Big deal about Ohlins

[Showtimejb57]

So wats the big difference/advantages of the ohlins 30mm kit and shocks etc? Is the Ohlins that comes stock not good quality? Jus wanna be enlightened...

[Steverin06]

Originally Posted by Showtimejb57

So wats the big difference/advantages of the ohlins 30mm kit and shocks etc? Is the Ohlins that comes stock not good quality? Jus wanna be enlightened...

Depends. Can you corner low?

NM, doesn't matter. If you actually think the BMW comes with ohlins stock then you won't even know the difference anyway. Go with bitubo for the bling blang..

[chopt]

Depends. Can you corner low?

LOL, staright from the Beeb.

If you actually think the BMW comes with ohlins stock then you won't even know the difference anyway.

I believe he's testing the forums knowledge.

[Dan Kyle]

Originally Posted by Showtimejb57

So wats the big difference/advantages of the ohlins 30mm kit and shocks etc? Is the Ohlins that comes stock not good quality? Jus wanna be enlightened...

As already pointed out the stock shock and the stock forks are made bt Sachs.
The Sachs forks are not to common, Sachs makes a lot of OEM shocks for other BMW;s as well as using some Ohlins shocks on their more expensive bikes.

What's better?

The Ohlins shocks and forks have much less friction.
You have to overcome friction before the fork or shock will even start to absorb a bump.
This means YOU will feel the friction as a bump or movement of the entire bike.
The lower the friction the better the ride quality.
The lower friction affects every aspect of suspension, from better "feel" to better grip.
You can feel it in the stock forks should you ever have them off the bike loosen the cap and move the outer aluminum slider, it sticks wherever you place it, Now try an ohlins fork, the outer tude drops under its own weight.
We can also measure that same friction on our shock and fork dyno.

Just looking at the finish on the Sachs forks and the Ohlins you can see the difference, also look at Ohlins Superbike forks, the finish on the tubes is one of the first things that stands out.
Also on the SB Forks, there is no dust seal, why, do further reduce friction.

Grinding away the sealing edge of this same dust seal was common and illegal in AMA racing where stock forks were required.

Next comes design of the damping.
Lets start with the rear.
The OEM shock comes with a very soft spring with a lot of preload on that sping, why??
Becasue they are trying to make one spring work for a weight range of 120 to 350 lbs, this is always going to end up as a compromise.
As it is a soft spring, BMW uses a LOT of compression damping to try and keep the rear from bottoming with a heavy load.
This is a compromise on ride quality as well as grip.
Range of damping is limited on the OEM shock, why??
Because you have people out there telling you to got from one end of the range of adjustment to the other. If there was a lot of range available, this could casue a crash, and in the long run who would be blamed for it, of course BMW.

Due to the design of the OEM shock, as you are adjusting the rebound, it affects the compression adjustment. This is a joke.
If you look at the dyno charts for the OEM shock, you will see the rebound has a very unusual curve, it has no "nose". I do nt want to write forever here so lets just say that is bad.
The dyno charts used to be posted on this forum, but may have been deleted, do a google search if you want to see them. Or send me an email.

With an Ohlins we spring it for each persons weight, this mean less compromise.
The Ohlins compression and rebound circuits are separate and do not effect each other, see dyno charts.
The Ohlins does have too much range on the comp and rebound adjustments so one click at a time adjustments are recommended, and no more than 6 clicks on either side of the recommended starting point. Just like tires, you do not put 80 lbs in a tire, you have to know something about tires BEFORE you adjust them. You can learn this by reading the Ohlins owners manual.

[Steverin06]

I heard Dan is a standup guy.

[Showtimejb57]

Oh okay........see ive never tracked my bike so ive NEVER really fine tuned the suspension. I dont know why i thought the stock suspension was ohlins, or for that matter, a pretty good quality. So is it like night and day as far as the ride and handling? Im 6'2 240 and if its worth it i would upqrade the forks and rear shock etc. Hell, ive done EVERYTHING else. 520 kit, pcv/autotune, fork frame and swingarm sliders, gps mount, scorpio alarm, windshield, throttlemeister, arcs exhaust, fender eliminator, radiator guard, seat pins, tank grips, hid lights, power outlet, grip puppies..........what im basically sayin is I might as well go all the way. This will be the LAST dollars i spend on the bike unless down the road i want some kind of different paint job. What Ohlins do you all recommend?

[Dan Kyle]

Originally Posted by Showtimejb57

What Ohlins do you all recommend?

The Ohlins BM888 rear shock and the Ohlins FGRT811 forks.

They will each need to be resprung for your weight as well.

[Dan Kyle]

And some pictures of the shock.

Ohlins has a new spec for the shock. The New spec is the BM888-1

This one is the BM888-0

[Dan Kyle]

And this is the BM888-1 as you can see Ohlins has changed the adjusters, going to the Race type that is commonly used in WSB and MotoGP

[Lee#144]

Originally Posted by Steverin06

Depends. Can you corner low?

NM, doesn't matter. If you actually think the BMW comes with ohlins stock then you won't even know the difference anyway. Go with bitubo for the bling blang..

Straight from the beeb where's amafan when u need him