Ohlins fork cartridge/shock upgrade

[Windblown]

Adding my thoughts and observations on Ohlins suspension to the collective... 

 

After much thought and consideration I came to the decision to give the Ohlins  suspension upgrade kit a shot on my T700 and picked up the Ohlins FKA114 fork cartridges and YA-818 shock.  Ohlins has it's fans and detractors. Both sides have valid arguments I suspect. Me? I've had a positive experience Ohlins in the past and who doesn't like Gold colored bling?  That's my way of saying this is not going to be a contrast and compare commentary from me as to the other suspension options out there.

 

Some initial photos - New shock

 

New fork cartridge compared to OEM (Ohlins on right) 

 

Adjustable fork caps (one for rebound, one for compression) does away with bottom adjusters.  I'd have preferred toolless adjusters for the forks as they have for the shock but since I don't plan to be messing around with them often once set it's not a huge deal.

 

 

 

My goal: A highly competent suspension that would reduce harsh spikes on sharp edges and the under damped characteristics of the stock system.  Something whose capabilities are broad in nature that tends to allow for a set and forget experience that handles hard hits yet remains complaint without constantly reaching for the clickers to adjust for one or the other. 

 

Rider info/weight:  6' tall - 200lbs (91kg) in full gear and often ride w/up to 16lbs (7kg) of gear on the back (as shown).

 

 

 

Cartridge kit info:

Model FKA114 - Split function forks (Compression one side, rebound the other - adjusters at top of forks)

Advertised as stock length. I measured them as having approx. 9-10mm more stoke than stock (-5mm & +5mm).

Spring used  - 6.5N - Installed min preload aprox 1-2mm (very little)

10mm of preload adjustment

Recommended fluid level (air gap) 70mm

Suggested Rebound - 14 clicks out

Suggested Compression - 14 clicks out

Suggested Sag - 63mm

 

Ohlins Shock info:

Model  YA-818

Length 371mm /  stoke 94mm

Spring used - 70N/mm - Installed min preload - 10mm

10mm of preload adjustment 

Suggested Rebound - 10 clicks out

Suggested Compression - 10 clicks out

Suggested Sag -  73mm (higher than conventional wisdom would suggest)

 

 

 

 

After the  initial break-in and even more importantly balancing the bike front to rear here are my settings so far. They may get tweaked a bit yet as I run more types or terrain and pace.    

Forks: 

Rebound -  12 clicks out  

Compression - 18 clicks out

Sag 65mm  (approx)- with full tank of gas and gear on back  - 3 turns in (3mm) in on both preload adjusters.  

 

Shock:

Rebound - 14 clicks out

Compression - 8 clicks out

Sag - 64mm standing, 68mm sitting (preload almost maxed out)

 

I may increase fork preload a little next time I'm out just to see how it feels but right now I'm enjoying the easy turn-in via peg weighting on my little single track test track out back and I haven't noticed any highspeed instability. I will probably go up one spring rate on the shock at some point.  I haven't hard bottomed the shock yet on a couple of little jumps I have but with a heavier gear load out it will start to struggle I suspect. 

 

Over-all impressions? As you can see above Ohlins lists more recommended sag than conventional wisdom would suggest. I suspect they do this to provide for more suspension drop (extension) to help keep the ride plush and they count on their damping/hydraulic stops to cushion big blows before hitting the hard stops at maximum compression.  So far I'd say they are achieving this goal.  I'm liking the set up a lot. It brings the T700 suspension up to a new level that I feel much better about pushing some without it dumping me on my head in protest in the event of an "Oh crap" moment.  It's firmer than stock and remains well controlled without the harshness of OEM stuff.  Brake dive is well controlled on the Ohlins and on par with my previous set-up which was Ktech 6.3 springs and Ktech valve kit up front.   

 

If the $$$ involved isn't to painful and you feel the suspension on your T700 is holding you back at times an upgrade is well worth it.  Plenty of upgrade paths out there and I won't make an argument for one over the other. I will however say I think this Ohlins setup is a great option and glad I opted to go with it!  

 

 

Edit: I had typo on my fork compression clicker settings. I have corrected that. 

Edited April 1 by Windblown
typo

[Hollybrook]

Nice, complete write up!  You seemed to be enjoying the new suspension on Friday...

 

The spring rates you listed caused me to scratch my head a bit.  The front was a bit higher than I expected for your weight and the rear spring a lot lower.  I guess the gas pressure in the shock might be higher than the Rally Raid (Tractive) shock that I have with a 90 N/mm spring.  FWIW, I am running a 6.3 N/mm spring in the front, I weigh about 245 lbs with full gear, and have 65mm sag front and rear with very limited preload dialed in the rear and none in the front.

 

Your oil gap is a lot lower than I was recommended to run by RR.  They spec 110mm and John Mitchinson told me that if I wanted the suspension to be more supple, I should increase that.

 

The improved hydraulic bump stops make an amazing improvement, don't they.  I know from the O-ring travel indicator that I have bottomed out my forks, but I have never felt a hard stop.  That is just what I want from the limited travel on the T7.

[AZJW]

Good write up, thanks for this. As an Ohlins fan already, it's good to see what others have done for their T7's.  I'm pretty much the same size / weight as you and also wondered about the 70nm rear spring.  I run a 90nm RallyRaid spring on the oem shock which improved handling a bunch. Is the Ohlins shock a different length whereas the lighter spring is recommended or was it a personal preference?

Not criticizing your choice, just curious how the 70nm spring was selected. 

[Windblown]

2 hours ago, Hollybrook said:

Nice, complete write up!  You seemed to be enjoying the new suspension on Friday...

 

The spring rates you listed caused me to scratch my head a bit.  The front was a bit higher than I expected for your weight and the rear spring a lot lower.  I guess the gas pressure in the shock might be higher than the Rally Raid (Tractive) shock that I have with a 90 N/mm spring.  FWIW, I am running a 6.3 N/mm spring in the front, I weigh about 245 lbs with full gear, and have 65mm sag front and rear with very limited preload dialed in the rear and none in the front.

 

Your oil gap is a lot lower than I was recommended to run by RR.  They spec 110mm and John Mitchinson told me that if I wanted the suspension to be more supple, I should increase that.

 

The improved hydraulic bump stops make an amazing improvement, don't they.  I know from the O-ring travel indicator that I have bottomed out my forks, but I have never felt a hard stop.  That is just what I want from the limited travel on the T7.

 

Was fun on Friday for sure! I only made a couple small changes when I got home. I added two more clicks of compression damping on the shock to better balance the overall suspension action. I may take a couple clicks of compression off the forks but will wait until I ride it again at speed to see.  Right now the suspension feels very balanced front to back. 

 

The spring rates and air gap had me scratching my head as well but went with Ohlins recommendations figuring they should know, right?    It's working, though as I mentioned the shock spring is about at the weight limit with 16lbs of gear hanging off the back unless I consider their sag recommendation as gospel, which I haven't and am running less than their initial setup calls for.  The set up sheets shown below - fork 1st,  shock 2nd. 

 

 

 

Air gap struck me as odd as well but then I recalled the 800XC I used these same cartridges on called for 80mm level and it worked well yet was just a touch soft going into the hydro stops so maybe they found 70mm to be a better starting point.  It's a lot different than other setups but also a different cartridge setup and I didn't open the cartridges to see what they were doing with damping.  I dunno... It doesn't feel odd on the road and feels good off of small jumps. I need to go smash some semi-technical terrain at speed and see what it does .  

[Windblown]

10 hours ago, AZJW said:

Good write up, thanks for this. As an Ohlins fan already, it's good to see what others have done for their T7's.  I'm pretty much the same size / weight as you and also wondered about the 70nm rear spring.  I run a 90nm RallyRaid spring on the oem shock which improved handling a bunch. Is the Ohlins shock a different length whereas the lighter spring is recommended or was it a personal preference?

Not criticizing your choice, just curious how the 70nm spring was selected. 

 

No offense taken. I went with what Ohlins documentation recommended to start even though it seemed light and figured I'd go from there as needed.  I set the rear sag closer to what I'd normally do with a slight bias towards their larger initial sag recommendation and find the suspension balance to be good.  I'm at the max for the spring on the bike if I want to keep the sag where I have it.  I'd need a heavier spring to load up heavy for a trip though.  I always set up with no extra weight at first as that is typically when I will ask the most from the suspension because I slow down more when loaded up.    I was running a Ktech 75N previously on the OEM shock and had it just about at min preload to get the right sag with no extra gear on the bike.  I sit forward on the seat unless just in cruise mode and sag goes even lower when standing.   70N or 80N was my choices on the Ohlins and I flipped a coin. 

I genrally don't opt for the higher spring rate of two choices unless bottoming becomes an issue. It provides the feel I prefer if the shock is damped for it and you won't see my bikes 5' up in the air unless I'm fixing to crash... LOL. 

 

I'll go up a spring rate for sure if I decide to go pack mule with this bike. 

Edited April 1 by Windblown

[Boondocker]

@Windblown Thanks for the thoughtful review. At the risk of being trivial, I notice the shock preload adjuster uses the left passenger footpeg mounting point. If one wanted to keep the passenger pegs, does Ohlins offer another way to mount the shock preload adjuster?

[Windblown]

24 minutes ago, Boondocker said:

@Windblown Thanks for the thoughtful review. At the risk of being trivial, I notice the shock preload adjuster uses the left passenger footpeg mounting point. If one wanted to keep the passenger pegs, does Ohlins offer another way to mount the shock preload adjuster?

 

The suggested mounting point is actually where the OEM Exhaust attachment point is on the other side of the bike. However I'm running a high exhaust so mounting it there would have put it very close to the exhaust so I moved it to the other side of the bike and mounted to the Passenger footpeg mount. You can mount it to wherever seems to work best that's within reach.  If mounted other than at the exhaust mount some minor fabrication to the mount or a hose clamp would be needed.  I had to add a bend to the supplied mount to get it to work where I put it. 

[Tenerider]

Thanks for the detailed write-up! Running Tractive stuff for a year now, I'm always interested in what other options I've missed.

 

Same weight as me, I'm running 6.4 N/mm springs in the forks, no difference here.

In the rear I've installed an 85 N/mm spring and found it to be perfect for achieving exactly 30% sag with minimum preload. Comfort especially on the rear improved a lot so this choice seemed right for me.

 

But I think you have a point here, Öhlins might rely on their hydraulic stop at the end of the stroke (which Tractive shocks/forks have as well) and offer more sag for better tire contact on big holes or strongly undulating terrain. Sounds like a great idea to me.

[Hollybrook]

I wonder if Ohlins is running a softer rear setup to improve traction, especially over chatter bumps. The biggest weakness of my Rally Raid/Tractive suspension is loss of traction accelerating out of sharp corners going uphill on forest roads.  There are invariably ripples in the surface that reduce grip.   I have to be more conscious of throttle opening and body position than I would expect with my setup. Since the suspension does everything else so well, it's a small price to pay. 

[Windblown]

30 minutes ago, Hollybrook said:

I wonder if Ohlins is running a softer rear setup to improve traction, especially over chatter bumps. The biggest weakness of my Rally Raid/Tractive suspension is loss of traction accelerating out of sharp corners going uphill on forest roads.  There are invariably ripples in the surface that reduce grip.   I have to be more conscious of throttle opening and body position than I would expect with my setup. Since the suspension does everything else so well, it's a small price to pay. 

 

That's an interesting point!  Loss of traction/excess chatter going uphill over washboard on gravel can be hard to tune out on just about everything I've owned to one degree or another. It's a tough situation for the suspension for sure. 

 

Your comment makes me ponder if the greater sag spec Ohlins calls for on the shock might be to reduce the "anti-squat" effect a bit to increase compliance under acceleration since it would serve to reduce swingarm angle.  Hmmmm....  something to mull over.   

[Hollybrook]

That's an intriguing observation about reducing anti-squat to improve compliance over small, repetitive bumps. It sure makes sense to me. 

 

I was going to add rear preload for the heavier luggage weight on our TAT trip this summer. I may try to increase sag a bit, given that I will be riding a bit slower to avoid hurting myself and not finishing the trip. 

Edited April 1 by Hollybrook

[Windblown]

I got a first long ride in some rocky, rooty, muddy terrain at speed to see how things would go with my set-up in the rougher stuff. 

 

The shock worked well all day. The forks felt good on the road as before and in rocky trail trash.  I also found I could run my stabilizer with much less damping than before as the front was showing no tendency to deflect off the rocks.

 

However as the pace picked up above 20mph or so (again in very rocky trashy stuff, not a bumpy gravel road) the hits got harsher and the tire felt less planted and confidence inspiring, though thankfully I was still not feeling any truly alarming hits thru the wrists as could occur on the stock forks, even with the Ktech valves installed.    The action tended to make me hold back to avoid any real "Oh crap" moments though.  This is not to say the forks are bad, far from it, they are smooth and work well. I just felt like they need some tweaking yet. At the time I was thinking the smallish air gap recommended by Ohlins might be the culprit but I was wrong...

 

When I got back home I checked the cable ties I had placed on both forks to see how much travel I still had in reserve.  The cable tie was sitting 44mm above the fork leg.  This means I had run well into the hydro stops and only had about 20mm before hard bottom and I'm running stout springs up front.  Had I been riding harder I'd have been ok with that but I never really let loose and let it rip on the ride or had any  "oh crap" moments where I was just praying the suspension would soak up something overly nasty.  

 

 

 

So... next change will be to add compression damping back in to the forks.  I had opened the damping quite a bit to better balance the bike with the rear shock.  I'll try to balance the bike with more damping on the rear rather than less on the front for now.  I have a stiffer shock spring in route to handle big multi-day ride loads anyway so when it comes in I'll throw it on the shock and see if I get a better front/rear balance and work out any remaining kinks.

 

And to be fair -The other bike I ride these same trails on has 270mm of suspension travel and very expensive suspension components. It sets a high and unfair bar to make comparisons with... But I'm thinking with more tweaking I can get the Ohlins suspension on this bike within about 90% of what the other bike can do and be smiling ear to ear. 

Edited April 5 by Windblown

[Hollybrook]

Slight hijack regarding compliance of the RR Rear shock.

 

I have softened the settings from the recommended ones. Checking my records,  I went 3 clicks softer on high and low speed compression but only one on rebound. I am going to soften rebound another 2-3 clicks and see what I think.

[Tenerider]

4 hours ago, Hollybrook said:

Slight hijack regarding compliance of the RR Rear shock.

 

I have softened the settings from the recommended ones. Checking my records,  I went 3 clicks softer on high and low speed compression but only one on rebound. I am going to soften rebound another 2-3 clicks and see what I think.

I went into the same direction with both comp and rebound (latter made a huge improvement on the front). RR/Tractive rather offer too much damping with the default settings, so that higher speeds actually feel more planted imho.

[Hollybrook]

2 hours ago, Tenerider said:

RR/Tractive rather offer too much damping with the default settings, so that higher speeds actually feel more planted imho.

I think their rates are spot on for blasting through really rough terrain. I would prefer doing that on my YZ!

[Tenerider]

7 hours ago, Hollybrook said:

I think their rates are spot on for blasting through really rough terrain. I would prefer doing that on my YZ!

Exactly! "Too much" was misleading, rather "too much for my riding".

[JB700]

What f&r compression and rebound settings are you Ohlins guys running nowadays ?