Aftermarket Shocks....What am I missing?

[greiffster]

So I've never had aftermarket shocks on any of my bikes. Ohlins, Wilburs, whatever. Clearly, I don't know what I am missing. My RT has the original stock shocks which I believe to be working fine as it has good tension when you turn the knob and it has never bottomed out.

 

There are plenty of posts out there of those who love there aftermarket shocks on all kinds of different bikes and claim they basically "transform" the bike. Exactly what are we talking about here? Ohlins and alike aren't cheap. What am I getting for that kind of scratch?

 

 

[Selden]

For all that scratch, you're getting greater adjustability, and (ideally) spring rates that are matched to your weight. Arguably, if you can find a good rebuilder (such as Lindemann Engineering) the OEM shocks can be rebuilt/revalved to perform just about as well at less cost. The key thing in any shock replacement/upgrade/maintenance is getting the setup right, and many people have problems with this.

 

For more information, see this recent thread: Motorcycle Suspension Tuning: With Emphasis on the BMW RxxxxRT Series. The Frantz article is long (about 30 pages), but I don't think you will find better information anywhere.

[JerryMather]

Here's what a friend wrote about this:

 

This article is by Guest Contributor Greg N. of MotoYard.com.

 

I talk to a lot of people who say, “why should I upgrade my suspension, I don’t race”, well there are many other very good reasons why you should upgrade, most important one being safety. I can’t tell you how many times I thanked myself for upgrading mine.

 

Whether you ride a Harley or a Suzuki GSXR, there are upgrades available and they are similar on both types of bikes. For cruisers there are plenty of choices – Progressive Suspension, Works Performance, Race Tech to name a few. For sport bikes there are choices as well with Penske, Race Tech and of course Ohlins among others.

 

So what is the difference between your stock suspension and an aftermarket one? Well, it’s always safe to assume that aftermarket is better, because although the manufacturer wants to put out a good bike, they do try to cut costs, so of course they cut corners, and the only thing an aftermarket manufacturer can do is improve (otherwise why would anyone buy it). There are very few manufacturers that use good components, like Ducati, but instead of spending $20K on a Ducati, you can have the same suspension for much less on pretty much any bike. Most stock forks (made by Showa or other manufacturers) are damper rod forks, with aftermarket forks you get cartridge forks. Although most newer sport bikes come with cartridge forks, they use wimpy springs that can’t compare to an Ohlins fork for example. One thing to remember is that most newer bikes will have a much better suspension than its older counterpart. For example the 2008 Yamaha R1 shock is a much better shock than say, the 2006. What a lot of people don’t know is in a lot of cases the shock on the newer model bike will fit an older one just fine. What that means is you can go to a site that has used motorcycle parts, like eBay.com or Motoyard.com and find a used one for much cheaper than you would pay for an Ohlins shock. A lot of people will replace their brand new shocks with an aftermarket one and sell the stock one for cheap.

 

Another way to go is of course to get those expensive aftermarket components. In my personal experience there is no comparison, no matter how good the manufacturer says they made the suspension that year. A really nice rear shock can run you over $1000 new, and so can the front forks. On some bikes you have some options, instead of replacing the whole fork, you can replace the internals (the cartridge). There are companies that will build the forks for you like Race Tech, but you can usually go to any competent bike shop and they can change the fork internals for you. This is not a very simple job to do on your own, since the springs are under pressure and there are many little pieces that tend to get lost. As for replacing the rear shock, you can probably do it yourself, with a help of a friend. Most times, it’s just one or a few bolts that you need to take out (top and bottom of the shock) and while your friend is holding the bike up by the seat (since it’s not attached to the swingarm or wheel with the shock, it’s pretty light), you can pull out the old shock and put a new one in, in about 20 minutes.

 

Another great thing about aftermarket shocks and forks is that they are adjustable. Yeah, the manufacturers claim theirs are adjustable too, but if you have ever tried to adjust your compression or rebound on your stock forks, you will probably notice that the changes are so small, they are barely noticeable. With an aftermarket shock and forks you will definitely notice the difference.

 

So the question still remains: why do you need a new suspension? Well, if you race, you know the difference it makes on the track. If you don’t, what you get is a much safer bike on the street. Aftermarket shocks will not “bottom out” as easily when you hit a bump and your bike will feel much more predictable in turns. You also will have much better braking feel and performance. What is predictable? Well, when you are in a middle of a turn, and you hit a bump, you don’t expect or want your bike’s front wheel to skip and go in another direction. With a good suspension you can minimize those times, we all had, when we wonder if we might have been going a little too fast into that turn.

So, is it worth spending thousands of dollars on new suspension? In my opinion – Yes. If you are looking to do it on a budget, and you have an older model bike, find out if a newer model bike has a better suspension and see if it fits yours – you can probably upgrade for a quarter of the price or less.

 

By Greg N. of Motoyard.com.

 

[moshe_levy]

MCN Sport Touring Suspension Showdown

 

-MKL

[John in VA]

What will you get for all that scratch? You'll get better handling and a much better ride and control over any surface, most notably over bad surfaces.

 

When you replace your shocks with well-set-up Ohlins or other top shocks, you'll be astonished at the discovery of how bad your stock shocks were. They were awful right out of the factory. Good shocks will give you a new bike -- actually much better than when it was new. And they're rebuildable when they wear. I've installed Ohlins on my '00, '06 and '13 RTs and it improved them all. You won't be disappointed.

[Fubar]

My OEM rear went to shit at 24K miles. I replaced it with a $650 Ohlins - way less than an OEM replacement at $1400. Install was stupid easy but the difference? Nothing my butt can tell. It works (gave them my weight and riding setup), but there is no noticeable difference from the original.

[Bologna]

I replaced mine at 60K and couldn't believe how much better the ride got.

Tire wear improved, smoothed out the roads, my line into the corners became precise and my pace became a little quicker!

Money we'll spent!

 

[Twinsig]

i can't offer stock vs after mkt comparison performance my used rt had ohlins already and for $500 had both restored & of course dyno'd. I was delighted to have "new" shocks at that price. Coincidentally, the PO had 2-up springs, swapped em for 1-up, obviously great improvement.