Complete Ohlins Suspension for $1355

[DeepSix]

**** BEFORE YOU FOLLOW ANYTHING I'VE DONE, PLEASE READ THE A FEW POSTS DOWN. THIS WAS A MUCH BETTER DEAL UNTIL I FIGURED OUT THE SPRING RATE ON THE CARTRIDGES WAS NOT CORRECTED TO MY WEIGHT. I STILL LOVE THE SETUP BUT I'M DISAPPOINTED IT COULD BE BETTER AND IT'S NOT.****

 

I purchased my 2015 FJ09 w/600 miles on it in January for $5500... I know the resale of these bikes sucks so I want to put as little money into this thing as possible. At least into things I can't remove from the bike. However, I LOVE this bike and I never find myself lacking, riding with my brothers who have a KTM Superduke GT and a Monster 1200. (Not to shabby against $20k bikes) HOWEVER, the suspension is just terrible, especially for me at 290lbs.

I've been exploring fork swaps, revalving options, shock swaps and rebuilds but everything seemed like a lot of money to spend on getting things to an acceptable level. $1355 is more than I wanted to spend but it doesn't feel as bad knowing what it would cost (roughly $700-900)for other options that wouldn't be nearly as good... On to the story.

I don't know why this situation is the way it is but there are sellers in Europe that seem to have pretty amazing prices on high end motorcycle gear. In this particular case, I was able to find GREAT prices on Ohlins stuff and it was all coming from Italy. Both orders came from Fleabay which I don't love but sometimes I hit home runs with.

Ohlins YA355- $540 with free Expedited Shipping (Ordered Monday night and it was delivered Thursday, with the correct spring rate and estimated adjustment for sag which was remarkably close.)

Ohlins FKS504- $770 with $45 Expedited Shipping (Ordered Thursday Night, delivered Tuesday)

Rear shock was a 25 minute job. Hint: Don't remove anything. Put it on the stand, remove the 14mm nut from the right side of the front shock bolt and use long thin socket extension and hammer to gently tap out the bolt, Remove the 14mm nut and bolt right beneath the rear shock bolt (through the round hole in the swing arm, on the linkage), lift the rear of the shock enough to remove the 14mm nut and rear shock bolt. Slide the old shock out and the new one in. Reverse the process. It did require a little lifting and lowering of the rear wheel to help things line up.There are some decent videos on YouTube but look for one that isn't telling you to disassemble anything, it's unnecessary.

Cartridges- I found a motorcycle mechanic on Craigslist that installed them for $150 plus parts. I guess I should add $150 to my total but if you can do the work yourself you can save that cash.

HERE'S THE IMPORTANT PART: The bike is absolutely transformed. It is SO MUCH BETTER, it's staggering. Even if I swap this bike out in two years (which seems to be my habit) and lose every dollar I put into the suspension, (which I won't) it would still be worth that investment.

Hope this benefits someone,

DeepSix

I'll try to upload some pics later.

 

 

Edited May 15, 2019 by DeepSix

[betoney]

16 minutes ago, DeepSix said:

HERE'S THE IMPORTANT PART: The bike is absolutely transformed. It is SO MUCH BETTER, it's staggering. Even if I swap this bike out in two years (which seems to be my habit) and lose every dollar I put into the suspension, (which I won't) it would still be worth that investment.

 

Hope this benefits someone,

DeepSix

I'll try to upload some pics later.

 

 

I couldn't agree more, suspension is always first on my list of mods on any bike I own, it provides the biggest bang for the buck and will make you smile every time you go out for a ride. 

It always surprises me that some riders balk at spending $1200-1300 on suspension that will completely transform the bike and make it ride like it was on rails but dont bat an eye at spending $1000+ on an exhaust.

[DeepSix]

I’ve been trying to do everything on a budget. In another post, I talked about drilling the CAT to improve the exhaust note... I ruined it and had to replace it. Lesson learned. 🤣

I just posted this because every time I tried to put together a decent package, I was looking at $2000-2500. I just wanted to lay it out so I could say here it is “all-in” for a great setup. 

DeepSix

[duhs10]

Do you have any links for the suspension you purchased? might be helpful to others.

[texscottyd]

@DeepSix - Welcome to the enlightenment!  ‘Transformed’ is a word I’ve used frequently to try and describe how the FJ responds to quality suspension upgrades.   There’s a legit sport bike hiding behind the saddlebags; you just have to spend some money to find it.   

Enjoy the ride.  Please do share links if you have them, as that’s a smoking deal on the tasty Ohlins bits.   

[norcal616]

FJ-09= lazy boy crotch rocket stalker 😅

[DeepSix]

 Just learned something disappointing. The cartridges I installed didn’t have a corrected sprig rate. It’s still a ton better but very frustrated that this part wasn’t done right. Now they are in and I’m not redoing it. 

So I suppose it’s not as good a deal as I’d hoped. 

Edited May 14, 2019 by DeepSix

[betoney]

2 minutes ago, DeepSix said:

 Just learned something disappointing. The cartridges I installed didn’t have a corrected sprig rate. It’s still a ton better but very frustrated that this part wasn’t done right. Now they are in and I’m not redoing it. 

So I suppose it’s not as good a deal as I’d hoped. 

How far off is the spring rate?  Is it something that can be compensated for with spring preload?

[DeepSix]

It a lot better with the preload maxed out. Still soft though.  I actually don’t know if it came with springs or if the mechanic reused my stock ones. I never looked at them and I haven't been able to connect with him. 

To be honest though, I was 100% satisfied until I found out. They're still an amazing improvement over stock but it just leaves me wondering what it would feel like at the correct spring rate.

Maybe I'll redo it someday but for now, I just need to forget about it and enjoy my new ride.

Edited May 15, 2019 by DeepSix

[DeepSix]

I don't normally post ebay links because they die quickly but here is the rear shock I purchased. For obvious reasons, I'm a little chapped with the other seller and don't wish to advertise what I feel are shady selling practices. Just check for negative feedback.

Yamaha tracer 900 2015 ohlins shock absorber stx46 street ya 335

WWW.EBAY.COM

---

MODEL YEARS 2015, 2016, 2017. MODEL TRACER 900. PRODUCT CODE YA 335. S = single tube shock absorber. T = twin tube shock absorber. E =...