Ohlins rear shock

Hello 5th genners!

I have been fortunate enough to stumble upon and win an auction the now rarely spotted Ohlins HO801 for my 5th gen, pic p0rn below:

Ohlins-vfr1 by kave posted Nov 26, 2018 at 8:52 PM

The current spring fitted is a 1092-59/150 which agrees with what the Ohlins website spec lists for this product:
https://www.ohlins.com/product-item/61785/

Struggled to find a definitive source for Ohlins encrypted spring rates, best I could find was a ducati forum post, the table supplied seems to be comprehensive enough to be believable, it lists the 1092-59/150 as a 15.29 kg/mm | 857 lbs / inch spring.

Naked I am 70kg / 154 lbs, so call it 80kg / 176 lbs leathered up.

Looking for confirmation of the correct spring rate for me and my 5th gen before I get it rebuilt.

 

JamieD is recommending a 20.5 kg / mm spring in this post from 2008:
https://vfrworld.com/threads/race-teching-the-5th-gen.27298/

OZVFR talks about a 21kg / mm spring in this post from 2013:
https://vfrworld.com/threads/restoring-99-5th-gen.52492/page-3

Baileyrock talks about a 19kg / mm spring in this post from 2008:
https://www.vfrdiscussion.com/index.php?/forums/topic/47069-ohlins-spring-rate-advice/

So looking like I should be going for one of these 3:
-79 190 19.36kg/mm
-84 200 20.38kg/mm
-89 210 21.40kg/mm

Any advances ?

 

Also it strikes me that a 30% increase in spring rate, will necessitate a re-valve / shim stack to accommodate ?

 

15.3kg/mm is also what the stock shock should be (according to the Racetech website). Do you have any issues with setting the sag on your current shock, or problems with bottoming? Personally I have (perhaps misplaced) faith that Ohlins would get their specs right, and your weight is fairly light so if it were me I would give it a go and see how it works first. The stock Ohlins recommended settings for compression and rebound usually sit pretty much in the middle range, so you should have latitude to cope with a stiffer spring if you decide you need that. I know on my VTR1000F Ohlins shock that I can easily swap the spring if needed without special tools, and it looks like the VFR shock would be the same.

 

There are only two people in the USA I would contact:

1.) Mike Fitzgerald, aka, Thermosman http://www.thermosman.com/ If you've never heard of him, just do a search.

OR:

2.) David Behrend http://www.fastbikeindustries.com/

 

Go check out the Racetech web site and lookup a spring in their tables. Given my weight, they recommended an 1100 lb. spring. Same with Hyperpro, so I went with the 1100. I would take their number and go on the light side if it's an in-between value.

Jose

 

I'm 74kg, and if I did it again I would use the 20kg/mm or even the 19kg/mm spring.
The 21 is just a bit too hard for my liking.
15kg is just too weak, I'm guessing it is a like for like replacement for the 5G from Ohlins.

 

That is gold dust, nothing like long term real world feedback, just what I needed.

Re: Like for like, makes sense, that's what I thought, especially given it is from their "adventure" range.
Thank you

 

Terry, thanks for the response. Have benefited greatly from your many posts on here.

Re: Sag and adjustment, I haven't changed anything since purchase 2 years ago now. Just been riding and enjoying. Up to 25k miles now, on original gear so I wouldn't be able to get it within spec. It is soft everywhere you'd expect in this condition, looking to sort out mid corner wallow.

Re: Compression and rebound, good to hear your view, should make the rebuild less costly.

 

WOW, a recommendation of Thermosman from the other side of the states! He has setup a lot of guys bikes that I track with. He is at my local tracks a lot. Homestead International, PBIR and Jennings. Probably Daytona too. Excellent work.