Ohlins Fork Cartridges

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alphamale

New Member
First of all, I know I should have had a pro do my suspension, but I'm a tinkerer and I just couldn't imagine spending $200 to have a pair of cartridges "bolted-on".

So I put in the ohlins cartridges, followed the Ohlins instructions as best as possible. Measured the correct amount of fork oil. Slid the fork insert up and down to bleed the fork internals. Measured the fork oil again. Bolted them all together.

Now, when I push or pull up on the forks with a large amount of force, I hear a slight "hissing" sound. I have 3 other bikes in my garage with Showa Forks that don't make any sound whatsoever. Did I do something wrong? Did the fork oil have bubbles inside?

Any Ideas?

Thanks

:banghead:
 
Handicapped Racer

Handicapped Racer

Member
alphamale;10953 wrote: First of all, I know I should have had a pro do my suspension, but I'm a tinkerer and I just couldn't imagine spending $200 to have a pair of cartridges "bolted-on".

So I put in the ohlins cartridges, followed the Ohlins instructions as best as possible. Measured the correct amount of fork oil. Slid the fork insert up and down to bleed the fork internals. Measured the fork oil again. Bolted them all together.

Now, when I push or pull up on the forks with a large amount of force, I hear a slight "hissing" sound. I have 3 other bikes in my garage with Showa Forks that don't make any sound whatsoever. Did I do something wrong? Did the fork oil have bubbles inside?

Any Ideas?

Thanks

:banghead:
Click to expand...
what are you considering the insert, are you speaking of the internal dampning rod?

what you may be hearing is the oil traveling through the valving,

thy this.
bottom the compression push don'tt on the fork to see if it goes down slowly and evenly if you have pateches of firmness you may have not purged all the air out of the cartridge. do the same for the rebound.
bottom the rebound: follow the same
 
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alphamale

New Member
Once you've removed the top cap and the spring, the insert that I speak of raising up and down several times is the white piece in the picture.

By bottoming, do you mean with the fork all together?
 
Handicapped Racer

Handicapped Racer

Member
alphamale;11779 wrote: Once you've removed the top cap and the spring, the insert that I speak of raising up and down several times is the white piece in the picture.

By bottoming, do you mean with the fork all together?
Click to expand...

lets back up, when you assembled the forks and filled the tube was the omni buffer still in? if so start all over again.


take it apart remove the spring and the omni buffer"white piece" after removing those pieces. then refill your fork, pump the dampening rod until you feel constant friction. fill the tube again and then remove excess fluid,to set the proper height, once you have that, then install the omni buffer and spring,now put it back together, if you've done everything else right you should be ok!

bottoming mean setting the compression and rebound setting until they resrtict as much fluid as possible. usually turning the screws/knobs to the right.
 
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alphamale

New Member
Ha ha... you're right, I am a retard...

I mispoke, I remember removing the white piece.

And yes, I did exactly that, pulled the "damping rod" up and down several times until it moved consistently and evenly up and down. I remember at first there were lots of air bubbles rising and then i didn't see anymore.

For a second I had a brain lapse and remembered the white piece wasn't "fastened" to the rod.

So the likeliness that i didn't do it enough times and missed an air bubble is pretty slim i guess.

Nate
 
Handicapped Racer

Handicapped Racer

Member
alphamale;11786 wrote: Ha ha... you're right, I am a retard...

I mispoke, I remember removing the white piece.

And yes, I did exactly that, pulled the "damping rod" up and down several times until it moved consistently and evenly up and down. I remember at first there were lots of air bubbles rising and then i didn't see anymore.

For a second I had a brain lapse and remembered the white piece wasn't "fastened" to the rod.

So the likeliness that i didn't do it enough times and missed an air bubble is pretty slim i guess.

Nate
Click to expand...
not always, what was the fluid height they told you set it to?
 
Handicapped Racer

Handicapped Racer

Member
alphamale;11787 wrote: I mean i rode pretty hard at summit JC and Summit Main and didn't experience any issues.
Click to expand...
you may just be hearing oil flow and it may be ok, but you should let some who knows suspension look at it or evn hear what you're speaking of.
 
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alphamale

New Member
Part of the problem is I was using the Ohlins instructions from another bike, and using the OEM fork servicing instructions.

I think I went with the Oil Level that the OEM recommended.
 
Handicapped Racer

Handicapped Racer

Member
alphamale;11794 wrote: 2005 GSXR 750. The cartridges didn't come with instructions. lol...
Click to expand...
OY VEY ok take em apart, remove spring, omni buffer and set your level to 130mm not 100. then paypal me 200.00 always alyway:rtfm: if you ever have a problem call stacey at ohlins.
 
crewnutz

crewnutz

Member
just FYI.........suspension pro's like Thermosman and Dan Kyle dont just "bolt" stuff on, not only do they make stuff work like a dream when they install it, they also give you excellent tech support and setup advice after you have them do work for you
 
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alphamale

New Member
My theory is that suspension is a black art and lots of smoke and mirrors.

While i believe that people that don't know what they are doing can screw it up, (i.e. any beginner like me) I think that if assembled "correctly", setup is about feel and confidence more than anything else.

I've read everything I can about suspension theory, dynamics, etc.

The reality is, it's all about tuning the suspension to go faster here, and faster there... It's not that there is a perfect setup that only Thermosman or Dan Kyle can do.

This is why 2 different riders on the same bike in MOTOGP can be sooo much different.

This is also why the Lindeman guy from Lindeman engineering actually refuses to tell anybody about the secrets of suspension tuning.

I think the science is in the design of the components, but the art is in the tune of the suspension. As long as you are willing to play with it... test certain settings... make adjustments.. I think that is the best thing for somebody that is really interested in getting better will do.

I could be all wrong, but I'm willing to challenge those "Suspension Experts" out there to Prove me wrong... WITH REAL SCIENCE. Not anecdotal evidence.
 
crewnutz

crewnutz

Member
i do agree that a lot of suspension tuning is def. not an exact science its about knowledge and experience of what works and what does not work

everyone will obviously be more comfortable with different settings depending on there riding style and feedback preferences

the thing that Mike and Dan have is experience which is why if you tell them something isnt working or feeling right they most likely will have an answer one how to make it better because they have so much experience

unfortunately for the average rider who wants to improve their lap times it is hard to work on your riding and get faster while also trying to learn how to tune a suspension to where you feel comfortable
 
crewnutz

crewnutz

Member
i know myself and a majority of other riders would rather pay to have someone do it and do right and then get help with setup further down the road RATHER than be tinkering with it every weekend at every track and be out of winning contingency or hitting that goal laptime because i couldnt figure out how to get my bike to hold the line that I want or any other problem that can arise from an incorrectly setup suspension


more power to you if you like to do your on work and you succeed at getting your bike setup great for you
i however have witnessed friends who love to do there own work and refuse to spend money for a pro to do it only to go to a trackday and just complain how there bike feels like sh!t time and time again.......

that is just my .02 on the subject
 
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alphamale

New Member
Valid Points!

I only got started working on motorcycles since the beginning of 2007.

My Dad on the other hand used to be a top mechanic in "NASCRAP" back in the 80's and 90's.

Although I was never interested in cars, he knows all the specifics about why things do this or that, performance wise.

I guess I really found out that I should do stuff myself when I first got my 2005 GSXR 750 and after 2000 miles, I had no power output. Not having a clue about mechanical things, I took it to the dealership. They wanted 800 bucks that I didn't have to replace the throttle body. I was like... there's no way the whole throttle body is fuxored. So I took it to my dad, and it took him 5 minutes to tell me why i wasn't getting any power. The secondary butterflies weren't opening because of an electrical servo. At that point I was like, well crap... It isn't as hard as I thought.

I never really was interested in mechanical stuff growing up. Instead I got interested in computers. Now, I think it's funny that I'm calling my dad all the time to try to translate motorcycle dynamics to/from car racing dynamics. I think he really enjoys having something to relate to me with though.

Anyways... I guess I have 2 goals out of doing it myself:

1) I can save some money so that if I don't make a career out of racing motorcycles, I won't be broke for the rest of my life

2) If I can't race motorcycles, I can at least be a top team mechanic someday. :-D

Nate
 
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