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best aftermarket shock???

10K views 25 replies 19 participants last post by  evenlewis 
#1 ·
Everyone I have asked so far says "Ohlins". Don't want to do this twice...anyone have a good experience to share?...or bad
 
#4 ·
There are a variety of good shocks on the market right now. I personally pefer Ohlins. That is not to say that everything else is junk. It is just that Ohlins has ALOT of research data & testing under their belts in a broad range of applications. Your going to pay for the Ohlins, hell your going to pay for anything, but the Ohlins will probably be close to the most expensive. That is because it is a quality product with a vast base of knowledge as far as set-up and product support.

One thing I really never liked about the Penske was the frequent rebuild cycle. The shock works off of smaller orifices(sp?) in the valving. These smaller holes build up more heat & thus breaking the oil down quicker. That is enough to get me over to Ohlins alone.

Elka seems to have a pretty good product, but I have no personal experience.

John
www.scracecenter.com
 
#7 ·
Spoiled bitch says..........

I run Ohlins on everything I build. As long as you are willing to set them up correctly and spend the time learning what a shock is capable of. Then The Ohlins stands head and shoulders above the rest. There is a reason you see more of them on race bikes then all other Manufacturers combined.

Just like everything else in the world, Quality cost and you get what you pay for. Anyone with a above average skill level should be spending money on suspension and rider craft. The more Craft you possess the more you will appreciate the highest level of suspension tune-ability. Ohlins offers exactly that
:twocents
 
#9 ·
No Laughing here - Sp2pilot

I have a Wilbers Custom Shock (German), no laughing. They are built similar to Ohlins and are on par with quality, and dang pretty much cost the same. However, these are custom built to rider and bike and application, i.e: street, track, etc.

Sorry for the poor picture.
 

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#10 ·
WIM-RC51 said:
I have a Wilbers Custom Shock (German), no laughing. They are built similar to Ohlins and are on par with quality, and dang pretty much cost the same. However, these are custom built to rider and bike and application, i.e: street, track, etc.

Sorry for the poor picture.
Honest, I am not laughing at you. I am laughing wit....shit I can't pull it off sorry:D


I am sure the racing community can offer tons of feedback and recomended settings/spring options/valving profiles...from all their aplicable expierance right?....I mean somebody has got to be racing on these,.......anyone?.....Beuler??...


..
.
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Nevermind.:woot:


I bet ya a hundred bucks it is a billion times better then the stocker you replaced.:clapper

Even unkown aftermarket parts with a quality build are better then the stock stuff.
 
#11 ·
Robert, why do you automatically assume the wilbur shock is raced and needs racer feedback for proper settings? I run Penske on the last 4 bikes and for the street they are fine IMO. The stock is junk and the penske is made for my weight and i just tune the rest at home, no biggie. I have yet to see penske's just blow up or fail due to poor quality.

I have seen somebody run through 2-3 different springs and valvings on a Ohlins to get it right so how does that make it superior? I do agree for track use having the Ohlins feedback is helpful but the penske and or Elka are damn nice shocks for street bike who do a track day or two IMO.

Wim, what muffler do you have there:D they look kewl. How is that wilbur anyhoo? they are from Jersey and i saw them at the Javit show last year and they looked very nice. I know the BMW guys use them and they have a very good following.
 
#12 ·
Penski builds a fine product. It has a very tunable nature and can be rebuilt by any savvy tuner. I have been inside Penski shocks, I have also been inside ***********, Elka and Fox. When I rate them they are all several steps behind the Ohlins stuff. With the exception of the New Fox and the current *********** stuff all are very well built and can be tuned to perform quite well.

I know that a racing pedigree bares no weight with you but that is a very dumb attitude as racing is the only place that suspension can be developed in a rapid and progressive manner. You think you could possibly give feed back out on the street? I would love to be a fly on the wall during that de-briefing...

"Well you see when I went over these bumps out on woodlake drive my shock seemed too stiff....."

Uh ok :rolleyes:


In the clinical atmosphere of a race track you can repeat every single condition you are tuning around. You can also modify things like forward grip and decrease side bite in microscopic amounts to dial in a bike to a riders taste.

Racing is the meat of suspension development.

Now ask yourself this honestly. What Suspension will you find on the majority of race bikes that are paying for their parts?


All that technology has a way of trickling down to us the consumers to bolt on to our street bikes and go pose down at starbucs to get the real "Props"


He stated it cost nearly the same as an Ohlins??? I have no Idea what that even means. I really don't:woot:
 
#14 ·
"You think you could possibly give feed back out on the street? " yes:D

i sure as hell can tell if the shock is too stiff or soft and if it needs more or less rebound and such for my style. I guess i should go for nuts and play with it more but i have threatened to get a custom mpa for three years and never got to it.

I agree with you on the development talk and most use Ohlins and they are the biggest company by far. I also think my cheap 2 clicker penske is miles ahead over the stock shock and i can't even get the very edge of my front tires rubbed off so why would i need racer feedback and a thousand dollar shock is all. Not eveerybody rides on the track and needs all that development right?
 
#16 ·
sp2pilot said:
He stated it cost nearly the same as an Ohlins??? I have no Idea what that even means. I really don't:woot:
Okay guys... no need to get your knickers in a twist. I just knew sp2 would not be able to resist laughing at the name of the shock :p . I did too when I first saw it.

To answer the question, they run $1600 Plus, and can go to $1800 if you want some serious racer boy additional stuff on it. Mine has Lo / Hi Speed adjusting, hydraulic and manual pre-load, piggy-bank reservoir, height adjustable, etc.

And mrgrn is right also, they do make them for BMW's and they work brilliantly. They are actually well know and popular in Europe... W I L B E R !!!!!:woot:
 
#18 ·
Bitubo??

Just wondering if anyone has used Bitubo suspensions. I have one in my Suzuki TL-R since it was an economical way to get a replacment for the bukly rotory damping system that came stock. It works fine, although not as adjustable as a Penske or Ohlins..also about half the price too.
Ken
 
#20 ·
Bimotakeith

There's no doubt Ohlins are great shocks. But i have a slight problem with quality since i have a bike with less than 3000Km and the coating is peeling off the springs.Ii'm thinking about replacing them with a spring from a different company, like RCS. also have two new shocks from Marzocchi which sre now own by "Fox Shocks" my ? is does any one know what these # (130-1093-49-130) mean on the spring.
 
#25 ·
I use an Öhlins shock. After the first 65,000 miles, I had it rebuild and it worked as new for another 60,000 miles then it gradually sagged, so as I write, it's away for its second rebuild at the Öhlins workshop near the Nürburgring Nordschleife (look it up), which was our local playground for many enjoyable summers :smile2:

The last 50,000 miles or thereabouts have been mainly two-up, marshalling at the 'ring and touring europe with my GF.

Great shock - don't bother looking elsewhere ;)
 

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