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V100S suspension - spring limitations

Tonym

Cruisin' Guzzisti
Joined
Nov 3, 2008
Messages
125
Location
Merimbula
Purchasing a V100S 2 months ago and having now done just over 4000ks I decided that its time to upgrade the springs to be more suited to my weight , that of my pillion etc. Something which I knew I'd have to do before I even bought the bike

Reason being unless I'm doing 120k's + the suspension is just too harsh (not exactly legal speeds around here). I've played with the various settings thru the dash (both auto & manual) I've adjusted preload (front and rear) but there really hasnt been that much improvement ..with the exception that I no longer scrape the exhaust protectors .

With the preload of the original rear spring fully adjusted I still have a rider sag of 50mm. Not good and I havent even got the wife or luggage on yet. The shock keeps bottoming out , hence my decision to upgrade the rear spring intially and I plan on doing the forks in the near future.

Well stuff me, after making a number of calls today I was informed that the firmest spring for the Ohlins EC 2.0 rear (TTX) shock is what comes with the bike. i.e 21040 -54/140nm. You're kidding.... Ohlins dont make a firmer spring for that model shock...man I only weigh 120kg in gear .

For a minute I thought stuff it (polite term) I'll sell the bike and buy a base model Mandello and change the suspension to something like a Matris or Wilbers shock where I can have it "tuned to my weight,, riding style etc.

Anyway after I'd calmed down a bit and logic prevailed, I spent most of the morning talking various suspension suppliers, specialists and finally spoke to someone that may be able to help. Solution looks like it will possibly involve changing the "spring perch" to accommodate a firmer spring with a larger ID than that of the original, then revalving the shock . Which should see a vast improvement.

After what took me a lot longer than planned , the shock is now off the bike and on it's way to "Ride Dynamics" in Qld.

Why I say longer than planned, trying to locate the plugs connecting to the suspension ECU wasnt as easy as made out in the service manual (page225-227), as they were stuck behind the wiring harness and not easily accessable at all (despite me following all the steps to access/remove them).

I hope to have the shock back in a couple of weeks , after which I'll have an opportunity to see how it performs, as we've got a trip of a couple of thousand km's planned before the end of Aug.

I'll let you know of my thoughts, and whether or not I still believe I should of just gone for the base model V100 and changed the suspension as I had originally intended to do.
 
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Hmm your problem is opposite than most reports for the S model.
Many find it to stiff, wanting a softer touch.
Interesting case and I wish you good luck.
Would be nice with a follow up here. 🙂
 
Hi Tonym, I’m see that you say that the ride is harsh on your V100s. I’d be checking out your shock first before letting a third party start fiddling with what Ohlins have spent years trying to perfect. Let everyone know how you get on. Ride safe everyone.
 
Got shock back today.
Will fit tonight and go for a blast tomorrow and let you know the difference after it has had a firmer spring installed, and valving done.
In the interim a couple of pic's .......spot the difference.

v100 shock.jpg v100s shock 2.jpg Answers below
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1. 160nm spring

2 . enlarged collar at top of spring to accommodate the stiffer spring (as well as the fact the new Ohlins spring is 10mm shorter than orginal.....why Ohlins couldnt make a beefed up spring that same lengh at that on th e Mandello has got me beat .

They/Ohlins/Moto guzzi must expect all "suicide jockeys" to weigh nothing these days ( Dont worry about the jockey comment is was something that came thru on the police radio ,whilst I was sitting in a police car years ago ...."have you caught that suicide jockey yet".... why I was in the car, was because it was the middle of winter , freezing cold, and the Copper was trying to sell me his Z1300 . As soon as I said no, he wrote me a ticket...Ah the good old days

3. Black collar at bottom of shock (once again to accommodate the new spring)
 
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Having done over 2500ks ,since changing to shock spring and having the shock revalved I can honestly say it has made a vast improvement. The ride is still firm , yet the harshness of “bottoming out “ every time we hit a bump is gone. (The wife is happy now as she doesn’t feel like she’s being launched into space each time we hit a bump).

Admittedly the shock still struggles with “washboard corrugations”, I haven’t tried to see if changing manual settings makes any difference, having only run the Automatic Comfort Mode since changing the spring. Now its time to change the front springs which I will do in a couple of weeks on a trip to QLD , which I’m positive will also improve things and means I wont have to use pretty well all of the forks preload. As they say tuned
 
New front springs, new spring preload spacers & revalving of the fork pistons , done 10 days ago; Since then another 2500ks or so have been clocked on the bike on some of the windiest roads on the eastern coast of NSW. I must admit I always thought the handing of the V100s was good but the changes to both the front and rear suspension has improved the bike unbeliveably - it now a pleasure to ride fully laden with pillion & luggage and the thoughts of my old 1200 sport being a better bike are slowly disappearing. (I must admit I think the gear box on the sport is much better /smoother than that of the Mandello, but maybe afer a few more K's things will improve)
Just reinforces what has been stated on this site many a time before, get your spring rate, rider sag etc right and you will see a vast improvement in the way your bike handles.
 
Great news I’m glad you have got your bike sorted to your requirements.
 
but the changes to both the front and rear suspension has improved the bike unbeliveably - it now a pleasure to ride fully laden with pillion & luggage
Oh, my mantra for 35 years and counting. But WTF do I know. I'm just a guy here who documents info here and tries to help by selling stuff, which everyone ignores anyway. ;)

Is there a list of motorcycles brands/model/years rear shock compatible with the V100?
Motorbikes AREN'T cars. So NO, this doesn't exist and won't. Shocks are model specific.
 
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