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Ohlins on the bagger


Hoblick
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well after running stock shitty shocks, then going to a 1" lowered shock, then to a set of Progressive 940 Ultra touring shocks (very dissatisfied in the shocks for what i paid) i said screw it and ordered the ultimate in shocks for my bagger.

i got a set of hand built Ohlins built for my bike.

they were built to suit my bike, my riding style, and the weight ill be carrying.

they are a threaded body, rebound and compression adjustable.

im excited to get them on and finally get what i wanted out of a set of shocks.

ill have a full report on them after i get them installed and get some test riding in.

only bad thing i see coming out of this is me wanting to upgrade my front forks from the Progressive monotubes i just bought (non adjustable) to a set of Taxxion dynamics AK-20 fully adjustable fork cartridges :nono:

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What didn't you like about the stock air shocks? And the same abt the Proggressives? For the front, here is a tip...replace the oil with AMSOil. Its outstanding! I still have the stock rear shocks, they are made in Sunbury, and i adjust the air for the weight or where I'm riding.

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What didn't you like about the stock air shocks? And the same abt the Proggressives? For the front, here is a tip...replace the oil with AMSOil. Its outstanding! I still have the stock rear shocks, they are made in Sunbury, and i adjust the air for the weight or where I'm riding.

stock shocks are horrid, bottom them out all the time, especially 2 up.. if you crank the air up to increase the preload on the shock, then the initial ride is way harsh, but atleast it wouldnt bottom the shock out.

Progressive shocks, the shock was so stiff without even adjusting the preload it was insane.

i i sat on it, and the bike wouldnt sag at all, put my wife on it, and it barely sagged.

now it was decent for the bumps in the road, but still really stiff, and it just felt like the tire wasnt keeping contact with the road like it should.

both of those shocks above do not have any compression or rebound adjustment. whats there is whats there. well to get a good ride, and a well handling bike you need to have control of the compression and rebound. and you also need a spring that is setup for your bike and your carrying weight.

put it this way the progressive shock, it uses a certain spring with a certain weight. FOR EVERYONE.. that means it doesnt matter if you weight 140lbs, or if you are 300lbs.. or if you are 300lbs and have a passenger with you of 200 lbs

that spring is supposed to support the weight of everyone..

the spring is only to overcome gravity.

thats why you really need a shock setup up to fit you and your needs.

as for the fronts, i have been there done that, i ran heavy oil, i changed out the springs for progressive rate springs, i have changed the damper tube out to help slow the oil flow. but truth is the damper rod technology is old and really innefective (its a cost effective way to build a fork)

i now how moved up to the Progressive Mono tube Cartridge kit which is a gas charged type cartridge system that completely replaces the internals of the forks.

this should be a drastic improvement over the stock style setup.

but if they dont cut the mustard, i guess ill have to drop the big bucks on the Traxxion setup, its fully adjustable and should work exactly like i want.. im just a little put off at throwing $1200 in my forks at the moment.

for the typical harley rider, the stock suspension probably wouldnt bother them. but i ride my bike, alot, and pretty aggressively. so i want stability and control in the bike.

alot of people spend thousands in chrome, i spend thousands to make my bike perform better and suit my needs

Edited by Hoblick
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http://www.traxxion.com/harley-davidsonmotorcyclessuspensionupgrade.aspx

When I get a Goldwing this is where I'm going to upgrade the suspension.

yup they make a sick setup..

the guy i ordered my Ohlins shocks from is in the process of developing a cartridge kit for the harley touring bikes with Ohlins. that would be sooo fucking sweet, only problem is its gonna be upwards of $2000

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for the typical harley rider, the stock suspension probably wouldnt bother them. but i ride my bike, alot, and pretty aggressively. so i want stability and control in the bike.

The typical Harley Rider probably hasn't done a handful of trackdays on a nicely sorted F4i.

Your perspective is going to be a LOT different than people who have only dealt with stock suspension bits and accepted their shortcomings as "normal."

I hope all the new parts deliver the ride and handling you were hoping for.

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The typical Harley Rider probably hasn't done a handful of trackdays on a nicely sorted F4i.

Your perspective is going to be a LOT different than people who have only dealt with stock suspension bits and accepted their shortcomings as "normal."

I hope all the new parts deliver the ride and handling you were hoping for.

This is true lol

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I bought more carbon fiber for the MTS. No need to.. I just felt like keeping up with my HD riding co-worker. He has lots of chrome things on his Road King. It's shiny...

Just like a typical ducati owner, carbon is like chrome to you guys!

Id go on, but i gotta get up early and head to the harley dealership and buy more t shirts

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Just like a typical ducati owner, carbon is like chrome to you guys!

Id go on, but i gotta get up early and head to the harley dealership and buy more t shirts

Good friend of mine that rides a Beemer said he could afford a Harley but he can't afford all the T'shirt that go with it!:p

Looking forward to your review of the Ohlins,thinking of changing the suspension on my RK.

Edited by 01rkclassic
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I bought more carbon fiber for the MTS. No need to.. I just felt like keeping up with my HD riding co-worker. He has lots of chrome things on his Road King. It's shiny...

semi-serious post' date=' but a guy I know who used to own a 1098R (and an 848 before that) owns a printing company.

After 1 wreck w/ the carbon fiber lower, he made up this stuff to avoid paying a billion dollars for replacement.

[url']http://www.trackwraps.com/gallery.htm Their CF wrap looks very real.

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just got these shocks in and on the bike, i got the sag adjusted as best i could on my own. gonna need a 2nd person to help me out, especially when i dial them in with the wifey on the back.

i did a little test ride, and holy shit! these things are amazing, even with a sorry ass excuse for an initial setup.

the tire just keeps in contact with the road. bumps are waaaaay less harsh, i was pretty much aiming for rough spots to test them out.

so far im very pleased with them in my short test run.. the real truth will be when the wife is on the back. she will be the ultimate judge of comfort. ill be the judge of how they handle and how the stability and control is.

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semi-serious post, but a guy I know who used to own a 1098R (and an 848 before that) owns a printing company.

After 1 wreck w/ the carbon fiber lower, he made up this stuff to avoid paying a billion dollars for replacement.

http://www.trackwraps.com/gallery.htm Their CF wrap looks very real.

Have fun laying that stuff on bike plastics...every bike I have seen with wraps on them look like shit up close

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Track Wraps are made to be removable for the first 40 hours or so. This is explicitly so that you CAN make some mistakes, and still fix them.

A second set of hands and a heat gun or torch helps a LOT. It's not a simple install, but it's entirely possible to make it look pretty damn good.

The adhesive Track Wraps uses is different than most though. They ahve a video out there where they literally ball up a sheet, and then spread it back out and apply it to a gas tank.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hoblick,

Looking forward to more information and satisfaction vs. cost perspective. I was thinking about the Progressive 440's with fork cartridges, but now you have me second guessing.

I have to do something to improve the ride/handling. I don't "bar-hop" so it needs to perform harder than most :)

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king, i can give you more information that you can probably handle.

if you want you can PM me your number and i can give you a call.

youll be very unsatisfied on the progressive shocks if you actually ride the bike.

the only downfall on the ohlins is once you get them, youll think the front end is a piece of shit lol.

i just put a review up about the race tech front end kit with gold emulators.

for the money you cant beat the racetech front kit. and they compliment the ohlins pretty well. call riders discount for a great price on the race tech kit. they beat every place i checked by about $30.

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