Ohlins shock problems

8374 Views 27 Replies 15 Participants Last post by nickvale, Jun 23, 2018

nickvale

Discussion Starter · Sep 29, 2017

Hi folks -

Been having a fun time on the SuperSport S, 2000 miles in now. But haven't been able to set up the rear properly - it seemed harsh, and also bottomed out a couple of times on a very fast hack combined with town work on a warm day (20 degrees) with mates in France. Rear shock also got too hot to adjust without oven gloves, and, maybe just my imagination, seemed to pogo a bit after a while. Rear brake got spongy too. So whopped up the rear preload a couple of turns (had dialled it back that amount initially) and today saw a suspension specialist. He really did the business with the setup, mostly by increasing the front pre-load, big time - said I ought to consider stronger springs (fully togged I'm getting on for 100kg, eek!). Regarding the rear, he was happy with the sag but fiddled with the damping too and it all seems much better now. However...

The rear had bottomed out by the edge of the compression chamber hitting the pannier carrier - there's a ding in it and I'll be talking to my dealer. He was also slightly concerned about how hot I said the shock got on a hot day, and agreed that there would be some fade. Didn't think it would be huge though, but that clearly depends on how hot the shock gets. Have just taken delivery of an IR temp gauge so will see, but will also talk to dealer about a heat shield. The constant fairly drastic heat cycling at the very least will affect seals I'd have thought.

And finally - front RH fork (rebound damping). He bounced mine up and down a few times, and reckoned that there was very little difference between the fully in and fully out settings, certainly far less than he would have expected, but this was the first SuperSport S he's seen. So again, I'll be talking to the dealer, but anyone else out there recognise that?

Cheers - Nick

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Ed K

· #2 · Sep 29, 2017

I’m much lighter, so haven’t experienced the issues you mentioned.

Very interested to hear about the shock IR readings... hopefully, before and after the heat shield is installed.

JaggerCat

· #3 · Sep 29, 2017

nickvale said:
Hi folks -

Been having a fun time on the SuperSport S, 2000 miles in now. But haven't been able to set up the rear properly - it seemed harsh, and also bottomed out a couple of times on a very fast hack combined with town work on a warm day (20 degrees) with mates in France. Rear shock also got too hot to adjust without oven gloves, and, maybe just my imagination, seemed to pogo a bit after a while. Rear brake got spongy too. So whopped up the rear preload a couple of turns (had dialled it back that amount initially) and today saw a suspension specialist. He really did the business with the setup, mostly by increasing the front pre-load, big time - said I ought to consider stronger springs (fully togged I'm getting on for 100kg, eek!). Regarding the rear, he was happy with the sag but fiddled with the damping too and it all seems much better now. However...

The rear had bottomed out by the edge of the compression chamber hitting the pannier carrier - there's a ding in it and I'll be talking to my dealer. He was also slightly concerned about how hot I said the shock got on a hot day, and agreed that there would be some fade. Didn't think it would be huge though, but that clearly depends on how hot the shock gets. Have just taken delivery of an IR temp gauge so will see, but will also talk to dealer about a heat shield. The constant fairly drastic heat cycling at the very least will affect seals I'd have thought.

And finally - front RH fork (rebound damping). He bounced mine up and down a few times, and reckoned that there was very little difference between the fully in and fully out settings, certainly far less than he would have expected, but this was the first SuperSport S he's seen. So again, I'll be talking to the dealer, but anyone else out there recognise that?

Cheers - Nick

Exactly what my mechanic said about my weight for the bike, I told him, “you know what, this bike is not going to see a track day and I’m not an aggressive rider, so whatever you do to the bike, I’ll be completely happy with.” And I am.

Cheers 🥂 Darin

nickvale

Discussion Starter · #4 · Sep 30, 2017

Update from dealer today, he says a service bulletin (not a recall) has just come through which involves replacing the heat shield on the left side of the rear shock with a new one which covers the top of the pipe, thus plugging that gap between the heat shields. I'm wondering why they don't just wrap the down pipe and be done with it... He's also going to be looking at replacing the dinged shock, I'll get that sorted at the same time as the new shield.

He's also going to look into the rebound rates on the RH fork leg, will keep you updated

Cheers - Nick

Reactions: 2

Christm13

· #5 · Sep 30, 2017

nickvale said:
Hi folks -

Been having a fun time on the SuperSport S, 2000 miles in now. But haven't been able to set up the rear properly - it seemed harsh, and also bottomed out a couple of times on a very fast hack combined with town work on a warm day (20 degrees) with mates in France. Rear shock also got too hot to adjust without oven gloves, and, maybe just my imagination, seemed to pogo a bit after a while. Rear brake got spongy too. So whopped up the rear preload a couple of turns (had dialled it back that amount initially) and today saw a suspension specialist. He really did the business with the setup, mostly by increasing the front pre-load, big time - said I ought to consider stronger springs (fully togged I'm getting on for 100kg, eek!). Regarding the rear, he was happy with the sag but fiddled with the damping too and it all seems much better now. However...

The rear had bottomed out by the edge of the compression chamber hitting the pannier carrier - there's a ding in it and I'll be talking to my dealer. He was also slightly concerned about how hot I said the shock got on a hot day, and agreed that there would be some fade. Didn't think it would be huge though, but that clearly depends on how hot the shock gets. Have just taken delivery of an IR temp gauge so will see, but will also talk to dealer about a heat shield. The constant fairly drastic heat cycling at the very least will affect seals I'd have thought.

And finally - front RH fork (rebound damping). He bounced mine up and down a few times, and reckoned that there was very little difference between the fully in and fully out settings, certainly far less than he would have expected, but this was the first SuperSport S he's seen. So again, I'll be talking to the dealer, but anyone else out there recognise that?

Cheers - Nick

My red 3s has 3500miles , and i feel strange behavious on rear . I weigh 65kg , i'm 1,75m 5,9".

Sometimes, my rear shock is perfectly adapted to my sport ride , sometimes i've a sluggish rear shock and i become a beginner on excited curves.
In the beginning i think i 'd a problem on rear tire after a puncture. i noticed sluggish shock after long ride with lot of curves with warm temperature 25 30°.
My dealer will fit this heat shield this week and i hope that rear shock 'll improve.

Reactions: 1

nickvale

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 25, 2017

The revised heat shield will hopefully sort this problem, I got the email today. The ding in the damper (bad design or fitment of the carrier mounts), means I'm also expecting a new shock when the heat shield is fitted. Which would be good as I'm sure the seals will have been compromised by the extreme heat cycling it's been subjected to. Otherwise - loving the bike!

Reactions: 1

nickvale

Discussion Starter · #7 · May 17, 2018

Saw dealer yesterday, they have the official pannier mount fix and a brand new rear shock ready to fit - Ducati have recognised that the shock fouling the pannier mount is a problem and are fixing it. Should be sorted in the next week or so, just in time for my trip to France next month

Reactions: 3

Greasegun-65

· #8 · May 17, 2018

I am 100kg + but I have only done 625miles on SS, The factory set-up feels fine to me, if anything a bit on the firm side.. but I guess after a few thousand miles the real problem is the rear upper head that sits far far to close the Ohlins & I reckon even with the new heat shield the heat will eventually f*ck-up the rear Ohlins ....a bad design...I cant understand why they did not set the rear up like they have on the Panigalie .

Rhino

· #9 · May 17, 2018

nickvale said:
Saw dealer yesterday, they have the official pannier mount fix and a brand new rear shock ready to fit - Ducati have recognised that the shock fouling the pannier mount is a problem and are fixing it. Should be sorted in the next week or so, just in time for my trip to France next month

its great to here. It makes all the difference when your dealer is there to get things sorted. things go wrong on our bikes as long as you have the support its all good don't forget to thank them for a great job done it will help you in the long run.

Reactions: 1

Ed K

· #10 · May 17, 2018

nickvale said:
Saw dealer yesterday, they have the official pannier mount fix and a brand new rear shock ready to fit - Ducati have recognised that the shock fouling the pannier mount is a problem and are fixing it. Should be sorted in the next week or so, just in time for my trip to France next month

“...official pannier mount fix...”???

Did they change the design of the pannier mount and/or replace the damaged pannier mount, or just replaced the shock?

se7en

· #11 · May 17, 2018

Ed K said:
“...official pannier mount fix...”???

Did they change the design of the pannier mount and/or replace the damaged pannier mount, or just replaced the shock?

I was wondering the same thing, Ed. News to me...

Reactions: 1

Alley Oop

· #12 · May 17, 2018

Nick, I'm about 80kg or so without gear and can't achieve proper sag in the front. So anyone over 180lbs will need stiffer springs (9Nm for me) for the ideal rider sag. I have the preload maxed out. But even though it's not the sag I want, it handles pretty darn good. I just know it could be a little better.

I mentioned to Ohlins that the suspension didn't really feel like a typical Ohlins to me. Just didn't have that magic carpet feel that I'm used to.

In my conversations with Ohlins, they said that Ohlins made the Supersport shock and forks to Ducati specifications (which are different from standard Ohlins).

For example, the forks have an extra shim or something that makes them softer than normal (more suited to its city and sport-touring intent I guess and similar to the Monster forks). Not to my liking and will have modified if I ever get around to sending to Ohlins for stiffer fork springs.

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rummaggio

· #13 · May 17, 2018

watching this thread for heat shield and pannier changes

rummaggio

· #14 · May 17, 2018

nickvale said:
Saw dealer yesterday, they have the official pannier mount fix and a brand new rear shock ready to fit - Ducati have recognised that the shock fouling the pannier mount is a problem and are fixing it. Should be sorted in the next week or so, just in time for my trip to France next month

Do you mean that the pannier support arm that connects to the passenger peg mount can hit the remote reservoir of the shock under harsh conditions?

photo attached of possible interference

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Rhino

· #15 · May 18, 2018

Alley Oop said:
Nick, I'm about 80kg or so without gear and can't achieve proper sag in the front. So anyone over 180lbs will need stiffer springs (9Nm for me) for the ideal rider sag. I have the preload maxed out. But even though it's not the sag I want, it handles pretty darn good. I just know it could be a little better.

I mentioned to Ohlins that the suspension didn't really feel like a typical Ohlins to me. Just didn't have that magic carpet feel that I'm used to.

In my conversations with Ohlins, they said that Ohlins made the Supersport shock and forks to Ducati specifications (which are different from standard Ohlins).

For example, the forks have an extra shim or something that makes them softer than normal (more suited to its city and sport-touring intent I guess and similar to the Monster forks). Not to my liking and will have modified if I ever get around to sending to Ohlins for stiffer fork springs.

I have had 2 upgraded fork springs 95Nm for the last 2 months waiting to fit them to my bike as I am about 104 KG kitted and obviously cant achieve SAG I too was amazed at the handling when it was so far off. I was excited to get it spot on and see how much better it would be. I was hoping it would help with my down hill twisties which are a lot slower than going up.

Reactions: 1

olivier

· #16 · May 18, 2018

For a pilot 70/75 kilos, Öhlins gives the following standard values :

Rear shock DU1122 Type S46PR1C1
- Compression = > 12 clicks
- Rebound = > 14 clicks
- Spring = > 1092-36 (hardness 10,5 kg)
- Preload => 14 mm

Fork FL 9370 Typify FG R*T 48 mm.
- Compression = > 12 clicks
- rebound = > 10 clicks
- Spring = > 4744-80 (hardness 800 gr)
- Preload = > 8 mm (or 8 tours)
- Oil Öhlins = > ref. 1309-01 (viscosity 19 cSt in 40°C)
- Level of oil = > 150 mm of space of air

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Hugg727

· #17 · May 18, 2018

olivier said:
For a pilot 70/75 kilos, Öhlins gives the following standard values :

Rear shock DU1122 Type S46PR1C1
- Compression = > 12 clicks
- Rebound = > 14 clicks
- Spring = > 1092-36 (hardness 10,5 kg)
- Preload => 14 mm

Fork FL 9370 Typify FG R*T 48 mm.
- Compression = > 12 clicks
- rebound = > 10 clicks
- Spring = > 4744-80 (hardness 800 gr)
- Preload = > 8 mm (or 8 tours)
- Oil Öhlins = > ref. 1309-01 (viscosity 19 cSt in 40°C)
- Level of oil = > 150 mm of space of air

Good info. WHere does Ohlins post this info????

Ed K

· #18 · May 18, 2018

olivier said:
For a pilot 70/75 kilos, Öhlins gives the following standard values :

Rear shock DU1122 Type S46PR1C1
- Compression = > 12 clicks
- Rebound = > 14 clicks
- Spring = > 1092-36 (hardness 10,5 kg)
- Preload => 14 mm

Fork FL 9370 Typify FG R*T 48 mm.
- Compression = > 12 clicks
- rebound = > 10 clicks
- Spring = > 4744-80 (hardness 800 gr)
- Preload = > 8 mm (or 8 tours)
- Oil Öhlins = > ref. 1309-01 (viscosity 19 cSt in 40°C)
- Level of oil = > 150 mm of space of air

Are these settings specific to the shocks, but not specific to the SS?

Volambre

· #19 · May 18, 2018

Im still not feeling quite happy with my suspension settings. my monster (non Ohlins) seemed a better ride... I just did 3 trips of about 500 miles each over the last week and felt like something was lacking. I am getting close to seeking out a professional somewhere local.

Reactions: 1

Blakduk

· #20 · May 18, 2018

Rhino said:
I have had 2 upgraded fork springs 95Nm for the last 2 months waiting to fit them to my bike as I am about 104 KG kitted and obviously cant achieve SAG I too was amazed at the handling when it was so far off. I was excited to get it spot on and see how much better it would be. I was hoping it would help with my down hill twisties which are a lot slower than going up.

I'm the same weight as you, where did you get the springs from and an idea of price? Obviously my bike needs to turn up first... but it's nice planning ahead.

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