Ohlins Rear Shock

[Canadian FJR]

The Ohlins rear shock has been working great but now it is time for a little fine tuning. Has anyone ever tried adjusting the pre-load while riding. It is easy enough to do with the remote adjuster but will it hurt anything?

Canadian FJR

 

[RenoJohn]

The Ohlins rear shock has been working great but now it is time for a little fine tuning. Has anyone ever tried adjusting the pre-load while riding. It is easy enough to do with the remote adjuster but will it hurt anything?

This is the kind of guy that is no doubt fun to ride with.

If you're coordinated enough to do it ...please take some videos so we can share your fun.

The spring will be compressed while you're on the bike, so there will be more pressure, but yes, you can adjust the pre-load.

as you know the more boring and common way is to measure sag and then go from there.

Have fun .....and keep both feet on the bars

OH, and after you do this ...will you come and adjust my Ohlins ....uhh, while I'm riding ;-)

 

[RadioHowie]

The Ohlins rear shock has been working great but now it is time for a little fine tuning. Has anyone ever tried adjusting the pre-load while riding. It is easy enough to do with the remote adjuster but will it hurt anything?

This is the kind of guy that is no doubt fun to ride with.

If you're coordinated enough to do it ...please take some videos so we can share your fun.

The spring will be compressed while you're on the bike, so there will be more pressure, but yes, you can adjust the pre-load.

as you know the more boring and common way is to measure sag and then go from there.

Have fun .....and keep both feet on the bars

OH, and after you do this ...will you come and adjust my Ohlins ....uhh, while I'm riding ;-)

Damn RJ....don't know if riding with YOU is safe!

I keep my HANDS on the bars....feet go on the pegs. You been copyin' some Gen II doink?

 

[RenoJohn]

Damn RJ....don't know if riding with YOU is safe!
I keep my HANDS on the bars....feet go on the pegs. You been copyin' some Gen II doink?

I'll tell ya RH, this thread is refreshing.

After too many threads by gen2 owners talking of the bike making your hands numb, ruining your manicure, ....guyz that can't get their obese gen2's on the centerstand

(BTW -and I can just imagine that chore. Hard to fathom what it must be like trying to get a gen2 off the ground.)

.....and of course the list goes on and on.

But anyway, here comes a purist, a guy who bought the FJR back when it was a performance-oriented machine

-before MamaYama redesigned it as bait to lure the Harley niche and added weight and price --but yep, it's slower! hang your hat on that.

~~~And here comes this Gen1 rider .

.......riding and wants to get the bike dialed in while riding .....Man-0-man, I wanna ride with this guy.

refreshing to see RH, very refreshing.

 

[winewhisperer]

Damn RJ....don't know if riding with YOU is safe!
I keep my HANDS on the bars....feet go on the pegs. You been copyin' some Gen II doink?

I'll tell ya RH, this thread is refreshing.

After too many threads by gen2 owners talking of the bike making your hands numb, ruining your manicure, ....guyz that can't get their obese gen2's on the centerstand

(BTW -and I can just imagine that chore. Hard to fathom what it must be like trying to get a gen2 off the ground.)

.....and of course the list goes on and on.

But anyway, here comes a purist, a guy who bought the FJR back when it was a performance-oriented machine

-before MamaYama redesigned it as bait to lure the Harley niche and added weight and price --but yep, it's slower! hang your hat on that.

~~~And here comes this Gen1 rider .

.......riding and wants to get the bike dialed in while riding .....Man-0-man, I wanna ride with this guy.

refreshing to see RH, very refreshing.

Just another Gen1 owner angry over the fact that he either can't afford the vastly superior and much better looking Gen11,

or he is just too stubborn to make a change. No doubt mamma yamma spent all that money and time to make a lesser

FJR. :yahoo:

Winewhisperer

 

[johnny80s]

Damn RJ....don't know if riding with YOU is safe!
I keep my HANDS on the bars....feet go on the pegs. You been copyin' some Gen II doink?

I'll tell ya RH, this thread is refreshing.

After too many threads by gen2 owners talking of the bike making your hands numb, ruining your manicure, ....guyz that can't get their obese gen2's on the centerstand

(BTW -and I can just imagine that chore. Hard to fathom what it must be like trying to get a gen2 off the ground.)

.....and of course the list goes on and on.

But anyway, here comes a purist, a guy who bought the FJR back when it was a performance-oriented machine

-before MamaYama redesigned it as bait to lure the Harley niche and added weight and price --but yep, it's slower! hang your hat on that.

~~~And here comes this Gen1 rider .

.......riding and wants to get the bike dialed in while riding .....Man-0-man, I wanna ride with this guy.

refreshing to see RH, very refreshing.

Just another Gen1 owner angry over the fact that he either can't afford the vastly superior and much better looking Gen11,

or he is just too stubborn to make a change. No doubt mamma yamma spent all that money and time to make a lesser

FJR. :yahoo:

Winewhisperer

I did not realize there was a Gen Eleven out there. I guessed they skipped 3 through 10. :clapping:

 

[FJRless]

The Ohlins rear shock has been working great but now it is time for a little fine tuning. Has anyone ever tried adjusting the pre-load while riding. It is easy enough to do with the remote adjuster but will it hurt anything?









Canadian FJR

I'm not sure where the adjuster mounts on the FJR but if you can get to it you can adjust it. I've adjusted mine on the fly on my gixxer numerous times and it is appropriate to do so in some cases. Normally, though, you'd make the adjustment in your garage after determining sag measurements.

 

[Canadian FJR]

The remote pre-load adjuster is in the same position as the origonal "Soft/Hard" lever. It is simle to reach and adjust but I was concerned that I may cause some damage trying to adjust while compressed. Only one way to find out.

RenoJohn, come up to CFR and we can go for a little spirited run on the back roads. I would love to got out for a ride with you.

Winewhisperer - As far as that silly talk about why I don't have one of those Gen II's , lets just leave that one alone.

Canadian FJR

 

[winewhisperer]

The remote pre-load adjuster is in the same position as the origonal "Soft/Hard" lever. It is simle to reach and adjust but I was concerned that I may cause some damage trying to adjust while compressed. Only one way to find out.
RenoJohn, come up to CFR and we can go for a little spirited run on the back roads. I would love to got out for a ride with you.

Winewhisperer - As far as that silly talk about why I don't have one of those Gen II's , lets just leave that one alone.

Canadian FJR

Hey, I am just defending my wonderful Gen II's honor.

 

[FJRless]

The remote pre-load adjuster is in the same position as the origonal "Soft/Hard" lever. It is simle to reach and adjust but I was concerned that I may cause some damage trying to adjust while compressed. Only one way to find out.
Canadian FJR

It's perfectly OK to adjust the preload while seated on the bike. As you know, the spring is 'always' compressed.

 

[Canadian FJR]

Thanks for the input.

Canadian FJR

 

[RadioHowie]

The remote pre-load adjuster is in the same position as the origonal "Soft/Hard" lever. It is simle to reach and adjust but I was concerned that I may cause some damage trying to adjust while compressed. Only one way to find out.
RenoJohn, come up to CFR and we can go for a little spirited run on the back roads. I would love to got out for a ride with you.

Winewhisperer - As far as that silly talk about why I don't have one of those Gen II's , lets just leave that one alone.

Canadian FJR

Hey, I am just defending my wonderful Gen II's honor.

Too late.....

It already got knocked up by some guy in a pirate costume, gave birth to a spider, and hasn't managed to lose ANY of that fat it accumulated during pregnancy. :dribble:

 

[SYB Rider]

Many people misunderstand the preload adjustment on bikes. It does not change the spring rate or ride quality per say. All it does is remove our add sag. You want to have approximately 25mm of sag when fully loaded. Not enough sag will allow the shock to top out and too much sag will allow the bike to bottom out. If you have 25mm of sag fully loaded and decided to ride solo with no gear, the sag will be much less and the shock will top out on bumps. This will result in a harsh ride.

There is more to it than that but that is the main thing to consider. By adding less sag, you are raising the back end and that will change the geometry of the bike. Even though you may have too much sag and not bottom out on bumps, the back end will sit lower and the bike will have a slower turn in. The same goes from the front. Increasing or decreasing the front sag will not change the spring rate. It simply raises or lowers the front of the bike. IA proper set up for the front would be in the 25-30mm range. You can lower the front end by either having more lines showing or simply raise the the inner tube in the top triple bracket the same amount shown between lines i.e. approximately 2mm.

Cheers,

Denis

 

[Fred W]

Increasing or decreasing the front sag will not change the spring rate. It simply raises or lowers the front of the bike. IA proper set up for the front would be in the 25-30mm range. You can lower the front end by either having more lines showing or simply raise the the inner tube in the top triple bracket the same amount shown between lines i.e. approximately 2mm.

True about changing the steering geometry. Except that when you change the preload you are primarily changing the amount that the stanchion tube penetrates the slider tube. When you set a nominal sag, that is what you are primarily trying to control to prevent topping and bottoming out the dampers. The geometry changes are more a byproduct of that adjustment.

Sliding the fork tubes up or down in the triple trees will change only the geometry. It won't impact how penetrated the slider is, so it won't effect how the dampers work at all.