Re: Ohlins Question

[Bob Hadden <kbhadden@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Steve,  My brother and I bought from Wim Kroon a couple of years ago 
for our '97 and '98 RS bikes.  There was no discussion from them about 
spring rate.  This is why I recommend using a local vendor that you can 
phone and ship to easily.

For me, the stock spring has been fine after a small amount of pre-load 
adjusting.  My brother, on the other hand, rides 2 up quite a bit.  He 
has a valid complaint that the spring furnished is not strong enough, 
and the remote pre-load adjuster has insufficient range to go from solo 
to two up with luggage.  A progressive spring or greater adjustment 
range on the remote would help this.

I definitely recommend that you work with the vendor for your weight 
and your passenger/luggage as appropriate.

A couple of years ago, the Colnel (sp? I mean the military rank) on the 
list described why you need a significantly stronger spring than most 
realize, due to increased loads while cornering.  He hasn't posted for 
some time, as some listers got on his case.  But he had many good 
points on suspension set up.  Perhaps someone saved his posts?

Bob Hadden '98RS

On Tuesday, December 16, 2003, at 02:43  PM, Steve Makohin wrote:

> To anyone (not just Tom),
> I'm planning to buy Ohlins for the R1100S. I heard that the shocks'
> spring rates are typically designed for the bike in mind, which has an
> unladen vehicle weight, plus a 175 lb (average) rider. If this is so, 
> and
> if the rider is off the "average weight" mark, like say 205 lbs, or if
> the bike will be used primarily for two-up riding with a combined
> rider+passenger+luggage weight of 380 lbs (not my situation), then
> shouldn't the buyer of the shocks be alerting the vendor so the vendor
> can match the spring rates to the gross laden weight? My understanding 
> is
> that if the spring rates are wrong, then no amount of pre-load setting
> will adequately compensate for that, and you won't be getting the
> performance you paid for from your potentially-awesome Ohlins. Correct?
> What are Ohlins buyers on this list doing in this respect?
>
> -Steve
>
>  Oakville, Ontario, Canada
>  2000 R1100S/ABS, Mandarin

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