which shock is best penske or ohlins for fast road riding and why cheers i hope this is the right section for this quest?

^^^^ This silver bolt should have been seating flush for a cleaner look, but Ohlins forgot to include the bolt so the suspension mechanic used one of his. Not a big deal but I may ask for the specific bolt next year when I get the rebuilt.

* Last updated by: dragking on 3/7/2012 @ 4:30 PM *

I'm going to say that Ohlins has probably better quality components but for the kind of riding we do on the 14, Penske might be a better bang for your buck. If you were doing track days on a smaller bike I would definitely recommend Ohlins over Penske. You would need track star skills to notice the difference IMHO. That being said like Dogo pointed out adjustments are easier on the Ohlins set up. You could even adjust the shock on the go, although I don't recommend it. With either brands, what you're going to notice is better handling and feedbacks. Since I have gotten the Ohlins my corner speed has been up 20 miles, I exactly know what the bike is doing etc... I use to have issue with the front a lot because I couldn't feel it and therefore was scared to give any additional imputs until I was already mid corner. At +- 240 lbs with gear on the shock just collapsed when I sat on it (although it was set pretty stiff), the bike also squatted too much upon hard accel. Another good thing about the Ohlins shock is that it allows to raise the rear of the bike which results in a lighter, faster steering and a more planted feeling. I can't wait to add the 55 rear but I digress.

Just to contradict myself, I have heard that one should be more inclined to get an Ohlins shock if riding in the street cause most tracks are really smooth (video)!!!!! I think that they are not taking weight into account, in my book, if you're over 190 lbs and pushing the bike you definitely need a suspension upgrade.

shocks

Ohlins v.s OEM

Note in the video, they're saying 20-30% improvement but I can guarantee that the Diavel suspensions are better than the zx-14's.

* Last updated by: dragking on 3/7/2012 @ 3:08 PM *