Ohlins, the final chapter.
This past weekend I put the Ohlins through final and most challenging test. My wife. She does NOT know I changed the shocks. I did this for two reasons, first to maintain a baseline of expectations to better make a fair pre Ohlins comparison, and second to prevent her from knowing just how much I spent.
As we mounted up she reminded me to watch the road. Her first reactions were as I expected. She grunted while going over each dip and bump, but UNLIKE BEFORE, she did not go through a lengthy comment of how bad the ride is. She never complained of being slammed or bounced off the seat. After about 35 miles of both freeway and side streets, she did not grunt at all. And this was over terrain that I knew in the past would have had her carrying on in my ear about the bad ride and and the poor road conditions. On the freeway two-up the bike was very stable, even in crosswinds. The changes in freeway surfaces were not noticed.
We stayed the night at Docs and Terrys house in Lake Elsinore and this morning rode back. As before when she got on she was cautious. She would squeeze me and tense up as we approached a rough looking part of the road. She may have let out a grunt once or twice. but as before it was without merit. Inside of half an hour she was relaxed and said nothing more the rest of the way home.
All in all I would say that these Ohlins shocks have more than lived up to my expectations. They have met or exceeded my needs and the needs of my passenger. An expensive upgrade no doubt, but well worth it for me.
Finally, I believe that the Ohlins contributed to the bike handling better in the turns, due to the placement of my eyes. As we all know the motorcycle goes where we look, and the further and earlier through the turn we look, the smoother the bike will track in the turn. Prior to the Ohlins my eyes started dropping down to the road in constant search of bad spots and rough terrain to avoid. And the poorer the road, the lower my eyes would drop and scan. This lead to poor cornering. With the Ohlins smoothing out the turns, my eyes are now up and looking through the turns for the exits, and not down looking at the pavement.
Author
Topic: Ohlins #6 Rear Shocks (Read 8957 times)