Shock Rebuild

[ejfbmw1]

Happy New Year all.

A quick question.

Who is rebuilding Ohlins shocks these days.

I'm east coast in Central Virginia.

Thanks.

[roger albert]

The preferred vendor is naturally me.
J/K, mostly.

In your area, I'd recommend Pro Pilot as a good option too.

[AndrewA]

Yup. Send them to Roger.

[cageyar]

Since you've got to ship it anyway, go with Roger. I've done business with him before and it's no worries.
I went with ProPilot this time because they're local to me. After paying the 7% sales tax to the f**k wads in Trenton, I saved nothing.......
Plus, with all the BS Roger handles et al on the forum......

[markjenn]

Roger, let you advertise a little bit more - is a rebuild/respring of a stock DL650 shock in your balliwick or do you stick to the high-zoot units?

- Mark

[ErricZ]

Sending mine to Lindemann ... didn't know that roger did them.

[bikerfish1100]

if i had to mail, i'd probably send to Roger, mostly because of the Pelican thing..
for those local to Denver area, Dave is damn awesome.
Welcome to Single Track Mind

[lht]

Has anyone (maybe Roger) tried a Hyperpro suspension kit?

Hyper Pro USA - Catalog

[bikerfish1100]

i like my Hyperpro steering damper, much better than OEM unit.
Hyperpro appears to be a well liked suspension unit, if all those MOA threads are to be believed. not quite Ohlins or Wilbers, but lotsa bang for the buck.

[phoenixtexoma]

My issue isn't a shock, but similar. Am on my 3rd stock steering damper after 26k miles. Don't suppose they're rebuildable, and am not really enthusiastic about spending big bucks for an aftermarket. Just forget about it and ride after this one goes out?

[bikerfish1100]

(in spite of not starting the new thread on the steering damper.....)
I replaced my stocker with a Hyperpro radial unit (pulled proactively, as i read a few horror stories here about stock units locking up in fialure mode). very happy with it. and yes, you can certainly choose to "go naked" as the no cost alternative- most here do not have any damper on their bike.

[phoenixtexoma]

Mea culpa, should have initiated a new thread. Thanks for the info.

[roger albert]

Hi,

I've dealt with a few Hyperpro suspension units, but they've traditionally been one of those revolving door type companies, where you don't know where, (or even if) you're getting parts sometimes (as has been the case with Wilbers too, though I'm working on that) And both with some either ignorant (to be charitable) or misleading (a bit less charitable, but still more than fair) marketing, so I've steered clear. I've turned down a few chances to sell each, primarily due to parts. When I trust that's fixed, I'll consider them.

For a consumer that's not a buy-and-hold type, they could still be decent choices. I really can't say anything bad about the units themselves.

Back on the Öhlins, there are a lot of places that can service them, most very well.

Mark - I do a lot of rework of stock shocks. Traditionally using RaceTech valving, and either their springs (or Ohlins or Hyperco or Eibach) or sometimes, customs.

The last KLR shock I saw here was from a 250, and not rebuildable (at least not by me);
I've done some mid-late 90s KLR650 shocks with RT kits, but not anything newer, simply because no one has brought me one. I looked at my RT list and they don't cover the newer ones. I don't think they're different - it's just that they haven't been validated. I need to lay my hands on one before I can give you a genuine answer. Not sure when that will be. In the meantime if in a hurry, Lindemann is pretty darn good. In just a few weeks, they Dyno has already allowed me to do some cool new things, but I don't claim to have it all figured out yet. What year is your KLR?

Btw, basic refresh reseals are no problem from about (off the top of my head) 94 to at least 06 (the latest I've done) Just haven't done valving on recent ones.

[Kernel K]

Is there any rule of thumb of how often to service an Ohlins shock, either by mileage or time? I bought a used Ohlins for my K100RS nearly 5 years ago and have put around 22,000 on it. The shock works fine and has no leaks.

[roger albert]

By the book (depending on which book) is every, or every other year, or by 20,000 miles.
In practice (as much as I wish people would bring me shocks that often) many riders go 30,000 or more, and often 4 or 5 years before service.

Though not as critical as motor oil, more frequent changes do give greater longevity, just by flushing out moisture and wear particles (primarily the latter) You're approximately due.
I've seen folks go longer and be fine, and come in sooner, with already filthy and stinking oil.
Like most service things, the mileage varies, a LOT.

In your case, again, you're about due. I would, if not now, then at the latest next winter/off-season, get them serviced by someone. Since you have no leaks, it's not horribly critical, but beneficial nonetheless.


hth

[Moybin]

okay, just to spread the thread some more; Roger, do you rebuild/modify the OEM shocks for R1100S?

[roger albert]

I don't, yet. I've been ramping up to eventually be able to do that, at least on the rears.
But I don't want to until I've figured out a way to do it really well. At least one of the nationally known firm's units have had some problem, longevity wise, and I got stuck between them and my customer. Working on moving it all in house (thus lathes, welders, dynos etc instead of race prep the last 4 months) but it is a long term project, if even doable. Much as I would like to line a bunch of custs up, A) I really shouldn't do that here (too commerical) and B) you'd die holding your breathe waiting on me. I'd be shocked if I had that all figured out before this time next year (enough so to do commerically anyway)

Thanks for the interest, but if I'm not ready to do it well, then I'm not going to do it.

[s-thing]

Roger -
Keep us posted on the OEM shock rebuild development. If you find a good balance between performance and price I'm sure there is a market. I am due for an upgrade but struggle with the idea of dropping almost 2k in aftermarket shocks when the street value of my '01 is around 5k.

FYI - I appreciate your approach - If it can't be done right it isn't worth doing.

Jim

[Phil Y]

No affiliation, blah, blah, etc. Go here for an option to rebuild stock units: Lindemann Engineering Race Suspension Home Page I don't have any experience with Jim Lindeman, other than for exchanging emails with him when I was thinking about replacing my stocks. Nice, personable guy, based on his emails. BTW, I opted to go with Wilburs since I needed to change both springs anyway.

[ErricZ]

I had LE redo my WP shock from my old GSX-R 750 ... they are going to be receiving my stock 01 S shocks soon enough. Some will claim they can't be rebuilt, but obviously, that's false.