[tye1138]

The 20mm kit is just valves, the 25mm/30mm kits are complete cartridge replacements. I'd go with the cartridges, they work much better. The rear end is far more important though because its nowhere near close stock. So I'd focus on a TTX rear shock, linear link, ride height adjuster and the gearing to bring that rear eccentric all the way back. Obviously, you'd wanna do the forks and shock at the same time. But people are literally giving away 25mm cartridge kits for Showa forks today, so just dig around and you should be able to find a kit with a TTX shock and those older cartridges without any problem.

Don't forget the steering stabilizer… thats a MUST have, same with a slipper clutch.

 

[tye1138]

What I'm curious about:

How much of a difference is there between ohlins ttx + 25mm cartdridge and properly valved and sprung OEM stuff?

Yep, night and day. I've had Öhlins forks with 20mm valving and Showa forks with the 25mm cartridge kit and they blew the doors off the Öhlins 20mm FORKS! I was absolutely stunned how good the 25mm cartridge kit was. The 30mm kit is slightly better in a few ways, especially in the rebound circuit, but its not necessary. The 25mm kit is CHEAPER and its perfectly fine for mortals. Its was the "industry standard" for years.

With that being said: I got a deal on penske 20mm fork valves and a triple clicker a while back. I had run out of clicks on the fork at the track and the rear oem shock is just stupid stiff out of the factory so it was a nice upgrade. But I'm pretty sure I would not be able to tell a difference between the 8987 and a revalved OEM unit.

I'd stay away from Penske. They're not as widely used, so if you change tuners, they may not know how to tune them right. I had nothing but issues tuning my Penske stuff, even though they worked well… It was scary to not have someone who knew the stuff. Öhlins is the number one for ease of service since everyone knows how to tune them.

 

[tye1138]

As far as set up goes, my Penske feels a bit better than my non-TTX Ohlins, but I blame that on the Ohlins not having the right spring. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I use MRP to set up both bikes. At my back of the pack expert speed, they feel nearly identical.

Yea, if you own a bike which can't accept an Öhlins TTX36MKII shock, then ya the options are limited.