Suspension Upgrades:- Products in the Market?


gregjet

New member
I had an Ohlins ordered for my MT07 and the suspension place rang me up and said they had delayed production on them so I switched to a Nitron. That's one sale they lost but I doubt the Swedish economy is gonna crash from the loss on my purchase.
 

Gaz2212

New member
the mt09 also has budget suspension set up, just click on the mt09 sister site link on the right side of the homepage, search their site for suspension upgrades and the threads are huge
if you managed to get a loan bike with ohlins this was definately not standard
 
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Deleted member 20

Guest
My TDM900 has better rear shock than both MTs with it's stock piggyback reservoir, preload, rebound and compression adjustments. Still, at 40.000 km it's time for susp service so I instead got an Öhlins S46PR1C1S shock + Öhlins linear front springs + Ö fork oil. Installation in progress, sooo excited to take it out for the first spin. Guess it will transform handling.

 
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Deleted member 20

Guest
Just a brief look at MCN's picture of the MT07 stock and their Nitron replacement shock makes it pretty obvious where some of the MT's cost-saving is coming from .
I'm not at all faulting Yam for this, stock shock is fine for normal commuting and riders who want top-notch comfort and handling don't have to feel bad for throwing money away when replacing it with top-notch components.
I think it's great that this freedom is left to the owner.
View attachment 1627

Only seriously expensive bikes come std with Ohlins top-notch kit. Examples are R1M, Daytona 675R, Hypermotard SP (rear only), Panigale R. Etc.
 
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amavro

New member
Anyone to share the experience with Nitron ? Read the MCN but they also rode this on track , what we want to know if how much difference does this makes on "normal" riding .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

gregjet

New member
Anders, please stop showing me pictures of Ohlins. It's making me cry. I ordered mine and they have delayed the next production run so I am getting a Nitron.
amavro, I will report on mine ( if I remember) when I get it on the bike. I have an Extreme Creations raising / lowering link to go on as well. Road only report though as there is no track where I live now.
 

gregjet

New member
I fitted the Nitron and the raising link. Turns better but I will definitely need to tune it a fair bit. It ls a bit harsh at present and I still haven't fitted the gold valves. It still wants to run wide. Not as bad but that may be a function of the tyres as well.
 

Donut

New member
I fitted the Nitron and the raising link. Turns better but I will definitely need to tune it a fair bit. It ls a bit harsh at present and I still haven't fitted the gold valves. It still wants to run wide. Not as bad but that may be a function of the tyres as well.

I note from your list of bikes that you've also got or had a BMW F800R. This, along with the MT07 was on my shortlist of bikes to buy but rejected it and went for the Yamaha as I wasn't impressed with the front end on the BMW.

Would be interested to hear your views on how the 2 bikes compare.
 

Nuggets

Member
I've done it!

I've ordered Ohlins Rear Shock (46DR1), Ohlins uprated front springs and 1litre of ohlins fork oil. In the UK this is quoted around £649 + carriage. If you search ebay this same package is being sold by an company in Northern Italy for EUR 649 + postage.

Using paypal's exchange rate (protected purchase not a money transfer!) makes this a more appetising £490 inc postage.

The seller has the rear shock in stock and they are just waiting the front springs from ohlins before dispatch, it should be on it's way to me next week and will take less than a week to be delivered.

Happy days.
]
 
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Nuggets

Member
Dispatched from Italy Friday delivered Wednesday morning. Rear shock installed and wow what a difference and it's not even setup yet. So tonight I'll be dropping off the front forks to replace the springs and oil with the ohlins upgrades. Looking forward to being out and about on her now, she feels like a different bike with the rear suspension upgrade.

I definitely recommend it to anyone thinking about it.

link to the ebay seller;

KIT BASIC NAKED AMMORTIZZATORE 46DR + MOLLE + OLIO OHLINS YAMAHA MT-07 | eBay

It took a couple of hours to swap the springs and oil over, dead easy stuff!
 

KEVINJSTANLEY

New member
Hi
can it realy be £700 quid better than the likes of Maxton...being a everyday old fart who does not think he is Rossi will this massive saving give me a firmer front end and a rear that does not skip and bounce on English roads.
because if it is I will be ordering and not going to Maxton

Dispatched from Italy Friday delivered Wednesday morning. Rear shock installed and wow what a difference and it's not even setup yet. So tonight I'll be dropping off the front forks to replace the springs and oil with the ohlins upgrades. Looking forward to being out and about on her now, she feels like a different bike with the rear suspension upgrade.

I definitely recommend it to anyone thinking about it.

link to the ebay seller;

KIT BASIC NAKED AMMORTIZZATORE 46DR + MOLLE + OLIO OHLINS YAMAHA MT-07 | eBay

It took a couple of hours to swap the springs and oil over, dead easy stuff!
 

Nuggets

Member
Hi
can it realy be £700 quid better than the likes of Maxton...being a everyday old fart who does not think he is Rossi will this massive saving give me a firmer front end and a rear that does not skip and bounce on English roads.
because if it is I will be ordering and not going to Maxton
Kevin,

I don't know what the Maxton offers for £700 more, are the front forks cartridges? If so undoubtedly the Maxton will be superior, but there is also more work to fit them as you have to dismantle the shock tubes, with the ohlins spring swap you only have to take off the top cap, spacer, washer and spring (and empty/refill the oil). Perhaps the fitment cost is included in the maxton price, so not strictly comparing apples for apples?

having been in biking for a year and the MighT7 being my first proper bike my skills/experience arent good enough to appreciate the subtleties of rebound and dampening which top of the line Maxton gear gives you but what I can say is, swapping the rear shock made a hell of a difference to how planted the bike feels and has improved my confidence through corners, often i used to back off slightly for bumps which on the OEM shock would have the back twitching a bit, I know you are not supposed to roll off through a corner as it worsens the bikes stability but its a natural response. Now I absolutley fly through corners in the flat-lands of Cambridgeshire, which I consider to have some of the shittest, uneven, HGV/Tractor fucked, pot holed roads around.

The front spring & oil swap has reduced the front end dive under braking which is massively confidence inspiring in itself, I can't say it has changed anything else about the front, maybe it feels a little more planted and smaller bumps don't seem to be felt quite as much as a result but that's subjective. The biggest change has been the huge reduction in the brake dive and thats very noticeable.

If you are on a budget then I'd say go for the ohlins, I'd love maxton cartridges on the front, not because I know how they would improve the handling (no doubt they would) but because I want the best of everything.

If you have some mechanical knowledge you can fit all the ohlins stuff yourself, I purchased a fork oil level gauge for £20 and it made life so much easier, that was it. My dealer quoted £80 to swap the springs alone, but it took me two hours having never done it before, the workshop manual is spot on for DIY fitment. You don't even have to follow all the steps to drop the forks out, and you can save dropping the tank off to get to the yoke pinch bolt (it seems an unneccesary step).

If you do order from the eBay link, they may not have immediately available the springs, they did communicate very well and once dispatched it all turned up in 3-4 days very well packaged, it was a confidence inspiring experience. Get in there quick whilst the £ is still strong against the euro.

Shout if you have any other questions.
 

KEVINJSTANLEY

New member
Hi Nuggett
thanks for that info, did you increase the spring compression on the rear before you swapped ?? if so you still felt the ohlins you purchased were so much better?
I only say that as I increased the spring on mine by roughly 1/2 as it was set very soft [16stone] and after the snake and woodhead pass yesterday it was better... not much but perhaps livable.
But if the new ohlins is very much better then perhaps I should replace.
The front however is bloody awful as standard, and yes it was cartridge at Maxton fitted, but I think like you it was the diving when breaking which unsettles the bike and needs sorting...so hence why I asked the original question do I go to the expense of Maxton when a spring change is all I need.
it is a shame you live so far away or I would be asking to try yours out :)

cheers
 

Nuggets

Member
Hi Nuggett
thanks for that info, did you increase the spring compression on the rear before you swapped ?? if so you still felt the ohlins you purchased were so much better?
I only say that as I increased the spring on mine by roughly 1/2 as it was set very soft [16stone] and after the snake and woodhead pass yesterday it was better... not much but perhaps livable.
But if the new ohlins is very much better then perhaps I should replace.
The front however is bloody awful as standard, and yes it was cartridge at Maxton fitted, but I think like you it was the diving when breaking which unsettles the bike and needs sorting...so hence why I asked the original question do I go to the expense of Maxton when a spring change is all I need.
it is a shame you live so far away or I would be asking to try yours out :)

cheers
Kev,

I never played around with the standard shock pre-load, being a lardy arsed 18stoner the spring already compresses enough with my carcass on it! For me there were two issues from the rear, twitchy in the corners and wallowing on straights over gradually uneven roads when at speed. I can appreciate how changing the pre-load compresses the spring and stiffens the back but I don't think that has the same effect as changing the damping so whilst it perhaps feels a little more stable going into corners it's because the spring has less capacity to absorb changes in the road, but I thought this may worsen the handling a little? For my money I definitely notice the difference with a properly damped rear shock, for me the rear is much more capable now and worthy of an upgrade every day of the week.

The moment I installed the rear shock and took it around for a ride I felt I was vindicated in my decision to spend the money on a new rear shock and I'm now running through corners with more confidence than before and the bike generally feels more stable. If you search I think there is are a several riders who all say the rear shock upgrade has made a real noticeable difference, even in MCN on their test bike.

As for the fronts, if all you want to do is reduce brake dive, the stiffer springs will do the job for sure. I think because all the ohlins springs do is stiffen the fork springs, the sense of stability comes from the fact you don't experience the sensation of the front dipping along with your body. I would still say the front jumps around and bounces just as much as with the stock shocks, sometimes perhaps a little more so because of the stiffer spring but then if you want to control this behaviour then you'll only get that through cartridges to control the rate of damping in both compression and rebound.

Because I just do not have the experience to judge the difference, I'd rather spend £100 on springs and oil now with the opportunity to sell the springs on ebay for say £50 rather than invest a huge amount of money and feel I didn't get my monies worth because I simply do not have a comparator.

Overall I feel satisfied that the outcome was well worth the money. The rear I would say upgrade all day long, the front I would say maybe you should try the springs and if you still don't get the result you want you can upgrade to cartridges in the future?

What that means is I can't answer your question directly, all I can say is for my limited experience I definitely feel the benefits of the spring upgrades on the front, which itself has boosted my confidence all round and again I've felt it was well worth the money to change the front springs (probably said that few times now!). If in the future I feel I want more then there is always the option to swap to cartridges later down the line.

The shocks have made the bike feel like a new beast, I've had it for a year now and the excitement of riding it was being tempered a little by the poorer aspects of handling as my skills improve, the shocks have given me that envelope to do more so it's like being on a new bike again.

As for trying mine, you'd be welcome too but you'd have to keep up with me first, with the Akra, stage 1 air filter and new shocks installed I'm absolutely flying around the shop (complete with a big grin!).

ride safe
 

KEVINJSTANLEY

New member
Hi Nuggetts
I like the last bit :) but thanks for the input about the front and rear. I am going to sit on the fence for a little bit and see what happens as I fancy the front cartridge option, it just depends how long it takes to squirrel away the funds

cheers
m8
 

Couchy

New member
i can tell you this. i have just got my bike back finished from hyperpro and it is now a missile.
the forks are 20mm shorter and the rear shock is 20mm shorter if your 5ft 3 you can now place both feet firmly on the ground. all the bouncy handling has gone from the front and rear, with the rear gripping the road very hard also letting you drift the rear around corners smoking the tyre.because the suspension is now squating i look like a gorilla wrestling the bike over the handlebars also this makes the bike look very aggressive. downside is rear tyre wear up slightly as you can use the bike and trust it.the sidestand is now to long but i have yamaha sending a new shorter stand as they have seen the bike. the front no longer dives under heavy breaking this is such a confidence builder and into corners at high speed counter steering you can lean the bike right over and get right back on the power mid-corner to exit.
although the bike is much lower nothing touches down so nothing is compromised. hyperpro also have a kit ready for the standard ride height if you do not wish to drop the bike. The Mt-09 has recieved similar treatment and was faster on track than the r6 and ducati panagale. visordown had the Mt-07 just slightly behind the ducati on time.
i will be posting pictures at the weekend in a new thread so you can see how different the mt-07 looks now

Interesting, do you drift the rear on road or track and do you have any videos as it sounds awesome ?
 

Donut

New member
Having just tried to buy a cartridge kit direct from Andreani in Italy I can say that they will NOT sell direct to a private individual.

I assume that people have bought theirs from Omnia Racing in Italy as that's who is advertising on Ebay.
 

Donut

New member
Having just tried to buy a cartridge kit direct from Andreani in Italy I can say that they will NOT sell direct to a private individual.

I assume that people have bought theirs from Omnia Racing in Italy as that's who is advertising on Ebay.
Collected my bike from Steve Jordan's near Boxhill yesterday and it's now fitted with a Nitron R1 rear shock and Andreani cartridge fork internals.

It's like a different bike and so worth the money. Gone is the wallowy vagueness in corners and it now tracks true without wandering all over the place.

So much more planted on the road and even just sitting on it while they took measurements I could tell that here was a huge improvement.

Granted that it's not cheap and it's not going to beat a Street Triple for speed but it's handling is now as good if not better.
 


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