Has anyone changed the rear ride height (V4S) to get more front end feel?

BMW Alpina said:

Hello RickD996,
If I want to replace the rear springs, all I have to do is remove this nut and then remove the bottom parts of the Ohlins (I marked in RED Circle on your picture below) is this correct?
Thanks



View attachment 29439

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Not really.

The spring is held between the two nuts that you use for adjusting the preload, and the plate at the other end (close to the circled nuts).

A spring compressor will compress the spring, taking pressure off the plate. There's usually then a clip of some description, which can be removed, which then allows the plate to be removed.

It's very very easy to do. But you should 100% have an experienced person show you how, and use the correct tools.

Hey RickD996, that's a lot of thread your shock is showing, not very clear too see on the picture but isn't that past the threadgroovemark that Ohlins puts there for safety. What's the shocklenght eye to eye? I use the same shock and the original lenght was 310mm. How much did you raise the rear height of the bike?
Thanks for the info,

rikkie07 said:

Hey RickD996, that's a lot of thread your shock is showing, not very clear too see on the picture but isn't that past the threadgroovemark that Ohlins puts there for safety. What's the shocklenght eye to eye? I use the same shock and the original lenght was 310mm. How much did you raise the rear height of the bike?
Thanks for the info,

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Hi, I've actually extended my shock to the maximum it will go, I think it's 317mm. The lower eye doesn't fully unwind, there's a mechanical stop. I'm unsure if the groove is the maximum, as the data says the maximum length is 317mm, and this is way past the groove.
I had to extend the shock as I dropped a tooth off the rear sprocket, and when I adjusted the chain, the concentric adjuster had lowered the rear ride height by three mm, and reduced the wheelbase by four mm.
Riding on track Wed, so guess I'll find out if it's OK then...

According to the owners manual, the groove shouldn't be visible beyond the locking nut, I'll double check this later.

Hi, RickD996, better check it because there need to be enough thread left, this is very important for safety! But I also found it strange that I extended mine with 2mm (312mm) and the groove was already visible. My data sheet is saying 310mm +4/-2mm, so I'm little confused. I didn't find info about the max. lenght (317mm) in the specs. The ratio of the linkage is approx. 2/1, so 1mm shocklenght is 2mm in the rear. For me +2mm on the shock was nearly +5mm rideheight. So going to 317mm will give you more than 15mm rideheight, is that what you were looking for? Did you change anything in the front?

Let me just say I do not have a V4 I have a 959 with a TTX36 and spent considerable time with a top Ohlins dealer in my area. Here's what I learned He's a big believer in that that factory engineers are quite bright and suggests starting with stock ride heights. In my case I positioned my Ohlins forks to match the same length and the stock Showas were mounted at and the same for the rear shock and adj link, btw this is after much frustration on my part trying all kinds of setups rec on the many forums. Once the lengths were set to stock and ride sag was set to 40mm Front and 30mm rear as a base line things improved quite a bit. when he slowed my front rebound down the front wheel really felt dug in /planted and increased my confidence. He suggested I experiment from here to fine tune I used a black maker on the adjustment points preload, clickers and took notes. I tried front height adjustments by adding and and reducing one or two revolutions of fork preload and was able to learn what that adjustments outcome was in the end I preferred as he had set it. The recommendation of 40mm F and 30mm Rear sag equals a 10mm spread some may prefere a 9mm or 12mm for example its up to you to experiment. If front end bite/grip is what your after consider slowing your rebound down some and taking a test ride. I read a quote from Jarel that taught me a lot it went something like this: Don't get caught up on all you read on various suspension settings but more importantly address what weaknesses if any your bike is giving you and work from there. My two sense is when I start to feel like I'm chasing my tail I either go back to my last fav settings from my notes or I go back to stock settings.
Good luck

The manual is brilliantly conflicting.
On one page it advises the range is 311-317, and confirms that there is a pin that stops over lengthening.
It also states that the groove should be visible at maximum length, but no thread between lock nut and groove.
At 317mm, there is five mm of thread between the lock nut and groove.

rikkie07 said:

Hi, RickD996, better check it because there need to be enough thread left, this is very important for safety! But I also found it strange that I extended mine with 2mm (312mm) and the groove was already visible. My data sheet is saying 310mm +4/-2mm, so I'm little confused. I didn't find info about the max. lenght (317mm) in the specs. The ratio of the linkage is approx. 2/1, so 1mm shocklenght is 2mm in the rear. For me +2mm on the shock was nearly +5mm rideheight. So going to 317mm will give you more than 15mm rideheight, is that what you were looking for? Did you change anything in the front?

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In my earlier pic, with the shock on the ground, the shock length was 315mm, as recommended in the manual for the Akrapovic exhaust. And yes, you can clearly see that the groove is well clear of the lock nut.

RickD996, You're right it's very confusing. When you take the groove as the max. extention than you 'll have eye to eye 312, maybe 313mm.
So you'll never reach 315 or more. Can someone explain this? Have you done some trackdays already with the shock at 315mm? Did you feel a differents in handling compared to the stock (312) setting. I ride a V4 base (Trackbike) and the original shock (Sachs) was at 311mm.

rikkie07 said:

RickD996, You're right it's very confusing. When you take the groove as the max. extention than you 'll have eye to eye 312, maybe 313mm.
So you'll never reach 315 or more. Can someone explain this? Have you done some trackdays already with the shock at 315mm? Did you feel a differents in handling compared to the stock (312) setting. I ride a V4 base (Trackbike) and the original shock (Sachs) was at 311mm.

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Yes, sorry mine is an R. Explains the minor differences in shock length.

Personnaly, I did feel a difference. Maybe not massive, perhaps a second a lap. Which is hard to 'feel' on a trackday, but obvs important if racing!
When I've got the bike settings spot on, it feels amazing. When out a bit, feels good/acceptable.

Yes, I've done three days on track at 315mm with approx 3mm thread showing.

I also have the forks flush with the top yoke. Preload on the forks and shock are very important too as they will affect geometry!

I didn't end up with these settings, but I started the day with them after four days on track. Only really really bad setting was +3 on swingarm pivot

Thanks for the datasheet, nice info. I assumed you had the R, here the aftermarket shock is always with hydraulic preload adjuster. The geometry setup is a little different yes. My datasheet is still 'in development'. Did you just take a picture and uploaded that? Sorry but I have no experience with uploading files here. Is there an explanation on the forum which files you can upload, I didn't find one. I have a trackday 28/05 and 4/06 , tracks are opening here, but borders still closed.

I think the shock unit length is very misleading given the eccentric hub and its effect on ride height.
My hub is 'high', which lowers the bike down as it's kind of 'hanging' down from the hub. In this instance, you'll need a longer shock to achieve the desired geometry to allow confident turn/brake/throttle.
I'll try with the hub 'low', which should theoretically mean that the rear is higher, and I'll need to shorten the shock, probably back within safer parameters.
I also want to try different amounts of fork showing through the top yoke. I currently have it flush.

RickD996 said:

I think the shock unit length is very misleading given the eccentric hub and its effect on ride height.
My hub is 'high', which lowers the bike down as it's kind of 'hanging' down from the hub. In this instance, you'll need a longer shock to achieve the desired geometry to allow confident turn/brake/throttle.
I'll try with the hub 'low', which should theoretically mean that the rear is higher, and I'll need to shorten the shock, probably back within safer parameters.
I also want to try different amounts of fork showing through the top yoke. I currently have it flush.

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For this very reason a jig exists for the 1098 and Pnigale V2's measure prior to the chain adjustment then in the case of those bikes alter the link or the shocks length to regain the origanal setting/

I should add, after further investigation, the hub on the V4 can't be rotated into the lower half of the cycle. It only moves across the top half of the hub. First time I've seen this on an eccentric hub.

Jedclampet said:

For this very reason a jig exists for the 1098 and Pnigale V2's measure prior to the chain adjustment then in the case of those bikes alter the link or the shocks length to regain the origanal setting/

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Yep, I made one for my V4, a ride height tool.

RickD996 said:

Yep, I made one for my V4, a ride height tool. View attachment 31794

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Nailed it nice job
Who makes those peg stands?

Beautiful tool, very professional. It's strange that the eccentric hub is in the upper half. I always thought the eccentric needed to be in the lower part.
In the chassisprogram motospec are the dimensions of the V4R swingarm with the eccentric in the lower part.