Ohlins 888 shock question

[GMP]

Raced today on a fast rough sand course. Some deep sand whoops and hacked up woods sections. I was surprised that the shock gave me trouble, it was kicking enough to force me to back off. I delt with it best I could. The fork was awesome despite the goofy shock. After the race I checked the rebound which I recorded being set to 10 clicks out. It clicked in 10, got harder, then clicked in 6 more! WTF? This rebound adjuster has a crappy feel to it in that it gets stiffer and rough to turn as it approaches full closed, and easier as it turns out. It does not have a precision feel like other shocks. Not wanting to force the adjuster, I must have mistaken this hard area for full closed and backed out 10 for a total of 16 clicks, a bit loose.

Is this typical or is my shock now a new problem?

 

[TBUBBA]

I have the same bike as you and found exactly what you did on the shock rebound adjuster...and the kick.

 

[GMP]

Thanks TBUBBA, I'm glad its not just me, and I feel better now about my mid pack finnish. I talked to Les at LTR. The feeling of the adjuster is normal although if you turn it in too hard trying to feel for the last click you can damage the alloy needle. Also, if you run the adjuster in past 8-10 clicks in an attempt to slow it down, you start to affect compression, and the rebound valving leaves room for improvement. I'm going to send mine to him for a complete go through and revalve as soon as I have time. It really surprised me, I thought this thing would eat whoops for lunch, instead it almost spit me off.

 

[GasTimppa]

My TTX felt the same. My suspension Guru added some rebound by revalving and now It's perfect. If you have adjust lot's of rebound by clickers you shrink shocs oil flow so much that oil gets too hot and so it gets bumpy. If you don't feel clickers at all it's sign of nitrogen loss.

Undersprung shock needs lot's of rebound and compression damping to work even somehow. It heats the oil and ain't good in long run... (I'm not saying that you have)

 

[GMP]

I don't think its undersprung. There were a few jumps and it did not bottom. The fork being able to take a hit is a big confidence factor. I think its just undervalved and up until yesterday I did not exploit it. In rocky stuff you generally need less rebound thats why it felt OK till now. I added rebound to the fork when I revalved it and I guess the shock needs the same.

 

[rgranger]

i ran into the same thing Les did mine, i think that the shock just sucks. it is better but there doesn't seem to be a lot of in-between, either it is too much damping or not enough. I tried to use less so that the back tire would stay planted, now it kicks. have highspeed almost all the way soft, that helps with the roots, but now the whoops suck, I can't keep the thing in a straight line.

 

[GasTimppa]

I don't think its undersprung. There were a few jumps and it did not bottom. The fork being able to take a hit is a big confidence factor. I think its just undervalved and up until yesterday I did not exploit it. In rocky stuff you generally need less rebound thats why it felt OK till now. I added rebound to the fork when I revalved it and I guess the shock needs the same.

How many hours since new/serviced?

 

[GMP]

30 hrs.

From what I heard the '12 is different, more mainstream. The '11 supposedly had a different adjuster/valving setup. The '12 has no HS adjuster. Its OK in the rocks and sucks in the sand, opposite of what you would expect.

You know, for all the crap people talk about the Sachs, it was and still remains an excellent shock on my '07. Even stock I'd say it was better than this Ohlins, more universal. I would not hesitate to just bolt it up to the '12 if it would fit.

 

[GasTimppa]

30 hours is service interval that ohlins suggests. And yes -12 ohlins 888 has only comp and reb clickers. My team mate has 888 in his ec 250f race. He has not much complains after revalving.

 

[GMP]

I'm sure its a decent shock, just needs some detailing. 30 hrs may be by the book but all my other Ohlins and Sachs held performance longer than that. Biggest problem is getting it done without missing any races, likely impossible. Time to ride the old bike again.

 

[GasTimppa]

I had little bit hurry last year. I din't have time to get my last years 888 serviced, because I had races almost every weekend or every other at least. Well in fact I did have some time, but my family needed that time

In Ranneslattsloppet Sweden last autum my rear shock acted strange after 3hours of GNCC. I just had 5 minutes to ride and I thought it was me who was finnished not the shock.

Next weekend I had 2 hours GNCC in Kitee Finland and that showed me that problem was shock. First 10 miles lap went allright, but then other racers started to pass me. I thought what the #### I'm doing my best, but those guys are so much faster than me... (It wasn't fun race with bogostick shock...)

Next week I got my shock serviced. 85 hours was just too much to it.

After that I have used 30-35 hours service intervals and had no issues since...

 

[GMP]

I have to get the needle to charge it, then its no problem to do myself. I've done the Sachs fine. I do need the valving addressed and everything inspected to be sure its OK. I do not know where to go with the valving. I know the direction, just not the specifics.