Lowering Ride Height (Ohlins Rear, Hoop)

26-05-2010, 12:33 PM

Ok, so I've noticed that now everything is fixed that I am leaning forward on my wrists.

The front forks are set up to 'factory' settings from the book that came with the bike.

Is the best solution to this to make the spring shorter at the back.
I have tried softening / hardening the dampening(?) (the knob on the cylinder), but this still leaves me feeling I've my arse in the air.

When I first had the Ohlins (on the other monster) I had standard bars, now I have clip-ons (which suddenly made sense as to the position to me the other day). When I first had clip-ons the standard rear shock was on it's last legs and somewhat knackered, so of course I was sat lower.

Obviously I should have though of all of this before fitting the Ohlins.

In order to make the ride height lower, can I just screw the Ohlins shorter or do I need to remove the hoop first and shorten / screw in that as well?

We have some bricks and wood still from the shock replacement and know which tools fit so it's just the adjustments.

I'd go hassle slob but any time my suspension is mentioned he goes white and runs away ... can't think why ...

slob · 26-05-2010, 01:20 PM

You need to loosen the locknuts on the rose-joints at the bottom of the hoop (and once the pivot bolts are out) screw them in as far as they'll go, then re-tighten the locknuts. This will aslo slow down your steering, it may be better to just allow time to get used to the clip-ons if your feet reach the ground ok... or go back to standard bars if you're not 'a sporty rider'.

Kato · 26-05-2010, 01:31 PM

As Rob says, if you take all the pre load out of the spring the handling will suffer and probably end up quite scary in the twisty's, if the front is as high as it'll go and the back end has the rose joints on the hoop screwed all the in and you are still not happy you could try getting the seat sculpted, to lower yourself into the bike.

26-05-2010, 06:42 PM

When you got the Ohlins was the sag set correctly for your weight? You should set the preload/sag correctly on the spring first, if still too high then change the rose joints.

26-05-2010, 12:33 PM	#1
ladybird Guest Posts: n/a	Lowering Ride Height (Ohlins Rear, Hoop) Ok, so I've noticed that now everything is fixed that I am leaning forward on my wrists. The front forks are set up to 'factory' settings from the book that came with the bike. Is the best solution to this to make the spring shorter at the back. I have tried softening / hardening the dampening(?) (the knob on the cylinder), but this still leaves me feeling I've my arse in the air. When I first had the Ohlins (on the other monster) I had standard bars, now I have clip-ons (which suddenly made sense as to the position to me the other day). When I first had clip-ons the standard rear shock was on it's last legs and somewhat knackered, so of course I was sat lower. Obviously I should have though of all of this before fitting the Ohlins. In order to make the ride height lower, can I just screw the Ohlins shorter or do I need to remove the hoop first and shorten / screw in that as well? We have some bricks and wood still from the shock replacement and know which tools fit so it's just the adjustments. I'd go hassle slob but any time my suspension is mentioned he goes white and runs away ... can't think why ...

26-05-2010, 01:31 PM	#3
Kato Dismantled Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: East Molesey Bike: Multiple Monsters Posts: 2,247	As Rob says, if you take all the pre load out of the spring the handling will suffer and probably end up quite scary in the twisty's, if the front is as high as it'll go and the back end has the rose joints on the hoop screwed all the in and you are still not happy you could try getting the seat sculpted, to lower yourself into the bike. __________________ "Political correctness is just intellectual colonialism and psychological fascism for the creation of thought crime"

26-05-2010, 01:20 PM	#2
slob . Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: East London Bike: Multiple Monsters Posts: 9,736	You need to loosen the locknuts on the rose-joints at the bottom of the hoop (and once the pivot bolts are out) screw them in as far as they'll go, then re-tighten the locknuts. This will aslo slow down your steering, it may be better to just allow time to get used to the clip-ons if your feet reach the ground ok... or go back to standard bars if you're not 'a sporty rider'.

26-05-2010, 06:42 PM	#4
steve wright Guest Posts: n/a	When you got the Ohlins was the sag set correctly for your weight? You should set the preload/sag correctly on the spring first, if still too high then change the rose joints.