929]

Great report and pretty much what everyone who’s done the upgrade feels.

Thebfkrks are “fine” and you can ride “within” them butbthe bike feels much more whole when both ends are done. Yeah, a cartridge would be the ideal setup but proper springs, a bit heavier oil and preload adjusters go a long way in making the front end really work well.

When you get the time and money, it’s worth it. But no rush.

Enjoy!!!

 

[baugustine]

U @Jetflo69 i did both about a year ago. The fork kit is the best upgrade I’ve done so far. Front end no longer feels nervous. We did a review of this elsewhere. The stock springs are progressive rate and are a compromise between freeway comfort and backroad handling. Just my 2cents

https://650f.bike/threads/redoing-forks-ohlins-kit.448/#post-5377

 

[ADIOS600]

Thanks for that jetflo69 I am going to order my rear shock and change the fork oil. For me the way I ride the front is ok slow in and fast out short shifting. Unless of course the rear shows a weakness in the front. Your post makes me confident a shock will cure my problem.

The Ohlins cartridge kit adds a shim stack damper that handles sharp jarring bumps at higher speeds better than the stock damper rod fork ever could. It costs twice as much but the cheaper kit is just a spring change.

I’m starting to think the stock fork is nearly good enough. I’ve done a longer ride with just the Ohlins rear shock today.

The ride was 110 miles in the Santa Cruz Mountains from the Bay Area our to the Coast. Locals call this route Beat Creek Road to Skyline to Alpine to Pescadero Road. The return route was San Gregario to Hwy 84. I live in Newark, CA.

Lots of twisty roads, many of them wet with turns ranging from first gear uphill switchbacks to 80 mph sweepers. Most of these roads are old, bumpy and one lane narrow in many places. There are several places with passing zones to drop three gears and blast past traffic.

How did the Ohlins shock help?

The bike is much more composed. It’s easy to ride sequences of posted speed 20 mph turns at double that speed just letting the bike flow and shifting the body to the inside of each turn. It was sometimes bouncy in these situations in the past. I was having fun today without feeling like I was getting outside the limits of my skills.

At higher speeds the sharp bumps no longer disrupt the bike’s composure. It feels more locked in and stable. It is also more comfortable to ride in all situations. I tried a bit of triple digits speeds and the bike is just totally stable instead of feeling like every bump makes the bike nervous.

Is the shock enough or does it require the fork to be upgraded to match?

In slow steep downhill bumpy turns, you can tell the fork is moving too much and it feels “floaty”. Avoiding heavy braking and keeping constant speed with a bit of engine compression braking seems to solve this because it minimizes weight transfer to the fork while keeping speed under control.

After a few dozen turns I got my technique dialed in to the point it felt like I was using the forks weak springs to my advantage and the bike was just ripping the turns with zero drama.

I’m going to say the bike is good enough with just the shock.

I’ll upgrade the fork someday in the future when I’ve cash to burn and really want to dial the bike in to perform better with less need for so much fancy pants steady-handed, surgeon-precise riding technique.

I actually like riding best when I am “in the zone” so now that my bike is a canyon carving weapon it seems part of the fun to be focused on perfecting my role in the whole affair.

 

[Daniel]

Need help off you guys. I need to know how much difference in fork length there is between the CB and CBR.

Would any of you kind CBR folk measure top to bottom? Preferably not under load if you have an appropriate stand but if not no worries. I have read it's 1 & 3/4 inch difference but would like someone to verify it, in mm if possible. This will help my installer figure out if my cartridge kit needs any modifying before fitting.

 

[miweber929]

Need help off you guys. I need to know how much difference in fork length there is between the CB and CBR.

Would any of you kind CBR folk measure top to bottom? Preferably not under load if you have an appropriate stand but if not no worries. I have read it's 1 & 3/4 inch difference but would like someone to verify it, in mm if possible. This will help my installer figure out if my cartridge kit needs any modifying before fitting.

Top to bottom loaded or unloaded? There is a difference, pretty big, that you need to take into account.