BF_656
New Member
007, I'm happy to attempt to answer some of the point you make. I didn't realize there was a long standing debate of the Japanese-produced Öhlins products. Yamaha bought Öhlins around 1986, creating opportunities for production of product within their facilities, motorcycle and automotive.
Sometime in the 90s (roughly) some Öhlins product began being produced (in Japan) for automotive applications with unique technology like used in the Flag series and Öhlins PCV suspension. Some here might remember cobranded products for NISMO and similar.
Later, the DFV shocks began being produced in the same Yamaha facility and still do to this day. The product from that facility is used for the Öhlins Road & Track systems as well as the OE shocks on Polestar models. Other OE and AM motorcycle products are made there as well. There is Öhlins Asia location in Thailand where a lot of the 36mm shocks are manufactured for motorcycle so I guess that's where the confusion exists. There is a Taiwan location where Öhlins MTB products are manufactured. Big company with a lot of manufacturing locations.
Sweden still manufactured the TTX architecture product for automotive along with several other products and motorsport (Ferrari F1 for example!). Öhlins USA even produces the NASCAR Cup Series exclusive shocks.
What makes the DFV shock product unique is the quality construction, consistent damping adjustability, and of course, the Dual Flow Valve itself (). We can get into what unique qualities this valve produces if interested but it can "clean up" lower amplitude, higher frequency inputs and is a great tool to tune separately from the main shim stack (which we can also discuss in detail if interested).
The engineers in Sweden will develop an application (like FK8) in Sweden with extensive development time (sometimes too much time!) and tunes them for an end user who is daily driving and also going to track events. It's a challenging use case as this type of end user has such broad needs.
There are other notes you make that are roughly inaccurate, but may not really be worth clarifying further for the sake of time (or maybe I can revisit later when time allows).
I'm surprised to hear of your experience with the Öhlins products. There was definitely an issue with noise from the FK8 front struts initially due to a new, low friction strut casing bushing that, definitely reduced friction, but allowed enough "play" between the damper insert and the PTFE bushings to be heard in the cabin. The same bushings were initially used in a few BMW sets which Öhlins rectified both situations for the end users.
There was also concerns with the BMW F8X systems initially that required redesigning the system to go lower and softer in the rear. It was tuned very firm in the rear initially for great track response, but again, a trade off must be made for road and track use.
Hope this helps and clarifies. Let me know if you have a specific question or concern I can attempt to respond to!
Sometime in the 90s (roughly) some Öhlins product began being produced (in Japan) for automotive applications with unique technology like used in the Flag series and Öhlins PCV suspension. Some here might remember cobranded products for NISMO and similar.
Later, the DFV shocks began being produced in the same Yamaha facility and still do to this day. The product from that facility is used for the Öhlins Road & Track systems as well as the OE shocks on Polestar models. Other OE and AM motorcycle products are made there as well. There is Öhlins Asia location in Thailand where a lot of the 36mm shocks are manufactured for motorcycle so I guess that's where the confusion exists. There is a Taiwan location where Öhlins MTB products are manufactured. Big company with a lot of manufacturing locations.
Sweden still manufactured the TTX architecture product for automotive along with several other products and motorsport (Ferrari F1 for example!). Öhlins USA even produces the NASCAR Cup Series exclusive shocks.
What makes the DFV shock product unique is the quality construction, consistent damping adjustability, and of course, the Dual Flow Valve itself (). We can get into what unique qualities this valve produces if interested but it can "clean up" lower amplitude, higher frequency inputs and is a great tool to tune separately from the main shim stack (which we can also discuss in detail if interested).
The engineers in Sweden will develop an application (like FK8) in Sweden with extensive development time (sometimes too much time!) and tunes them for an end user who is daily driving and also going to track events. It's a challenging use case as this type of end user has such broad needs.
There are other notes you make that are roughly inaccurate, but may not really be worth clarifying further for the sake of time (or maybe I can revisit later when time allows).
I'm surprised to hear of your experience with the Öhlins products. There was definitely an issue with noise from the FK8 front struts initially due to a new, low friction strut casing bushing that, definitely reduced friction, but allowed enough "play" between the damper insert and the PTFE bushings to be heard in the cabin. The same bushings were initially used in a few BMW sets which Öhlins rectified both situations for the end users.
There was also concerns with the BMW F8X systems initially that required redesigning the system to go lower and softer in the rear. It was tuned very firm in the rear initially for great track response, but again, a trade off must be made for road and track use.
Hope this helps and clarifies. Let me know if you have a specific question or concern I can attempt to respond to!
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