Ohlins Shock Question

[KTMLew]

Bought a used Ohlins for a KTM. Figured I would see what all the fuss is about!

Of course it has the threads in the clevis screwed up and the seller didn't mention it Appears to have been damaged, drilled & threaded for a Heli-coil. The heli-coil wasn't sunk deep enough, so the lead-in thread pulled out enough the clevis wouldn't fit over the heim on the swingarm. Had me a bit puzzled when it wouldn't fit until I pulled it out and looked closer at it.

The heli-coil screwed out easy enough. The KTM shock bolt is a 12x1.5 thread. The threads in the shock for the heli-coil apparently are 13x?? as a spark plug (14mm) is too big to even start in the hole. Not an easy size to find locally. Need to scrounge up a thread gage to verify the thread pitch.

SO? I know I've seen a threaded "bung" for this type of deal somewhere. If I contact Ohlins about it, they will want me to send the shock in...they are absolutely ZERO help in my experience.

Any other ideas? The threaded piece (bung) is obviously a separate part that is "stamped/peened" in place, in the hole in clevis, from new. If that part is available I should be able to replace it, right? Just die-grind the old one loose, knock it out and put the new one in!!!???

There isn't much room left in the hole in the clevis the "bung" presses into, to enlarge the hole enough for a Timesert type of thread repair. They are more than twice as thick as a Heli-coil. I have a local that knows Ohlins but he's a NASCAR guy and unavailable till first of the week...I probably could put a longer bolt through the hole with a locking nut on the end, but hate to take a chance of it working loose and wallowing the hole out in the clevis???

Probably going to end up taking it to Ohlins. Good thing is they are only about 1.5hrs from me and I have Tuesday's off!!!

Any suggestions appreciated! Except...BUY A GAS-GAS!

 

[GMP]

Call Ohlins USA in NC and ask for Jerry. Nice guy. He should be able to send you the threaded insert kit. LTR may also have it.

 

[Link]

" If I contact Ohlins about it, they will want me to send the shock in...they are absolutely ZERO help in my experience."

That sounds odd that Ohilins is Zero help. Ohilins has more Tecs.& Engineers working for them then all the other shock companys put together Thats one of the reson Ohilins are so good there R&D at the race track is HUGE. I'm not sure where your from but call some suspension guys. A lot of em run ads in the cycle rags. in CA. I know 2 shops that do Ohilins suspension work for racers (Pro & Am.) from all over the US one shop is Dan Kyle Racing there knowledge & customer support is un-real you could ship the shock & probably get it back in less then 2 weeks. And since the shock is used Dan Kyle can bench test it & if it's not up to spec. He will make it better then new! The shop is in Seaside Ca. if you need the ph. # PM me
Good Luck

 

[KTMLew]

" If I contact Ohlins about it, they will want me to send the shock in...they are absolutely ZERO help in my experience."

That sounds odd that Ohilins is Zero help. Ohilins has more Tecs.& Engineers working for them then all the other shock companys put together Thats one of the reson Ohilins are so good there R&D at the race track is HUGE. I'm not sure where your from but call some suspension guys. A lot of em run ads in the cycle rags. in CA. I know 2 shops that do Ohilins suspension work for racers (Pro & Am.) from all over the US one shop is Dan Kyle Racing there knowledge & customer support is un-real you could ship the shock & probably get it back in less then 2 weeks. And since the shock is used Dan Kyle can bench test it & if it's not up to spec. He will make it better then new! The shop is in Seaside Ca. if you need the ph. # PM me
Good Luck

The guy that set-up Ohlins USA lives about 10 minutes from me. Just can't get in touch with him till first of the week and I'd LOVE to find the part locally. He may have it in stock. He has a dyno and sells these regularly so it's no big deal I'm just really impatient!

So far my 3 calls and 4 emails to Ohlins in the past year have been unreturned...I call that useless.

 

[GMP]

Thats why you need a name. I never had a problem. Hope he still works there.

 

[Link]

The guy that set-up Ohlins USA lives about 10 minutes from me. Just can't get in touch with him till first of the week and I'd LOVE to find the part locally. He may have it in stock. He has a dyno and sells these regularly so it's no big deal I'm just really impatient!

So far my 3 calls and 4 emails to Ohlins in the past year have been unreturned...I call that useless.

Thats a drag getting no call back and I totaly understand wanting to mount up new goodies. But IMHO you should send that shock out to an Ohilns guy if you really "want to see what all the fuss is about" you should make sure that shock is up to spec. If your guy wont return a call don't deal with him. Try Dan Kyle they always call back & turn stuff around fast theres a lot of AMA & club racers that use Dan due to his extensive knowldge & support. Dan is so picky he wont even sell you a brand new Ohiln's with out running a curve rate on the spring & if He dosn't like the curve he sends that spring back to Ohilns & gives you a "good" one plus sometimes little mods. come up as the Ohilns guys are testing during the race season and usally those mods. will end up on next years shock. so depending on when your shock first came out there might be some tweaking to improve it that hasn't been done. I don't meen to sound like a homer for DKR or a shock nazi but my back ground is in road racing and suspension & bike set-up was the Holy Grail we all chased.
Good Luck with your shock.

 

[KTMLew]

Thats a drag getting no call back and I totaly understand wanting to mount up new goodies. But IMHO you should send that shock out to an Ohilns guy if you really "want to see what all the fuss is about" you should make sure that shock is up to spec. If your guy wont return a call don't deal with him. Try Dan Kyle they always call back & turn stuff around fast theres a lot of AMA & club racers that use Dan due to his extensive knowldge & support. Dan is so picky he wont even sell you a brand new Ohiln's with out running a curve rate on the spring & if He dosn't like the curve he sends that spring back to Ohilns & gives you a "good" one plus sometimes little mods. come up as the Ohilns guys are testing during the race season and usally those mods. will end up on next years shock. so depending on when your shock first came out there might be some tweaking to improve it that hasn't been done. I don't meen to sound like a homer for DKR or a shock nazi but my back ground is in road racing and suspension & bike set-up was the Holy Grail we all chased.
Good Luck with your shock.

Oh, I intend to go through the shock, just would like to get a few minutes on it first so I know how it works as delivered. The spring had 13mm preload, so the previous owner either swapped springs and cranked it way up or was using the wrong spring for his weight. Doing a garage bounce the reb seems really slow to me. I need to go put it together and take it for a spin. Found a bolt I can slip all the way through and put a nut on the end for a temp fix.

The local guy just called a few minutes ago. He says the "bung" is NOT avaliable and would probably need to replace the clevis. Said they are really easy to work on and it's no big deal as Ohlins probably has some used parts laying around.

I can put a Heli-coil back in it but doubt it will stay put so would prefer to fix it permanently. I can get the "bung" for a WP shock for less than ten bucks. Might even try that.

 

[KTMLew]

My guy came through. Will have the part tomorrow. It threads in the clevis so no big deal. $20.00

 

[OhlinsUSA_tech]

Call Ohlins USA in NC and ask for Jerry. Nice guy. He should be able to send you the threaded insert kit. LTR may also have it.

Thanks for the props!

 

[KTMLew]

Thanks for the props!

Nice to know there IS a live person there besides the person that answers the phone! I've always been given the standard "someone will call you back" from the receptionist, but it never happens...

Harry sure got it done though! He's so handsome too! Long as you like white hair...