Africa Twin Ohlins

Warlord

Do Not Resuscitate
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Has anybody bought Ohlins front forks and rear shock for their HAT ??

Can't decide between Ohlins or Touratech Extreme.

Ohlins provide the complete front forks, whereas Touratech supply a cartridge kit only.

Think I'd prefer the upgraded Ohlins forks

Any views or experience on this before I pull the trigger?
 
Not me but there was a thread on ADvRider regarding AT Öhlins forks and highlight was they found the same wear issues as the Oem AT forks. It was posted up within the last couple of months from memory on the usual section for AT user experiences.
 
Not me but there was a thread on ADvRider regarding AT Öhlins forks and highlight was they found the same wear issues as the Oem AT forks. It was posted up within the last couple of months from memory on the usual section for AT user experiences.

Thanks for this, I'll try and find it.

Ohlins forks are supposed to be hardened inside to prevent exactly that.
 
.....It didn't appear to be the be all and end all when you look at https://advrider.com/f/threads/hot-for-the-ohlins-on-the-at-read-on.1399773/

Right then, I've read all through that lot.....

Seems to me that there are four options here.

a) Full Monty Ohlins Forks and Ohlins rear shock = £ 3000

b) Half Monty Ohlins front Cartridges and Ohlins rear shock = £ 2000 (problem here is you're still on standard fork legs, which flex too much)

c) Half Monty Touratech Extreme front cartridges and Extreme rear shock = £ 2500 (problem here is you're still on standard fork legs, which flex too much)

d) Full Monty ATAS front Fork Upgrade with either Ohlins or Touratech cartridge kits = £ c.3000 (ATAS forks flex less, but still too much)

The problems are not just with Ohlins, it appears the front fork tubes get wear, depending how brutal you are off-road with the bike.

In summary, people still say the standard HAT forks flex too much. The HATAS forks flex less, but still too much. The Ohlins forks are very stiff and ideal, but there is still wear issues for some users, but not all users.

Think I'm still going to go with Ohlins front forks, makes sense then to use the rear shock as well.
 
Right then, I've read all through that lot.....

Seems to me that there are four options here.


The problems are not just with Ohlins, it appears the front fork tubes get wear, depending how brutal you are off-road with the bike.

In summary, people still say the standard HAT forks flex too much.

The HATAS forks flex less, but still too much.

The Ohlins forks are very stiff and ideal, but there is still wear issues for some users, but not all users.

Think I'm still going to go with Ohlins front forks, makes sense then to use the rear shock as well.


Suspension wears, coatings need replacing periodically
 
Suspension wears, coatings need replacing periodically

Yeah, that seems to be the theme.

Although people have spent a lot of money on Ohlins forks (and expected them to be perfect, under 'race' type off-road conditions) I've never known any product to be bomb proof like that. They all fail eventually.

I think the benefit of being able to slide the Ohlins forks straight into place, and store the original forks for quick swap out, is another benefit for servicing them and ease of use (and sale price when the time comes).

£3000 is a lot of money, but I like this bike, so it's worth it to me.
 
But Warlord is determined to take his AT to places where sane people would only go on a lightweight 250.

Oh no, quite the opposite, I don't want to go anywhere near the smelly scramblers thank you.

I'm quite happy sorting out the 'suitable' lanes and having enough fun already :thumb2
 
Ok, seems that the Ohlins forks are either discontinued now or on permanent back order. So that idea is out of the window.

Another option that has been presented to me this afternoon is a complete rebuild of my existing shock and forks by K-Tech at £ 1400

Involves Kashima Coating on uppers and DLC coating of lowers, plus springs and valves rebuild.

Reports are this is very good, and retains some of the plushness that you get with OEM kit. But sprung at the correct weight.

Sounds viable... :thumb2
 
Of course there is a further option; buy a bike that's actually designed to do the sorta shit you wanna do, I'll give you a clue; a lot of them are coloured Orange................

K-Tech, mmmmmmmm........... I've used them and was less than impressed. Somebody I know had some work done by them and for very good reason swore never to use them again. They are a big company though and have a lot of satisfied customers..........but just like makes of bike, other options are available, not just the first that comes up on a Google search.

Andres
 
Of course there is a further option; buy a bike that's actually designed to do the sorta shit you wanna do, I'll give you a clue; a lot of them are coloured Orange................

K-Tech, mmmmmmmm........... I've used them and was less than impressed. Somebody I know had some work done by them and for very good reason swore never to use them again. They are a big company though and have a lot of satisfied customers..........but just like makes of bike, other options are available, not just the first that comes up on a Google search.

Andres

I hear you.

Seems like suspension tuning is like bloody engine tuning..... murky and a black art world.....
 
.....it's also that 'law of diminishing returns' thing :thumb2

Andres

The problem with sending my OEM kit to K-Tech for a rebuild, is that I won't recover any of that money invested once I sell the bike.

If I buy the Ohlins or Touratech kit, I can just unbolt it and stick the OEM stuff back on. Then sell it afterwards getting a fair lot of that money back.
 
Right then, I've read all through that lot.....

Seems to me that there are four options here.

a) Full Monty Ohlins Forks and Ohlins rear shock = £ 3000

b) Half Monty Ohlins front Cartridges and Ohlins rear shock = £ 2000 (problem here is you're still on standard fork legs, which flex too much)

c) Half Monty Touratech Extreme front cartridges and Extreme rear shock = £ 2500 (problem here is you're still on standard fork legs, which flex too much)

d) Full Monty ATAS front Fork Upgrade with either Ohlins or Touratech cartridge kits = £ c.3000 (ATAS forks flex less, but still too much)

The problems are not just with Ohlins, it appears the front fork tubes get wear, depending how brutal you are off-road with the bike.

In summary, people still say the standard HAT forks flex too much. The HATAS forks flex less, but still too much. The Ohlins forks are very stiff and ideal, but there is still wear issues for some users, but not all users.

Think I'm still going to go with Ohlins front forks, makes sense then to use the rear shock as well.


Or

e) buy a secondhand (around 7000 miles of use) set of touratech extreme cartridge forks and shock off peepingtom for £1300 :aidan
 
Ohllins rear shock and ktech fork kit, they did set the bike up for me however i used there settings as a starting point and twiddled to find my preference, the difference is night/day, fully loaded oe panniers i just wind the preload up 6 turns, getting the oe shock out with the swinger still fitted is no 5 minute job :eek:

I purchased the shock from RR, Jonathan added some discount meaning i could not buy it cheaper elsewhere.
 


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