Ohlins valve kit for Falco forks

[wayno]

Has anyone done this? If so did you buy the kit from AF1 or elsewhere? I'm asking because I'm wondering if AF1 do anything to the stock Kwak kit for use in our bikes.

[Aladinsaneuk]

I have ohlins cartridges in my Showa forks

Sourced locally to me - someone had ordered and never collected so was offered a bargain price....

[mangocrazy]

Are they the complete cartridges, or just the valves/pistons (like the Gold Valves)?

[D-Rider]

I have ohlins valves .... in my ohlins forks ....

[mangocrazy]

I have ohlins valves .... in my ohlins forks ....

Fancy spending all that money on Ohlins forks just to get some Ohlins valves...

[D-Rider]

I have ohlins valves .... in my ohlins forks ....

Fancy spending all that money on Ohlins forks just to get some Ohlins valves...

Don't believe there is an Ohlins valve kit for the Marzocchis so a kit wasn't an option.
Bide your time and Ohlins forks can come along for a reasonable price - both of my sets did.

[mangocrazy]

I do like Ohlins kit, but after the mods I've done to the Showa forks on both Falcos, I can't honestly believe that Ohlins forks would be much (if any) improvement. The difference between OE and what I have now is night and day, it's that much of an improvement.

And cosmetically I'm not sure gold anodised fork legs would suit either a Flamingo Red or Blue bike - black works better with both colour schemes, I think. Appreciiate that gold works a lot better with bronze, though.

[D-Rider]

I do like Ohlins kit, but after the mods I've done to the Showa forks on both Falcos, I can't honestly believe that Ohlins forks would be much (if any) improvement. The difference between OE and what I have now is night and day, it's that much of an improvement.

That's interesting. My Ohlins forks are better than my Marzocchis but not a "night and day" improvement.
When I've ridden Showa equipped Falcos, they've not felt as good but I've always put that down to them not being set up for me. Maybe the gap between them and the Ohlins is actually bigger?

Appreciiate that gold works a lot better with bronze, though.

Oh yes .... and they'll go well with a carbon tank plus whatever other complementary colour variations come along ....

[mangocrazy]

I'v never ridden a Falco with Marzocchis, but I suspect that in OE form they are better than OE Showas. The spring rate on the OE Showas is 1.05 kg/mm, which is very high. 0.9 or 0.95kg/mm is a 'normal' spring rate recommendation for Falcos. Also the OE Showa compression pistons are a very poor design - the ports are square edged and very restrictive, meaning they can't flow enough oil even when the adjusters are fully open. A combination of the two makes for a very harsh ride quality, a bit like riding a road drill.

The Gold Valves, by comparison, have much larger ports and the ports are properly flowed to ease the flow of damping oil. That means the shim stack controls the damping and adjustment, not the valve itself, which is how it should be.

If the Marzocchis have a sensible spring rate and a decent port/valve design then they'd probably be a lot better than the Showas, despite their undeservedly poor reputation.

I fitted Hyperpro springs and Gold Valves to my Showas and they were transformed.

[spiderwheels]

I've never ridden a Showa equipped Falco. It certainly feels firm on the Marzocchis because of the spring rate and the fact that I weigh next to nothing but I wouldn't call it a road drill so maybe it is slightly better.

What would someone like Revs (who a lot of people on here have sent their Showa's too) be able to do to Marzocchis if the valves can't be changed? Just new springs and new oil?

[mangocrazy]

I did once open up the ports on a pair of fork valves to improve the flow, but you would need the proper kit to do that, like a flexible hose on a die grinder or electric drill, and the right sized carbide burrs. It's quite easy to get it wrong and is not really for the faint-hearted.

I'd give John a ring and ask him the question.

[randomsquid]

What would someone like Revs (who a lot of people on here have sent their Showa's too) be able to do to Marzocchis if the valves can't be changed? Just new springs and new oil?

That's what they did to mine - rebuild, new springs and polished a small dink out of the chrome as best as he could. Said it looked like a forgot the lock dink. I don't think he'd done any before doing mine as he had to strip them down and measure bits before ordering the springs.

The springs are either Wilburs or Hyperpro progressive and they did make a noticable difference. I need to get it back over for a set up though as I've lost about two and a half stone and it's getting choppy.

[matapaca]

I am about to get my Showas sorted out. Got a good quote from Reactive Suspension in York to revalve. I think this quote from maxrton is for the Marzocchi forks:
FRONT

The forks on the 2004 Falco are upside down and do have problems. The

forks have a lot compression damping, especially when they move a

small distance - over little bumps on the road. This shows itself by giving a

very hard and twitchy ride. The harshness is not a spring rate problem so

just changing the springs will not soften the forks. The springs are actually

a bit soft so the bike dives a bit under braking. The Falco forks also spring

back at you when you let go of the brake, this is because there is not

enough rebound damping. A lot of people also describe the front as

being "vague" and not getting much feedback from the front end, this is a

combination of the forks being over damped on compression and under

damped on rebound and under sprung. Unfortunately the damping

cartridges are sealed, everything is pressed and peaned together so you

can not strip them down without damaging the cartridges. Because of

this our conversion is to manufacture new Maxton cartridges that are

adjustable for preload and rebound and are sprung and valved to suit

the riders weight, we also have to machine new fork tops to take the new

cartridges so the conversion is more expensive than normal. The cost of

the Maxton cartridges is £440.00 plus V.A.T, plus seals which cost £25.00

plus V.A.T. To service the forks and install the cartridges costs £115.00 plus

V.A.T.

We can also supply Non-adjustable cartridges for the Falco forks that cost

£340.00 plus V.A.T. To install the cartridges and service the forks with new seals

costs £140.00 plus V.A.T.

REAR

The standard rear unit on the Falco has a lot of problems, in fairness the

spring on it is approximately correct for the average rider weight but the

unit has a lot of Rebound Damping which makes the bike return very

slowly causing it to pack down and feel harsh, it also takes a lot of weight

off the from off the bike and makes kick more and feel more nervous. The

biggest problem with the unit is it only has two and a half inches of wheel

travel before the shock hits its bump stop which can cause the backed to

step out under acceleration. The two and a half inches is from topped out

so you would run a little bit of sag to begin with and when you sit on the

bike it will sag a further inch so you a very nearly bottoming out the

suspension out before you hit a bump in the road. The std unit is a sealed

one and can not be modified, but could be resprung if you were large

amount above or below the average rider weight of 13 stone. To dyno and

respring the standard unit costs £95.00 plus V.A.T.

We supply a replacement Maxton unit which is a fully adjustable, alloy

bodied, high pressure gas unit that adjusts via shim stack system, it has a

spring to suit your rider weight and to suit what type of riding you do. The

unit costs £415.00 plus V.A.T, but we also make a remote reservoir unit that

has a second compression adjuster which costs £580.00 plus V.A.T.

[D-Rider]

Unfortunately the damping

cartridges are sealed, everything is pressed and peaned together so you

can not strip them down without damaging the cartridges

This is true for the Mazocchis but NOT for the Showas.