Ohlins shocks ... nightmare!

[<ABSDoug2@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

      I bought these Ohlins a year and 2 months ago, 10K miles so far. Spent
$1K for both. All the measurements worked out when new. I paid the money I
was damn sure gunna dial these suckers in. Take measurement with wheels off
ground (center stand). Then you measure with the bike of stand sans rider,
then with the rider. The remote external hydraulic adjustment was perfect,
at the beginning of its adjustment.
      Ohlins claims 20K between rebuilds. Ok, I knew that going in. Let me
also point out that Ive been trying, in vain to tell myself there was
nothing off about the bikes handling. Lately I had started to notice the
back was not right. Let me also say in no way do I mean to offend anyone;
perhaps Im just a sucker. The experts say that ALL shocks, stock shocks
included, are shot by 20K. If this is true then most people just pretend
that isnt true. So I buy into this and interestingly enough, I actually
noticed something wasnt right at 10K. Could I be so in tune that this
disturbance in the Force was real? Sure enough the numbers didnt add up! No
adjustment was left on the remote adjustment.
I figure its time to get out the spanner that came with the shocks. What
fun this will be <sigh>. You give the collar a few turns, put everything
back and hope you got it close enough so the remote adjustment could come
into play, if not take it all back apart again and try again <sigh>. At this
point, Im starting to wish I hadnt noticed anything. But at least I can
say Im in tune with my bike and I did pay the money to have precise
ADJUSTABLE shocks. What the hell, I like wrenching and Ive got no plans
today, so with a change in attitude I jump in gleefully.
So here is the catch. The main collar doesnt adjust! There was a pin and I
got that out. Took the hydraulic hose off, clearance issue. Put the sucker
in a vice and got my spanner ready. Here was that moment where the
adjustability pays off, but no. That damn spanner didnt do shit! I mean not
a bit. Ive never attempted/needed to do the front, but I damn sure remember
the directions saying you could. Ohlins shipped these shocks with a spanner,
so WTF? Since I thought of the directions, I started paging through them
again.
On shock absorbers that have mechanical type adjustment the position of the
adjusting/preload rings can be adjusted. On a shock absorber that has
hydraulic setting the BASIC position can be adjusted. Such changes should be
attended to by an Ohlins authorized service workshop.
The bold is mine. The above isnt even written right as it sounds like you
need an Ohlins guy to watch you adjust the remote. What I think the author
is tying to say is, if you want to make a major adjustment to the shock with
a MECHANICAL adjustment, have at it. If you have the remote, you can only
make BASIC changes. PLEASE correct me if Im wrong and you read this
different.
Now that part about having to send it to a authorized workshop!!! Not so
fast there you fuckers. You should have made these adjustable and damn it I
m gunna adjust it!
I got out a punch and a hammer <shiver>. Hey, why not, at this point Im
either fixing it, or I have to send it out to be fixed. I got the collar
to spin three times. There isnt enough material to bang on the collar
anymore. Other then the collar, nothing else was brutally assaulted. In fact
I didnt even put a scratch on it. Everything else, is ok and I doubt they
need rebuilding. I figure if Im sending it in, theyll giggle a bit and
put a new collar, adjusted the right way.
Now the questions. How close did I get it? Ill need so help with that one.
Next question, where do I send them if they arent right. Last question: do
I feel like going riding in the morning? Time check, 12:45 AM and I havent
showered yet. <sigh> Why cant I just be one of those church going folk?

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End of oilheads-digest V1 #158
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