Öhlins rear shocks STX 36 (YA 137)

[joksi]

I thought this thread might be of interest for some of you.

During winter season I made some small mods on my wife`s Xmas present, followed precious advises of experienced pro's here and also European forums. So the rims were changed from the OEM rims into 17" PVM forged rims. Front shocks have been changed into progressive "Wilbers" shocks.
I also won an auction for Oehlin's rear shocks which I was not sure if I am going to use them at all. So these 1500€ babies were a bit cheaper to me luckily.

However, after riding some 500km's here on mountain roads I decided to give them a chance and swapped the OEM shocks out to give the Öhlins a try.


in short:
they will remain installed for sure. The difference is bigger than expected and very well noticable.

I played a bit with the length, starting with 330mm (like the OEM) reducing the length and then again increased the length to 340mm which will be the length I am going to use for the future.

Riding the OEM shocks my Gen1 was a bit hard to ride in turns and for sure it felt unsafe, wobbling on long, fast curves. This is all gone with the current setting, I might even try a bit harder setting next week, but this will not be a major adjustment. Maxx rides very well now, even in our mountain pass roads and turns I can follow the modern rides like the locally very popular KTM Superduke or BMW R1250GS.

Honestly I was surprised myself how well this vintage dream of a Muscle bike, obviously not designed for the roads we have here, behaves and what kinda fun it is to see the guys looking when they recognise that a 23 yrs old bike is keeping pace with their expensive hypermodern rides.

I cant tell you how it might behave on drag strips or so, since we dont have any of them (or at least I dont know of them) plus thats completely out of my interest. Definetely its an upgrade for those who want to use our bike on curvy roads and have lots of fun riding it.

If any of you is looking for better (?) rear shocks, the Oehilns might be a good alternative tand well worth a consideration.

Just to add: These shocks are coming with ABE which means they are tested and certified for the VMax Gen1. I already started the homoligation process to keep full insurance coverage (not to easy here in central Europe) and will get it without doubt.

 

[marsmax85]

been looking for awhile at some ohlins . I do have a set of works getting rebuilt and after 3 months of the dude in tx having them I think he finally shipped them back . Also have a set of kyb's I need rebuilt also but the guy in Tx will not see see them ..

 

[cbx1260cc]

View attachment 84105
I thought this thread might be of interest for some of you.

During winter season I made some small mods on my wife`s Xmas present, followed precious advises of experienced pro's here and also European forums. So the rims were changed from the OEM rims into 17" PVM forged rims. Front shocks have been changed into progressive "Wilbers" shocks.
I also won an auction for Oehlin's rear shocks which I was not sure if I am going to use them at all. So these 1500€ babies were a bit cheaper to me luckily.

However, after riding some 500km's here on mountain roads I decided to give them a chance and swapped the OEM shocks out to give the Öhlins a try.
View attachment 84106

in short:
they will remain installed for sure. The difference is bigger than expected and very well noticable.

I played a bit with the length, starting with 330mm (like the OEM) reducing the length and then again increased the length to 340mm which will be the length I am going to use for the future.

Riding the OEM shocks my Gen1 was a bit hard to ride in turns and for sure it felt unsafe, wobbling on long, fast curves. This is all gone with the current setting, I might even try a bit harder setting next week, but this will not be a major adjustment. Maxx rides very well now, even in our mountain pass roads and turns I can follow the modern rides like the locally very popular KTM Superduke or BMW R1250GS.

Honestly I was surprised myself how well this vintage dream of a Muscle bike, obviously not designed for the roads we have here, behaves and what kinda fun it is to see the guys looking when they recognise that a 23 yrs old bike is keeping pace with their expensive hypermodern rides.

I cant tell you how it might behave on drag strips or so, since we dont have any of them (or at least I dont know of them) plus thats completely out of my interest. Definetely its an upgrade for those who want to use our bike on curvy roads and have lots of fun riding it.

If any of you is looking for better (?) rear shocks, the Oehilns might be a good alternative tand well worth a consideration.

Just to add: These shocks are coming with ABE which means they are tested and certified for the VMax Gen1. I already started the homoligation process to keep full insurance coverage (not to easy here in central Europe) and will get it without doubt.

Please tell us where you sourced the PVM wheels and the Ohlins shocks. Thank you

 

[Fire-medic]

Some aftermarket wheels, from U.K. supplier Exactrep:
V-Max Swing-arms and Wheels (exactrep.com)



Contact them for availability as not every style is currently shown with pricing. For ex. A is $2812/pr for 3-12" X 17" and 6" X 17"

 

[joksi]

Please tell us where you sourced the PVM wheels and the Ohlins shocks. Thank you

https://pvm.de/de/produkte/raeder/10y-speichen-felgen/https://www.ohlins.eu/en/products/motorcycle/hd-756-336-mm--5179/
sorry, if some pages are in German only.

 

[Rollie]

View attachment 84105
I thought this thread might be of interest for some of you.

During winter season I made some small mods on my wife`s Xmas present, followed precious advises of experienced pro's here and also European forums. So the rims were changed from the OEM rims into 17" PVM forged rims. Front shocks have been changed into progressive "Wilbers" shocks.
I also won an auction for Oehlin's rear shocks which I was not sure if I am going to use them at all. So these 1500€ babies were a bit cheaper to me luckily.

However, after riding some 500km's here on mountain roads I decided to give them a chance and swapped the OEM shocks out to give the Öhlins a try.
View attachment 84106

in short:
they will remain installed for sure. The difference is bigger than expected and very well noticable.

I played a bit with the length, starting with 330mm (like the OEM) reducing the length and then again increased the length to 340mm which will be the length I am going to use for the future.

Riding the OEM shocks my Gen1 was a bit hard to ride in turns and for sure it felt unsafe, wobbling on long, fast curves. This is all gone with the current setting, I might even try a bit harder setting next week, but this will not be a major adjustment. Maxx rides very well now, even in our mountain pass roads and turns I can follow the modern rides like the locally very popular KTM Superduke or BMW R1250GS.

Honestly I was surprised myself how well this vintage dream of a Muscle bike, obviously not designed for the roads we have here, behaves and what kinda fun it is to see the guys looking when they recognise that a 23 yrs old bike is keeping pace with their expensive hypermodern rides.

I cant tell you how it might behave on drag strips or so, since we dont have any of them (or at least I dont know of them) plus thats completely out of my interest. Definetely its an upgrade for those who want to use our bike on curvy roads and have lots of fun riding it.

If any of you is looking for better (?) rear shocks, the Oehilns might be a good alternative tand well worth a consideration.

Just to add: These shocks are coming with ABE which means they are tested and certified for the VMax Gen1. I already started the homoligation process to keep full insurance coverage (not to easy here in central Europe) and will get it without doubt.

Sounds like you are on your way to good handling. The frame , forks and swing arm all need bracing of some sort. I did all 3 with USD front forks , frame braces and a notched and braced swing arm.

 

[joksi]

Sounds like you are on your way to good handling. The frame , forks and swing arm all need bracing of some sort. I did all 3 with USD front forks , frame braces and a notched and braced swing arm.

Hahaha, yes @Rollie I am on the right track.

Frame braces are on
CNC machined triple clamp installed
precision steering head bearing installed

and also a cnc machined precision wing arm is installed


I cant really tell what exactly worked how well since these upgrades were done by the previous owner.

All in all, I am very happy with handlying. Tyres are Pirelli Angel, quite cheap over here, but very safe riding.