Hi everyone. I’ve a quick question about the ohlins rear shock. I’ve bought a 996 that’s on showa front and rear. Never had the suspension serviced as far as I’m aware. I was thinking why bother getting the shock serviced and just drop in an ohlins unit. I’ve looked and the part numbers / model number is du143 or S46PR1C2B now those numbers come up for a 749 /999 too. So does that mean a 749/999 rear shock will fit ? Many thanks
Have the forks and shock rebuilt and resprung for your weight. It will be much better than buying the gold stuff that may not be right for your weight. Or, get the forks rebuilt and get a nitron or maxton for the rear that will come with the right spring for you. Unless you like the gold bling, then its a form over function choice
With respect - Bollox. Any after market shock should be fit for purpose. If the OP is looking at a new Ohlins unit then it's no different to buying a nitron or maxton, Bitubo or K-Tech. If he's looking at some OEM used stuff on ebay for example then the first thing he should be doing is getting the unit serviced, rebuilt and possibly resprung, and if it's cheap enough to start with then he's saved money. Buying an Ohlins shock from Kai's or MH for example, you'll be asked about your riding style and weight and the shock set up and valved accordingly. Buy it off the bay and you hope that the spring is correct for your weight and the valving is right for your riding style - at worst it's the OEM specification which as a broad stroke generic user base setup and internals. Buying a Nitron or Maxton or Bitubo suspension for example from Kai's, TW, MH et al, you'll be asked about your riding style and weight and the shock set up and valved accordingly. Buy said Maxton or Nitron off the bay and you hope that the spring is correct for your weight and the valving is right for your riding style - at worst it's the OEM specification which as a broad stroke generic user base setup and internals. Having the OEM forks and rear shock revalved by Kai's or MH, or K-Tech for example, you'll be asked about your riding style and weight and the shock set up and valved accordingly. Buy OEM revalved shocks or forks off the bay and you hope that the spring is correct for your weight and the valving is right for your riding style - at worst it's the OEM specification which as a broad stroke generic user base setup and internals. Never believe that the OEM Ohlins supplied from factory isn't real Ohlins but some Fauxlins rubbish is utter bullshit. Ohlins would have engineered to a given set of criteria.The only difference between them and an off the shelf FGRT or R&T fork for example is that Ducati would have told ohlins what parameters they wanted with respect to foot style design and outer tube diameters, and spring rates etc from their own pre production testing, and probably due to mass production will use forging vs machined from solid for reservoir bottles and fork feet. But it's definitely not form over function. I deal with an Ohlins Tier 1 technical centre and they are like Adreani in Italy where they will build a shock from component parts to your specification. They said that OEM ohlins and and aftermarket offerings are no different internally - its just with OEM you get what you're given vs having it tailored to you from the off. Whether that's ideal or not is always going to be subjective, one man's ideal shock is another man's sitting on a plank, and each rider owes it to himself to get the suspension set up for his own application and function. But don't ever fall into the trap of mistaking an OEM ohlins shock as being some second rate internals in a blingy outer ohlins skin. Ohlins wouldn't put their name to that nor damage their reputation by having a magazine review saying that the OEM showa or marzocchi forks are better than an Ohlins, and Ducati certainly wouldn't spend the money on bullshit baffle and bling when there's easier ways to generate that revenue in carbon tat and other parts catalogue offerings.
So, you're looking at two number sets - a build profile and a model fitment. DU146 is the 916 family designation - model fitment. The other is a build profile: S - Shock body profile - S is single body 46 - 46mm piston diameter P - Shock has an attached cylinder reservoir R1 - lower rebound adjustment C2 - C denotes compression adjustment, 2 denotes High and low speed circuits B - is a hydraulic preload adjuster mechanism - without remote hose. As has already been said, the shocks are the same physical build profile, but the reservoir sits differently, on 916 it sits lower than on 999, which also orientates differently so as not to clash with other components and exhaust routing.
Thanks everyone for your input. I’m going to go down the service and revalve of the forks and a ohlins shock sprung to my weight and valved correctly . That way I know it’s right for ‘ me ‘
You can see straight away the differences, the three shocks on the top right are 999, the fourth one in and the first on the bottom row are 916. You can see how much lower the reservoir bottle is on a 916 shock.
weigh up all your options. @Coda is right in saying that a well reworked oem setup can be just as efficient as an aftermarket setup. it all depends on whether you want that OE look. Bitubo, K-tech and adreani all make brilliant kits for your OE shock and forks, Race tech revalve kits are available for both front and rear, but again, to get the most out of them you need to get someone who knows what they're doing to set them up right for you. if nothing else the ohlins does have one advantage and that is its ubiquity. You'll always resell that ohlins shock in the blink of an eye vs any of the competition, and that's sad, as Bitubo, nitron and maxton are all brilliant units.
