I guess I am the odd man out here because dealing with Howard was one of the best parts of getting my new Ohlin shocks. I got along fine with him, maybe we are both ****** and birds of a feather.........

I told him first thing what I expected out of the new shocks I was buying and what I was willing to spend. The first thing he said was " you won't have to spend that much, what will work best for you is actually one of my cheapest shocks."

I knew right then he was more concerned about me getting the ride I wanted than selling me more than I needed.

You can't please everybody, just glad I called Howard and will again if I ever need any suspension knowledge or product.

Dennis

 

I had about the same experience, he kept me from spending more than I needed. He also was in Ohio during my sale and gave me the landline # where he was(Ohlins USA) so I could get in touch with him(he stated cell service was intermittent) so he could do my shocks while he was there and ship them when he got my check. I don't get the complaints concerning the webpage either, at least as far as I am concerned it explains the shocks just fine.

 

I did not reply to your post out of letting a dead horse lie. Now I will answer both.

In the directions it plainly states that it is advisable to have a certified and trained technician to install all shocks. The problems that you had encountered could have been solved easily by me. I put on many shocks and many of the exact same shocks you have without effort. If course as stated before I work in this field and you work in gas and I do not know anything about that subject. Some how or another this lead to your past and this quote: "told to stick to my day job." That is not what I said and I do have all of your and my reply e-Mails stored for further reference.

The problems such as holding the head of a 1/4"X20 bolt inside of a ressy mount was easily overcome and I sent you a picture on how to do it. That is the way the part was designed and I personally have no issue with it as I have done it many times


The packaging was reportable damaged in transit by the shipper from the USA to Australia. The package was fully insured and my first reaction is make a claim and send them back. I can not be held liable for what others do. The shocks were shipped in the same pictured box from Sweden to the Ohlins USA to me without any incident. The shocks are put into a closed foam system in a machine than put into a hard, dense cardboard box. All ressys (point of problem) are covered with a foam bag each. The box is closed than a heavy duty two wall cardboard box is used to put the box containing the shock into it.

Review:
1) Foam white bags around the ressy part.
2) Foam cushion system in plastic gray bags encapsulating the parts and shocks.
3) Hard cardboard Ohlins box, same material to what everyone gets.
4) Heavy duty two wall exterior cardboard box.
5) Fully insured.

To kingkingking credit, he decided to fore-go the lengthy insurance process and I just sent him the replacement decals on the ressys that were scratched. The gold anodizing was not scratched. It was reported that the springs also had some sort of dings in them but could be rotated to hide the imperfections. It is my position that I sent the shocks in perfect condition to him and kingkingking deserved and paid for perfect shocks. I would have preferred that kingkingking would have sent them back for shippers insurance than received a full refund to do with whatever from the start. kingkingking deserved perfect.

This is the way we ship them which this picture has been on my site for over a year now, long before I shipped them to you. I casn not control what others do:

 

I talked to Howard once, inquiring about shocks for my 2011 Road King Classic. I'm 60 and have riding motorcycles since I was 15. Sorry Howard....you were curt, salty and basically made me feel like a total jerk for inquiring about the shocks you sell. If I want someone to talk to me like that, all I have to do is pick up the phone and call my youngest son. You definitely could use an "attitude adjustment".

I called Brian over at Ricor, 1 888 425-1333. This was on a Saturday. I got a thorough education on his products. He was the BEST. I bought a set of 41 MM Intiminators, for the front and a set of Rear Shocks. They were built to order, acording to my weight.

A complete and total pleasure to deal with. I love the way my bike rides and handles now. It's 1,000% better than stock.

Howard, you've got to go back to "how to be nice school".

 

NO SUSPENSION FOR YOU!!!

I would use the springs out of two old pogo sticks before I gave Howard a nickel. There are folks out there every bit as knowledgable who know how to interact with other humans.

 

No that's some funny **** there...i don't care who you are...

It doesn't cost anything to be nice, but it cost some to not be.

You never get a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression...

 

Video featuring Howard

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUY-H3vWhzY

 

Good luck with your Ricor , I just pulled them off my bike , Brian is nice but I could not get his shocks to work , I loved them solo , they were ok 2up , 2up loaded they plain sucked , recently my wife and I have done more multi state trips and on our last trip I told her when we get back the Ricors are going in the trash , I had much better results with the Progressive 940's on my last bike , I decided to buy Ohlins #3-#3, I will give a truthful write up when I have them broken in and dialed in , but I will speak on my interactions with Howard , I had read many previous post from Howard and wasn't sure if he was just passionate about what he does or a jerk but could tell a few things , he was a straight shooter , no nonsense kind of person and he absolutely expects the customer to research and participate in their shock selection , with this in mind I went to Howard's web and read his posted information on shocks in general , not just Ohlins shocks , it tells you the different kinds and the pros and cons of each , again this is generic shock knowledge that can help you regardless of what brand you buy , then I called Howard , I told him my needs and what I thought would best satisfy them based on what I read and asked for his input , he agreed with me and I placed my order , the shocks arrived this past Sat at 9am , Howard likes you to call when they arrive so he can go over them with you , I read all of Howard's installation instructions along with the Ohlin's instruction and decided to wait til Sunday to install them , Sat around 5pm Howard calls me , I haven't heard from you , get the shocks let's get them on the bike , he goes over the shocks with me and I hang up with a much better understanding of them before he called ,I installed them and rode Sunday , Sunday about 7pm I email Howard asking him a few questions , about 7:30pm Sunday night Howard calls me to answer my questions , he had installed this same set of shocks on another customers bike that day and they had gone for a ride and he had tuned on them so he wanted to answer my questions and share with me some things they had done that would help me , I was skeptical in the beginning because to the point , no bs , straight talking people are easy to deal with in person but more difficult on the phone , but in the end I have to say Howard so far has given me better customer service than I have ever received and when the Ohlins are broken in I will give them a truthful no bs review

 

I just went through 'Shock Therapy' with Howard over the pass couple of day's myself and I know more about shocks now then I ever did... it's freakin' amazing, just like Howard !
ie: who else would try to help you out and answer any questions you might have while they're sopping wet... Yes, Howie had just pulled in from a torrential downpour while out
on a run on his bike when I just happened to call him and he stayed on the phone til' we were done and ends it with a... well, gotta go get into some dry clothes. Bye
After all said and done, info shared & phone calls... we went with the #2-#2(B)'s and they are on the way and will be on my bike this weekend.

Besides, how can Howard be such a soreass when he produces/rides on the best shocks out there?

Thanks again Howard...YOU DA MAN !!!

 

again im not saying he doesnt know his ****, and im not saying he does help his customers out.

what i am saying is he comes off the wrong way sometimes.

i have spent thousands of dollars with several companies. were they all helpful? no. did all the products turn out to be top notch products? no.

its nice howard doenst try to up sell you what you dont need. and i appreciate that.
but when i call to ask about a product i would expect some advice from the specialist who builds and rides on his product like he says.

if he rides on them, and sells them, and has alot of local guys that ride on them, then he should have some sort of idea of a direction for his consumers.

im not mechanically inclined, i have done everything to my harley, and everything to any bike ive owned in the last 10 years. im not a novice rider, and im not a total newb to suspension stuff. ive done a few track days on a very sorted out CBR built for the track.

but when trying to figure out whats going to work best for my heavy touring bike and riding 2 up for me it was like a shot in the dark, cause so far most of the things are hit and miss.

i was just looking for some direction, and i wasnt getting it