Sachs shock - what is wrong with it.

[flatlander]

its sh1te

Nah its okay as long as you don't go very far or very often or off smooth roads or have a rubber spine or any combination of all those. I still have the blue one fitted but hopefully not for long and the best way I could describe it is its on the wrong bike. It would IMHO be fine on say a naked mid range middleweight bike but not if you are expecting oir requiring adjustment or performance to match the bike.

Do't know enough about all the suspension black arts but my choice has been the Ohlins purely on cost and recommendation.

Anfd without wishing to be indelicate or in any way suggest anything inappropriate I wouldn't put anyone with a fat ar5e on top of lugage on the blue shock and expect to have a good time for two weeks LOL

[fatboy]

ONE DAY IT WILL TRY TO KILL YOU ! ! !
A few weeks after buying my bike I was doing a hairpin bend, shallow left hander on the exit, ultra shit road surface 35mph and the thing went into bucking bronco mode, 3 massive rebounds that had me wrestling with the bars and needing to change underwear. Like massive torsion release, effing frightening. Im under 11stone but it sounds unfreindly to any size rider. Its SHITE< SHITE< SHITE< SHITE< SHITE< SHITE< SHITE<SHITE and its SHITE

[Samray]

Not a fan then Fatboy ?

[mangocrazy]

Just to add a bit more to the ohlins blue shock debate i looked on ebay and there seems to be a conflicting sale. scroll down and look at the bike
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PERFECT-APRIL ... a11fb0106e

I think that RSV is a 2003 model registered in 2004. It quite often happens. The AP code is correct for the 2001-2003 Yellow spring RSV shock. A bit bloody expensive at £300, though...

I think this ohlins with 2500 summer miles is not expensive has it should not need a service. But with the AP code that we have discussed it should be from a tuono R

That's the problem - it's not an Ohlins - the part number is for a Yellow spring Sachs shock. Note that they don't say Ohlins anywhere in the advert...

But has a twist
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/APRILIA-RSV-M ... 2a16948d8d
Same bike with two different shocks fitted
Should be a firm ride

To be honest, I wouldn't trust this shower an inch. If I'm charitable, they've got themselves confused after too much eggnog at Christmas. If I'm honest, I wouldn't touch 'em with a bargepole...

[blinkey501]

It was the AP code that led me to believe it was an ohlins graham AP8123942.
When i looked on AF1 at the rare has rocking horse poo post and checked the number it said it was for a tuono and tuono R has well has the mille obviously which tallied up with the ohlins shock numbers

[mangocrazy]

.... and on the blue springer - it's a bouncy pogo stick - awful down bumpy, twisty B-roads.
Now I know this is the opposite to what others have said about it being "solid" - it certainly is anything but in my experience. Perhaps this depends on the weight of the rider. Maybe there is a weight where it actually works!

I think that they are a bit of a lottery, in the sense that quality control (and performance) is pretty random. In the short time I had the shock fitted to the bike, I was trying to figure out what was wrong with it. I couldn't actually figure out whether it was under or over-damped, or whether the spring rate was too hard or too soft. The only thing I was certain of was that I needed to get shot of it, and pronto...

I had a similar experience, 20 years ago, on an 851 Ducati Biposto I owned for a year or so. That had Marzocchi suspension front and rear. The front fork felt like you were riding a road drill, whereas the rear suspension every so often just tried to kill me. Hit a bump in the middle of a bend and all bets were off. I fitted a Spax rear shock and that sorted the rear end, and gradually got the front under control as well.

Just before I chopped the 851 in for the 888 SP3 (glutton for punishment) I had the Marzocchi shock serviced, as I wanted to re-fit it and retain the Spax. The guy who serviced it asked me what it was like to ride. 'Frightening' was my response. I'm not surprised he said, there was virtually no oil or gas in the shock. And this was a brand new bike...

[mangocrazy]

It was the AP code that led me to believe it was an ohlins graham AP8123942.
When i looked on AF1 at the rare has rocking horse poo post and checked the number it said it was for a tuono and tuono R has well has the mille obviously which tallied up with the ohlins shock numbers

The AF1 matrix isn't the easiest of tables to make sense of; which is why I'm planning to post a modified version up soon here which hopefully is easier to understand.

Bottom line is, AP8123942 is the yellow spring Sachs for RSV model years 2001-2003, AP8123973 is the Ohlins option fitted to the 'R' and Factory models.

[Shetland Woody]

I too found the blue spring shock "solid" no sign of corrosion to justify it's solid habits but it was like riding a park bench, there seemed to be little adjustment on softening things up at the rear. 14000 miles seems a bit low for the shock to get goosed in but i was told it was something to do with the shock being so close to the exhausts that speeded up it's deteriation. I'm sure any upgrade is better than standard but if your like me and have limited knowlege on how to set things up spending a fortune on a shock any better than a refurbed mille unit or hagon seems expensive(especially for my riding style) Fair play if you ride alot and really want to get into how things "feel" and are willing to experiment then by all means nitron and ohlins etc are well worth there money

[HowardQ]

There are worse shocks on many budget bikes, I lived with mine for a while before swapping for a nearly new White Spring Mille shock. I had the preload wound up and the shock set fairly hard, so worked quite well on smooth tarmac but bounced you out of the seat on bumps.
Try it and see what you think, but change when you can, first thing to swap is the side stand.

[Tonyunn]

"Black" spring Wilbers shock has just been delivered, when the weather improves and I can get the bike and the shock back to the dealer I will have it fitted.

No idea how big one of these things is until you have it in your hand.

(That last comment is going to cost)

(I must have set some kind of record, 100 miles riding and less than 3 hours total riding and the shock has been changed)

[Aladinsaneuk]

....

with comments like that, have you thought of funding your falco mods by doing favours for sailors??

[Tonyunn]

Looks good all I need now is to get it on the bike, March 23rd

[nteck uk]

Were is the twidly knob etc
Sailors like them lol

[Samray]

That would look good with white boots.

[furygan man]

That would look good with white boots.

Agreed!!...although mine now have some more black and a touch of red added!!