Update on my Don Quixote quest for a softer ride over San Francisco's potholes. (I know: it's a sports bike).
Here's the headlines of my saga:
After 3000 miles, my OEM rear shock has not softened one bit.
Ohlins says they should be able to supply a shock for the Empulse, upon request by local suspension shop, Super Plush Suspension of San Francisco.
Super Plush orders a custom shock, after I give them a buncha money.
After Ohlins consults with Super Plush and Brammo (I think), they send a shock modeled on the one fitted to the RR. Cool, I hope.
It doesn't work because the control module is on the end cap and therefore hits the passenger peg mount. Ohlins solution: tell the customer to remove the pegs. No go with customer (me).
Send shock back and start over with Ohlins who really doesn't seem to want to be in the business of making one-offs, even if there's promise of more sales in the future. Can't be bothered, is the feeling I get.
After negotiation with Super Plush, Ohlins wants to cobble together some parts of an esoteric European car shock at a cost of an additional $400 on top of the $1500 I've committed to. Their proposal will come with all kinds of fancy adjustments I'll never need. Shop tells them no deal; just send something with x stroke and y length.
Ohlins does, an off-the-shelf Ducati model, but the large base plate diameter interferes with the tubular steel of the swing arm and it won't possibly mount up, though it's really very pretty to look at.
Back it goes.
Now, I originally thought to go the Ohlins route because of the internet forums' consensus that Sachs shocks couldn't be rebuilt and Ohlins are eminently serviceable.
Not true about the Sachs, as it turns out. Eric at SuperPlush lets me watch as we explore the shim stack inside the Sachs and make judicious adjustments to revalve it. What a fascinating mechanical solution to controlling fluid flow; I never would have come up with that approach!
Result: much better ride! I'd say we're more than half way to where I want to end up. The ride is much softer, but still quite sporty-stiff, but the adjusters have to be backed off all the way. The good news is that there's quite a lot of range in the adjusters, so we just need to get the shims to give me a nice ride when the adjusters are in their midrange and I should end up a) happier in the butt department and b) heavier in the wallet department.
I'll try to post what shim configuration we end up with, since there's not a lot of data on Sachs shocks, at least in the U.S. that I can find.
Kudos to Eric and Super Plush for hanging in there with a bike and a shock that is new to them and way off the radar of the KTM Adventure work they're famous for.
Ohlins? Well not so much, but they are, after all, huge. And they do make purty stuff with a good reputation on the racetracks of the world. Maybe someday, they'll see the electric light in an accommodating way. It'll probably take Craig and company's wild Empulse worldwide success to generate numbers that attract their attention. But I'm just guessing.
