Walking through the HD Homecoming festivities at Wisconsin HD in Oconomowoc, one of the first tents you pass is the beautiful gold/blue tents of Ohlins.

I've been talking about getting Ohlins shocks for 7+ years but never pulled the trigger. Told the wife I wanted to take a look and chat with the folks about pricing etc, and to my surprise, she told me I should just do it, because I've been talking about it for so long and Ohlins was a name she recognized from my years of non-stop motorcycle talk

I thought it was a trap, but then the woman working the tent pointed out it was as much for her comfort as it was for mine, so needless to say, I put my name on the list and 45 minutes later my bike was ready to roll!

The only rule she gave me? She wanted me to ditch the yellow lamin-x on the headlight (easy deal, after 100 miles I don't like it anyway), and she wants me to put a stainless 2-1 exhaust on it like I had on the LRS because she loved the way it turned gold with the heat cycles.. Deal, deal, DEAL. I knew I married the right woman










First impressions, I love the taller rear stance, it's not much, but it's noticeable. Before leaving the parking lot I could already tell it was smoother. Three bumps at 25mph later and I knew we'd made the right choice! No more bottoming out, and they soak up the smaller bumps/imperfections so much better than stock. Yes, you still feel the large concrete creases over bridges, but without the jolting/jarring you get on the stock shocks.

Long sweeping curves and the bike feels so much more planted, especially if the road isn't perfectly smooth.

65 miles on them so far and I'm 100% happy with them. Wife said repeatedly that it was significantly more comfortable for her on back.

Now that I'm going to be riding solo for the next month or so until our days off match up again, I'm going to adjust the suspension to fit my weight and I'm going to find time in the next day or two to really rip the curvy roads I'm familiar with. I'm positive it's going to be better, but I can't wait to see HOW much better they are.


Side note; I'm now even more aware how bad the front end is, so I'll be looking to upgrade that at some point here...


All in all, they're pricey, and I know the Ohlins premier shocks are 95% as good ad the HD 044 with the remote reservoirs, but if you're spending the money anyway, might as well just get the ones I've been dreaming about for years

 

Congrats! Glad you were able to get them on! Now, you have to do the front, it is truly amazing with both.

 

Congrats, hope that last a life time with smooth riding.

 

I don't know that I'll splurge for Ohlins up front as well, but I've only heard great things about the Pro Action drop in cartridge kits. At $375 it's bit more accessible than $1200+ for the Ohlins lol

 

I'm jealous! 😫

 

Got the same from Howard a few years ago, Hugh difference, But your right, shows you how bad the front suspension is, Went Pro Action kit, did everything myself, My thought was for under $400 upgrade, If I didn't like it, Im out $400 , not $1200, As of today, The Pro Actions are still on my bike, Even sent them a email before I started ripping into about the Mid valve, I believe that's what it was called? I sent the email on Friday night, Got a phone call from the owner on Saturday morning, call from his truck, He explained over the phone how and why this kits work and why? If I run into or had any questions I was to call him, To me! That's customer service, If I buy rear shocks again, I know who I will call, I also had great customer service through Howard, Which surprised me after reading all the post about him, We talked shocks for about 5 minutes and talked for a 1/2 hour talking about where each of us lived and hobbies, found him to be a great guy to talk to (RIP)

 

Absolutely! I did both last year and just last week added True-Track stabilizers front and rear along with a new Metzeler 888 on the back to replace the one with 12,000 hard miles on it.
The bike feels great now,the Ohlins were spendy but worth every penny.

 

I went for the rear shocks. love mine.

 

I definitely understand why people "in the know" say to do suspension first before power upgrades... Glad I went this route instead of adding a cam like I'd planned.

Now I'm excited to get the fronts done, and when it's time to change my rotors/pads (soon) I'll probably just spend the extra $200-300 and get larger rotors and good pads.

 

I'm glad my air shocks started leaking. I might still be riding on that junk if they didn't.