Tuning The Suspension; Design - Ohlins WR 450 F – 2-TRAC 2005 Owner's Manual

1.
The compression adjuster is
located at the bottom of the
fork leg.

Tuning the suspension

Motorcycle road holding qualities
All motorcycles are designed with a suspension
geometry that includes height and fork angle. The
changing of components can affect this and it is
therefore essential that both the rear and the front
ends match each other.
Changing to Öhlins suspension gives optimum
performance only when both the front fork and
the rear suspension interact properly. It is of the
greatest importance that the front and rear loaded
heights are within the specified values.
In the Mounting Instructions, see section:
Setting the spring pre-load.
2.
The rebound adjuster
is located at the top of
the fork leg.

Design

Öhlins new upside-down (USD) front fork is
designed to combine the advantages of comfort-
able, safe conventional forks and rigid, light USD
forks. The result is a unique combination of being
rigid, precise in corners and during hard braking
yet comfortable, forgiving during "over-landing"
and in big bumps.
Your new Öhlins USD front fork has aluminium
outer legs and 46 mm steel inner legs, with a
polished surface for lowest possible friction.
The new USD fork features the Öhlins cartridge
damping system.
The fork is fully adjustable with external adjuster
for compression and rebound damping.
The compression adjuster is located at the bot-
tom of the fork leg (Fig.1), the rebound adjuster
at the top (Fig.2).
Spring pre-load is adjusted with spring supports
of different heights (Fig.3), and optional springs
are available to suit different tracks and riders.
3.
Spring pre-load is adjusted
with different spring supports.
Optional springs are available.
In the legs there are also "air-springs" (the air
trapped above the oil) that work together with
the "real" spring. You adjust the air-spring by
raising or lowering the oil level in the legs.
By using different combinations of springs and
air-springs you can alter the characteristic of the
fork. For example, a soft spring in combination
with a small air-spring (high oil level) makes the
fork progressive; see Fine-tuning the bike.
Marking
All Öhlins front forks are marked. You will find the
part number on the inside of the fork bottom.
Recommended settings
The front fork in your kit is adjusted to the Öhlins
recommended setting for your bike. We advise
you to use this as your start setting.
3