Forks With Ohlins Valves Vs. Ak-20S

FPK = Fork Piston Kit

Replaces the rebound and compression valves and shims in each fork.

 

Bingo.

Yes, I'd take Ohlins cartridges over Traxxion, but not Ohlins FPK over Traxxion cartridges.

 

Yep not a cartridge and still a toss up , flip a coin spend some money (either way) and get them done by someone that knows what they are doin ....

Ridden both liked both and disliked both (on different bikes)

THIS guy is going from stock stuff to good stuff BOTH will work perfectly fine and will for most "mortals"


If we were talking 25-30mm carts. then they would be far superior to the ak20s

 

Far superior? In what way?

 

Bad choice of words ... I forgot it was "vastly" and forgot the """"" marks and the smartass smiley


AND cause they're 25-30 mm YO !!!

EVEN tho I'm a little faster now then on my last set of ohlins 20mm FPK the "feel" isn't there or maybe its that there's to much there now with my 25mm carts.

 

You're comparing the feel of the Ohlins FPK to the feel of the AK20s? Or are you just assuming they are the same because they both use (very different) 20MM pistons?

Because they aren't the same thing. Not even close.

And if bigger was better, there wouldn't have been so many racers out there that preferred the 25 Ohlins carts to the 30 Ohlins carts. Oh, and Showa uses a 36MM piston in the OEM BPF. Those must be awesome.

 

I will say this about comparing the AK20 carts and the Ohlins ones, at least in my experience. The AK20 carts keep your oil alot cleaner than Ohlins carts do. I pulled oil from my Ohlins 25mm forks on my 600 after about a 1/2 season's worth of riding and the oil was quite visibly dirty. I pulled the oil from my 1000's forks with AK20s with a full season of TDs and it looked like it was nearly unused. Traxxion hard anodizes the internal components on the AK20s, seems like it helps with oil contamination.

 

Having everything coated is certainly nice. And, yeah, it does keep the fluid a lot cleaner.

 

Nope , the "feel" is never the same with anything , not assuming anything because they're both 20mm pistons , I know the ak is a cartridge and the fpk isn't ....

 

I'd like to hear more about this?

 

First set I ever seen right after they first came out (what like 04-05 ? Can't remember) with about half a season on them were just horribly worn lots of slop in the cartridge from just "use" it didn't look to have a coating that wore off just looked like bare aluminum and the oil was beyond trashed ... If they are now coated then the problem is probably fixed , like I said I haven't seen a set in years . If I remember right they actually gave him a new set to replace them with

My last bike came with a set rode it a few times couldn't come to grips with them and offed them for the oh 25mm kit since I had such good luck with oh before

 

Maybe your last post has me confused. First you said the Ohlins carts were "far superior" to the AK20s and then you revised that and said they were "vastly superior".

Then it seems like you compared the FPKs to the Ohlins carts. I'm just not sure where you expanded on your point about them being superior to the AK20s.

I service and build close to 200 sets of forks a year. I don't think I've ever seen the coating come off of an AK20 or anything like what you described. Maybe I just haven't seen it yet.

 

I've probably only been inside 35-40 sets of AK-20's (not hundreds like above)and have never seen that kind of wear either.

 

You do way more then me I just know what I seen , maybe it was a bad set maybe it was "one of the firsts ever" I don't know ... But there was no coating on anything and yes I'm 100% sure it was a ak20 kit ,

I was being sarcastic on the 25-30 kit being far or vastly superior then anything because like I said to start with THEY all work fine if they are set up correctly I don't think any cartridge is far or vastly superior to any good 20mm kit . At least not to 90% of the motorcycle population now if you bring "the talented ones" into the equation ya they make a difference but to the average club racer/track day guy not really other then the mental aspect of it

Just a miscommunication via the internet lol

 

Yeah, maybe just internet confusion.

Things like that confuse me. It seems like you're grouping 20MM revalve kits and AK20s together just because of the piston size. Because I do think that a full cartridge (AK20, Ohlins 25, Ohlins 30, etc ...) is superior to a 20MM OEM cartridge that has been revalved; even if it's with a good revalve kit.

However, while the vast majority of racers and track day riders out there might be able to tell the difference in feel between an OEM cartridge that's been revalved and a full drop in, in most cases, a properly built 20MM revalve is more than enough to do the job.

But, like your sig says, opinions will vary.

Personally, I really like the feel and versatility of the AK20s. I tried a lot of different front ends on my personal race bike and that's what I went with.

 

Ya they are "better" for sure but how much better and to who it all depends on the rider and set up . If they weren't better then nobody would spend the $ on them , every kit or valving I have ever ridden "feels" different ... We all know someone with a ton of $ in their bike with "the best of everything" and give another person a stock bike to beat them with , everything is relative to the situation

I know the AK20 kit is a cart. Kit I'm not confused as to what they are vs a valve Kit

It's all good , I don't mess with them nearly as much as you and only do refresh and inspection . I don't mess with shim stacks , because I don't know the first thing about changing one or why lol but have installed a few "kits" and carts per instructions

 

Right on. Just wanted to be clear for anyone else reading this.

No reason for it to get out of control or anything. I mean, it's not like it's an oil thread.

 

I guess it comes down to ... The AK20 or a 25-30mm Kit or a 20mm valve Kit still won't make up for a loss of talent and seat time

 

Or the famous Max (Traxxion) vs Dan (Ohlins) debate thread


http://www.1000rr.net/forums/showthread.php?t=17093&pp=10

 

If you want a real poop slinging contest, get EDR and Dan in the same forum. :laughing