Ohlins FG 012 User Manual

Owners manual

Öhlins motocross front forks FG 012 GasGas

Including:

Setting up your bike

Fine-tuning

Service the fork

General handling set-up

Technical info

Spare parts & tools

Safety signals

Important information concerning safety is distinguished in this manual by the following notations:

The Safety alert symbol means:

Caution! Your safety is involved.

WARNING!

Failure to follow warning instructions could result in severe or fatal injury to anyone working with, inspecting or using the suspension, or to bystanders.

CAUTION!

Caution indicates that special precautions must be taken to avoid damage to the suspension.

NOTE!

This indicates information that is of importance with regard to procedures.

Öhlins motocross

front fork FG 012 GasGas

Before installation

Öhlins Racing AB can not be held responsible for any damage whatsoever to shock absorber or vehicle, or injury to persons, if the instructions for fitting and maintenance are not followed exactly. Similarly, the warranty will become null and void if the instructions are not adhered to.

WARNING!

1. Installing a front fork, that is not approved by the vehicle manufacturer, may affect the stability of your vehicle. Öhlins Racing AB cannot be held responsible for any personal injury or damage whatsoever that may occur after fitting the front fork. Contact an Öhlins dealer or other qualified person for advice.

2. Please study and make certain that you fully understand all the mounting instructions and the owners manuals before handling this front fork kit. If you have any questions regarding proper installation procedures, contact an Öhlins dealer or other qualified person.

3. The vehicle service manual must be referred to when installing the Öhlins front fork.

Contents

Safety signals ............................. 2

Introduction................................ 3

Design ....................................... 3

Before you start ......................... 3

Marking...................................... 3

Recommended settings ............. 3

Mounting instructions ................. 4

Setting up the bike ..................... 4

Checking front sag ..................... 4

Checking rear sag ...................... 4

Checking front ride height .......... 5

Checking rear ride height ........... 5

Fine-tuning the bike ................... 5

Making adjustments ................... 6

Oil level adjustment .................... 6

Maintenance .............................. 6

General handling set-up ............. 7

Preload adjustment .................... 8

Changing springs ....................... 9

Dismantling the front fork ......... 10

Assembly of the front fork ........ 11

Service tools ............................ 13

Technical specifications ............ 13

Spare parts .............................. 14

Any reprinting or unauthorized use

without the written permission of

Öhlins Racing AB is prohibited.

Printed in Sweden.

Öhlins products are subject to continual improvement and development. Consequently, although these instructions include the most up-todate information available at the time of printing, there may be minor differences between your suspension and this manual. Please consult your Öhlins dealer if you have any questions with regard to the contents of the manual.

NOTE!

During storage and transportation, especially at high ambient temperature, the oil and grease used for assembling may run out inside the packing and damage the expanded polystyrene packing material. This is not unusual and is in no way detrimental to the shock absorber.

Introduction

Öhlins Racing congratulates you on your choice of front fork for your motocross bike.

All Öhlins products are designed with just one aim; to win races. To design a winner you need a concept starting with a unique know-how. You add engineering skill, precision and the best material available. The result is quality, endurance and winning performance.

Your new Öhlins front fork is developed from experience gained during years of successful cooperation with the World Championship winning works motocross teams.

Spring rates and damping forces are developed just for your bike. The design and the settings are consequently the results of extensive testing and no guesswork!

Öhlins shock absorbers and front forks have dominated the motorcycle scene for several years and have captured more World Championship titles than any other brand, over 80 titles!

A well equipped network of authorised Öhlins service centres around the world, with specially trained mechanics, can help you with personally tuned settings, service, repairs and spare parts.

Design

Öhlins new up-side-down (USD) front fork is designed to combine the advantages of comfortable, 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 when “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 legs also feature a completely new bushing design with fixed and one sliding bushing.

The new USD fork features the Öhlins championship winning cartridge damping system.

The fork is fully adjustable with external adjuster for compressionand rebound damping.

The compression adjuster is lo-

cated at the bottom of the fork leg, fig 1, the rebound adjuster at the top, fig 2.

Spring preload is adjusted with washers, fig 3, and optional springs are available to suit different tracks and riders.

In the legs there are also “airsprings“ (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.

Your Öhlins front fork has the following marking:

FG 012 GasGas

Recommended settings

The front fork in your kit is adjusted to the Öhlins recommended setting for your bike, see “Making adjustments“. We advise you to use this as your start setting.

Mounting instructions

WARNING

1. It is advisable to have an Öhlins dealer or a qualified mechanic to fit your front fork kit.

2. To install the kit you need your motorcycle’s work shop manual.

3. When working on your motorcycle, support it securely so it does not fall over.

The Öhlins front fork is designed to fit your bike’s standard triple clamps and to use the standard brake components and wheel.

Put your bike on a stand and remove the front wheel, the front brake components and the fork legs from the bike according to the work shop manual.

CAUTION!

1. The outer legs, both left and right, should be adjusted evenly in the fork crown.

2. The Öhlins fork legs feature grooves on top of the outer fork legs to make adjustment of the fork height easier. The distance between the grooves is 4 mm.

Fit the Öhlins front fork legs. For recommended front fork mounting height see mounting instruction.

Fit the brake components and the front wheel according to the work shop manual.

Tighten all screws. For maximum torque, please see your bike’s work shop manual.

Compression adjuster

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

Rebound adjuster

2. The rebound adjuster at the top of the fork leg.

Preload adjustment

3. Spring preload is adjusted with washers and optional springs are available.

Setting up the bike

We would like to give you some basic guidelines how to set up your bike with your new Öhlins front fork.

However, remember that the front fork is just one part of your motorcycle and to get the fork to work properly the whole motorcycle has to be set up according to standards.

Please follow the instructions below, see also your bike’s work shop manual.

Your new front fork is dialled-in to the Öhlins recommended settings for your bike. The same goes for the rear shock absorber if you are using an Öhlins unit.

All settings are based on a bike and a rider of normal weight.

Depending on your own and your bike’s actual weight minor differences, between the Öhlins recommended settings and the settings you achieve, may occur. Therefore, it is always wise to start the setting up by checking!

The sag effects not just only the suspension but also the rake of the front fork and therefore the overall behaviour of the bike.

Checking front static sag

Put your bike on a stand. Arrange the stand so that the front wheel is off the ground and the front fork fully extended.

Measure the distance between the upper fork crown and the front wheel axle, fig 4 distance A. Make a note of the measurement.

Remove the stand. With the wheels on the ground measure the distance again, fig 4 distance B. The difference of the two measurements is the static sag.

The static sag should be 30 ± 10 mm.

If the static sag is less than 20 mm, you need to reduce spring preload. If the static sag is more than 40 mm, you need to increase spring preload.

Spring preload is adjusted with spacers, see “Preload adjustment“ on page 8. Maximum allowed spring preload is 13 mm. If you need to preload the springs more than 13 mm, we recommend you to change to a “stiffer“ spring.

Checking rear static sag

Put your bike on a stand. Arrange the stand so that the rear wheel is off the ground and the rear suspension fully extended.

Measure the distance between the rear wheel axle and a point near the rear end of the seat, for example a seat bolt, fig 4 distance A. Make a note of the measurement.

Remove the stand. With the wheels on the ground measure the distance again, fig 4 distance B. The difference of the two measurements is the static sag.

NOTE!

Refer to mounting instruction for more specific set-up data.

The static sag should be 45 ±10 mm.

If the static sag is less than 35 mm, you need to reduce spring preload. If the static sag is more than 55 mm, you need to increase spring preload.

Adjust the spring preload according to your rear shock mounting instruction.

Setting up the bike

4. Checking sag and ride height.

Front sag: A - B = 30 ± 10 mm.

Front ride height: A - C = 50 ± 10 mm.

Rear sag: A - B = 35 ±10 mm.

Rear ride height: A - C = 100 ± 10 mm.

A: Fully extended.

B: On the ground.

C: Rider on.

A: Fully extended.

B: On the ground.

C: Rider on.

Checking front ride height

Put your bike on a stand. Arrange the stand so that the front wheel is off the ground and the front fork fully extended. Measure the distance between the upper fork crown and the front wheel axle, fig 4 distance A. Make a note of the measurement.

Race dressed sit on the bike, straight above the foot pegs, with the feet barely touching the ground. Have somebody to measure between the same point as before, fig 4 distance C.

The difference of the two measurements should be 50 ± 10 mm.

CAUTION!

Do not try to alter ride height by altering the spring preload. New springs are needed.

If you need to change the springs, see “Changing springs“ on page 9.

Stiffer springs are needed if the difference is more than 60 mm. Softer springs if the difference is less than 40 mm. Consult your Öhlins dealer for the right rate.

Checking rear ride height

Put your bike on a stand. Arrange the stand so that the rear wheel is off the

ground and the rear suspension fully extended. Measure the distance between the rear wheel axle and a point near the rear end of the seat, for example a seat bolt, fig 4 distance A. Make a note of the measurement.

Race dressed sit on the bike, straight above the foot pegs, with the feet barely touching the ground. Have somebody to measure between the same point as before, fig 4 distance C.

The difference of the two measurements should be 115 ± 10 mm.

CAUTION!

Do not try to alter ride height by altering the spring preload. A new spring is needed.

A stiffer spring is needed if the difference is more than 110 mm. A softer spring if the difference is less than 90 mm. Consult your Öhlins dealer for a spring of the right rate.

Should you still experience excessive bottoming or that the bike feels much to stiff and suspension travel is not fully used, harder/softer than normal springs may be needed for the track you are testing on. Consult your Öhlins dealer for advice!

Fine-tuning the bike

Learning how to use the adjusters will take time but you quickly appreciate them once you know the tricks. Even

the specialists sometimes need a specialist!

With the adjusters you optimize the suspension for your riding style and the track you are competing on.

The same basic guide lines goes for both the front fork and the rear shock absorber.

Too much compression damping will give you a harsh ride as your bike “jumps“ along the track.

With too much rebound damping your bike will have difficulties with several bumps in a row. The suspension will not extend fast enough between bumps, your bike will ride lower and lower and eventually the suspension will bottom!

External adjusters

On the Öhlins front fork the adjusters are bleed valves, totally separated from each other.

The compression bleed valve controls the flow in the cartridge tube during the compression stroke, the rebound bleed valve the flow during the rebound stroke.

CAUTION!

Using too much force when closing the adjusters will destroy important sealing surfaces.

Both the adjusters have a normal righthand thread.

Click position zero (0) is when the adjusters are turned clockwise to fully closed. The adjustment range, from fully closed until maximum open valve (anticlockwise), is 20 clicks. In order not to click in the wrong direction; always first close the adjuster, then dial-in the new setting.

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