TOPIC:

DoctoRot wrote:

Nessism wrote: I'm getting excited about the shocks. Ohlin's USA contacted me today and said the shocks will work great for my application. They swapped out the springs for some stiffer ones and will ship tomorrow. All I have to deal with is making or buying a bushing to reduce the top eyelet diameter. Might be time for some emulators for the front!

Who did you go through to get your shocks rebuilt? I picked up a blown Ohlins shock for my Aprilia and need to get it rebuilt.

Sorry, I'm not sure who rebuilds Ohlin's. The shocks I bought were NOS offered on discount because they were originally for a Honda 400.

A friend has a dirt bike suspension business. I'm not sure if he does Ohlin's but I can ask him if you want me to.

These folks service Ohlins shocks, give them a call. I'm sending them my YZF600 Ohlins for a service soon.

www.35motorsports.com

missionkz wrote: I would venture a guess that 90% of the riders here can't ride their KZ bikes with the factory shocks and springs fast enough to reach their limit. So $500-$700 for a pair of shocks and springs on a mid 70's design....delusional thinking.

I'll turn that on its head. It's precisely because I'm not a great rider and I'm riding a bike with 70's engineering that I want every advantage I can get to help keep the shiny side up.

Bowman wrote:

missionkz wrote: I would venture a guess that 90% of the riders here can't ride their KZ bikes with the factory shocks and springs fast enough to reach their limit. So $500-$700 for a pair of shocks and springs on a mid 70's design....delusional thinking.

I'll turn that on its head. It's precisely because I'm not a great rider and I'm riding a bike with 70's engineering that I want every advantage I can get to help keep the shiny side up.

I think there's something to that, for the same reason that I have tires with capabilities that are way beyond how hard I intend to push my 70's bikes - if you are only at 40% of the capabilities of your brakes, suspension and tires, that leaves plenty in hand should the unexpected, or a momentary error, occur. While shocks need to function properly, I'm not sure they will make a huge handling difference at moderate speeds, but the other factor is comfort, good shocks will give a much better ride which can lead to less fatigue, which is also a safety consideration. Having said that I still don't see ever spending $1.000 plus on rear shocks, I have no doubt that the difference between a quality set and the ultimate, will not make any real world difference other than on a race track.

This. Plus if you want to go really fast and drag footpegs you're crazy to do that on a KZ rather than getting a modern sport bike. A strangely admirable kind of crazy but crazy nonetheless. Besides, a new or newish bike will be cheaper.

I've spent lots of money on motorcycle shocks and never ever regretted it. These older bikes need all the help they can get.

Bowman wrote:

missionkz wrote: I would venture a guess that 90% of the riders here can't ride their KZ bikes with the factory shocks and springs fast enough to reach their limit. So $500-$700 for a pair of shocks and springs on a mid 70's design....delusional thinking.

I'll turn that on its head. It's precisely because I'm not a great rider and I'm riding a bike with 70's engineering that I want every advantage I can get to help keep the shiny side up.

redhawk4 wrote:

Bowman wrote:

missionkz wrote: I would venture a guess that 90% of the riders here can't ride their KZ bikes with the factory shocks and springs fast enough to reach their limit. So $500-$700 for a pair of shocks and springs on a mid 70's design....delusional thinking.

I'll turn that on its head. It's precisely because I'm not a great rider and I'm riding a bike with 70's engineering that I want every advantage I can get to help keep the shiny side up.

I think there's something to that, for the same reason that I have tires with capabilities that are way beyond how hard I intend to push my 70's bikes - if you are only at 40% of the capabilities of your brakes, suspension and tires, that leaves plenty in hand should the unexpected, or a momentary error, occur. While shocks need to function properly, I'm not sure they will make a huge handling difference at moderate speeds, but the other factor is comfort, good shocks will give a much better ride which can lead to less fatigue, which is also a safety consideration. Having said that I still don't see ever spending $1.000 plus on rear shocks, I have no doubt that the difference between a quality set and the ultimate, will not make any real world difference other than on a race track.

Bowman wrote: This. Plus if you want to go really fast and drag footpegs you're crazy to do that on a KZ rather than getting a modern sport bike. A strangely admirable kind of crazy but crazy nonetheless. Besides, a new or newish bike will be cheaper.

80B4 wrote: I've spent lots of money on motorcycle shocks and never ever regretted it. These older bikes need all the help they can get.

I would be the first to acknowledge that not everyone is going to be able or even want to spend big dollars on shocks, suspension bits and tires. I decided that THAT'S where I wanted to, because as some of you have said, I want the security of having parts on my bike that will handle MORE than I can throw at it in normal riding. I want that safety factor 'built in'. I don't push my kz even close to 8/10's on the street, but it's comforting to know that it could handle it. I've never regretted spending the $$ on safety.

I've also spent a few Saturday's on the track with it to see what it's like to push it closer to the edge, and I have to say it's very rewarding to do so! It's fun to be able to chase the 'sportbike guys' through the corners too!! I can't match their horse power on the straights, but my old kz can more than keep up in the turns when properly equipped! I don't want another more modern bike to thrash around the street/track. I wanna run my kz for that purpose too!

That brings me to another point. I see lots of guys spending big bucks on beefy engines while running original or only slightly better shocks, springs and tires. That makes no sense to me... but that's just me. My engine internals are still stock. Probably will be for a while yet too.

After making a simple adapter bushing for the upper shock mount the new shocks are in place. Something is welded slightly off because the LH shock had to be adjusted slightly longer than the RH side before everything lined up properly. These shocks have a length adjustment so it was easy enough.

The suspension action is greatly improved. They ride a bit firmer than the tired original shocks but I like it. Going to play around with the damping adjustments some more but really happy so far...

Excellent.
Im envious
Dave

Setting the correct sag on those shocks will help you get the most out of them. Race tech has a "suspension bible " which I just used to setup my Aprilia with a freshly rebuilt ohlins shock. Made a noticeable difference after tuning.

DoctoRot wrote: Setting the correct sag on those shocks will help you get the most out of them. Race tech has a "suspension bible " which I just used to setup my Aprilia with a freshly rebuilt ohlins shock. Made a noticeable difference after tuning.

DoctoRot has the right "prescription" for optimum handling. It takes more than bolting on quality bits. Set-up is key. Make sure your front end is up to the task as well.

Happy trails!

Nessism wrote: After making a simple adapter bushing for the upper shock mount the new shocks are in place. Something is welded slightly off because the LH shock had to be adjusted slightly longer than the RH side before everything lined up properly. These shocks have a length adjustment so it was easy enough.

The suspension action is greatly improved. They ride a bit firmer than the tired original shocks but I like it. Going to play around with the damping adjustments some more but really happy so far...

Nice!