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Looking to upgrade the suspension on 2017 Street Glide CVO. Ohlin (and I am sure others) offers the shock with and without Adjustable Rebound Damping. Is this a feature I just cant live without?
I prefer to have a shock I don't need to mess with and the price discount, if I pass on this, is substantial. I will be riding 2 up half the time. I'm 165 lbs. Wife is 110 lbs - not sure any of that data matters
I was going to post something similar since I too am looking for replacement shocks for my 17 FLTRU. I don't really understand the difference between all the shocks. Additionally, I like the idea of an adjustable shock as long as the adjustment is easy since I mostly ride by myself, but occasionally want to adjust the shocks for a 2 up ride. Is there a guide or anything that can help a shock novice like me better understand what to look for before I spend 1K+ on a set of shocks for my scoot?
Some Ohlins shocks have compression & rebound on a adjuster called a sweep valve. This does both with one **** located at the bottom of the shock. This feature is available in 2 different models through me. One is a #3-#3 which starts out as a HD-159 or HD-774 before re-valving for you if necessary. It has 77mm of stroke and is a separated (internal reservoir) shock & is height adjustable. The second one is a #2Adjustable that starts off before re-valving as a HD-136. It is an emulsified (no internal reservoir) shock & is not height adjustable as it is 13 1/4" long so height adjustable is not needed. The stroke is 93mm long. If you plan on just cruising than an emulsified will work without any sort of shock fade or failure. If you plan or actively riding the bike under race type conditions than you will need a separated system to avoid shock fade and shock failure.
Howard - thank you for the feedback. I think I ride fairly aggressive but not race conditions as you stated above. With that said it sounds like the shock without the adjustable rebound damping is a good fit?
I prefer to have a shock I don't need to mess with and the price discount, if I pass on this, is substantial. I will be riding 2 up half the time. I'm 165 lbs. Wife is 110 lbs - not sure any of that data matters
Yupper, it matters... certainly to the supplier of your quality shock, but also to your question here. With your's and your wife's weights, I'm pretty sure that you will have no problem fine-tuning a quality shock to find a happy medium that would suit both one and two up without have to re-adjust each time you change up.
What "shortcoming" are you trying to fix? Without a clear idea of what you want, there is no clear solution. A non-specific "upgrade" well might make some irritation worse, rather than better.
You can live without being able to adjust rebound. Is it nice to have? Yea..., but for most, it's a set it and forget it anyways. And for most, it's set rather capriciously anyhow. In fact a whole lot of folk think they're setting compression, which they are not.
Very generically, if you've the option of specifying the parameters for the shock assembly (as in custom built in some way) go with the maximum load for spring and damping selection. This will make the ride a bit harsher than necessary when loaded light, but also means it won't be bottoming out or wallowing when loaded up full.
Last edited by foxtrapper; Mar 15, 2019 at 07:50 AM.
This is a typical compression/rebound adjustable assembly used in many models AKA single adjustable (single ****). Notice the black needle valve seat next to the needle valve just under the shaft.
Compression Stroke:
When the piston goes up (shortening) the piston is pushed into the oil and is forced through the piston circuits and push against the steel shims that act/mimic like a spring. The bottom of the shaft has a needle valve & seat. The needle valve seat is (in this case) an open bleed. On the compression stroke the oil can enter this hole and the needle valve restricts how much oil can bypass the compression shim pack thus making the shock less resistant to change (weaker resistance) and the amount is controlled how open the needle valve is. The oil flows past the needle valve than up & out the hole located above the main piston.
Rebound Stroke:
The opposite happens when the shock is pulled apart. The oil is sucked through the hole on top and flows around the needle valve and out the open bleed needle valve seat to replace the oil at the top of shock.
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Adjustable Rebound Damping?
