Ohlin Shocks on the LT

[piernologo]

Greetings Gang,

Any of you fine chaps out there have Ohlins on your LT? My '05 LT has 31,000 miles on it and I have been told the shocks are gone.

I just want to know if those things really transform the bike and improve 10 fold. $2,500 installed is a stiff price but my service tech says it worth every penny.

Please advise.

Thanks..........................Lets do an LT's only ride in Late August, I will post later with a route.

Piernologo.

[eljeffe]

Greetings Gang,

Any of you fine chaps out there have Ohlins on your LT? My '05 LT has 31,000 miles on it and I have been told the shocks are gone.

I just want to know if those things really transform the bike and improve 10 fold. $2,500 installed is a stiff price but my service tech says it worth every penny.

Please advise.

Ohlins are worth every penny


Thanks..........................Lets do an LT's only ride in Late August, I will post later with a route.

Piernologo.

The group has its annual reunion in late August. www.curvecowboyreunion.com

[yechave]

Out of necessity, I installed a custom set of Ohlins on our 99LT with 41k for about $1350 and a lot of time to do it. Not a terrible job if you have someone that has done it. My experience not knowing enough, it sucked. I would have had to sell the bike had I not done the repair myself.

I have about 4k miles on it now, and it rides much better than when they were new. I feel we had them set up a bit too stiff, but did so with our actual riding weight as requested, and with what Ohlin's felt is should be set for. I am at the bottom of the limits for adjustment, and it is excellent for two up (even better with luggage)....but, I would rather be in the middle of the settings and allow more cushion for solo riding.

Other than that, the improvement was absolutely necessary, and I learned a lot about the bike in the process.

What I do not know, is how good factory shocks are in new condition compared to the Ohlins.

[hschisler]

I had new Ohlins put on my '05 LT in May, after 50k + miles on the bike. The original shocks were done way, way before that. The day I picked the bike up was an epiphany. To say it was like riding a new bike would be an understatement.

I paid $1300 and change for the shocks, and $75 to have them installed at a BMW dealership. They already had the bike torn apart for a clutch replacement so they didn't charge much additional labor for the shock installs. Your $2500 quote sounds way too much, unless you have some superior model of Ohlins being installed.

[dshealey]

As others have already stated, the Ohlins shocks transform the bike in a pretty remarkable way. Even better, when they start getting spongy at about 30K, they are completely rebuildable, at about $100 per shock, so over a long time they are quite reasonable. Actually they often will only require a nitrogen gas recharge, about $15-25 at a shop that works on them.


Your quoted price of $2500 is too high though! Should be around $12-1400 for the shocks, about 3 hours labor. Many of us have done these ourselves, not a terribly difficult task, many posts here over the years explaining it. I have done it 3 times myself. The rear one is quite easy, the front a little more involved.

[pkpr1998]

I think that some of you haven't priced Ohlins in a while!

Now I am sure that I didn't get rock bottom pricing here, but after my dealership had the mods made with my riding style, weight, inseam and 1-up-2-up deal, I had 2K in the shocks!

The bike was down for the 48K service and they were replacing the left side of the bike (due to wreck) so I don't think I had much in the shock install.

I only have about 400 miles on the bike since the install and have not had a chance to carve the curves yet, but so far she rides pretty darn good!

[hschisler]

I think that some of you haven't priced Ohlins in a while!

Now I am sure that I didn't get rock bottom pricing here, but after my dealership had the mods made with my riding style, weight, inseam and 1-up-2-up deal, I had 2K in the shocks!...Hey Brett,

I ordered my shocks just 3 months ago, set up to haul me and my wife, as you describe; they were installed a couple of weeks later, so the price I paid ($1300+) is a current price. Jim Sciullo paid the same thing just a couple of weeks earlier. We both bought from Kyle Racing.

Maybe shocks for vertically-challenged riders cost more? I dunno... :D

[Sunderland]

A quick google search finds one place to get Ohlins for the LT at about $1300.00

http://www.oppracing.com/products/199-ohlins-shocks-bmw/

So your dealer "only" wants well over $1000.00 for the install. I'm sure you can find a do-it-yourself LT owner who would be happy to do the job for half price. :)

[pkpr1998]

Hey Brett,

I ordered my shocks just 3 months ago, set up to haul me and my wife, as you describe; they were installed a couple of weeks later, so the price I paid ($1300+) is a current price. Jim Sciullo paid the same thing just a couple of weeks earlier. We both bought from Kyle Racing.

Maybe shocks for vertically-challenged riders cost more? I dunno... :D

Everything is more for us short folks! :D

[dmatson]

I paid $1200 for mine but then again I put them on. They tighten the bike up and make it more planted in turns, no more scrapping on speed bumps.

[meese]

I just want to know if those things really transform the bike and improve 10 fold.Yes, they really do.

But buy them online as mentioned here for a lot less. Then we'll set up a SoCal tech session for the install. Then you can donate some of the $$ you saved to support this site. Everybody wins. :D

[davealan]

That OPP Racing link now quotes them at $1600+ for the pair and doesn't include shipping etc.
the Kyle Racing site has Ohlins for $800 to $1200 each but I didn't see the model for K12LT, I think they call it something else.
Either way, looks like the price has gone up...
worth it, though! I put a set on my 2000 LT years ago after a little over 20K miles and it helped tremendously.

[tomandmelanie]

I put a pair of Ohlins on two years ago. It's a much better bike with Ohlins, I would sell the bike before I went back to stock. I seem to remember paying about $1000 from 1888FASTLAP.com. You'll have to call them to get a quote.

[LT_Pilot]

2001 LT w/94K miles on it.
Second set of Ohlins on the rear.
First set of Ohlins on front.
Better than new.
Handles great.
Sits a little taller than stock, though.
Side stand is a little short and sometimes needs a puck underneath it.
No regrets.

[ldbikin]

I had ohlins installed at the 24k service in detroit a few years ago (02 LTC) by the dealer, about 1400 bucks.

Just before my trip to MI/MN a few weeks ago from phoenix, I had the ohlins rebuilt, they were flat. The dealer did all the work (plus markups of course), daym! it was about 1200 bucks, prices have gone up a lot.

The rebuild shop asked them why they would get the shocks rebuilt...after telling them there was about 85k miles on the shocks, the shop said "oh".

Man o man, i think they are even better now than the first time but I also had the forks rebuilt. That bill really hurt (3 grand) but it included the 110k service as well, the big 'un. The bike in general ran better than new after this service.

I just had them installed on my K1200S (06) this summer (OEMs had 44k on them)...all I can say is wow, I'm glad I didn't have ESA, these are all I need, handling is unreal. Now THOSE were expensive (dealer installed) at about 2600 bucks...ouch.

If you ride long and hard or 2-up or loaded...hell, if you ride period, ohlins are the way to go when its time to replace the OEMs (my LTC OEMs were shot at well under 20k miles).

[cfell]

Doggoneit... I need a "farkle/maintenance support" job.

[meese]

Doggoneit... I need a "farkle/maintenance support" job.Wow, you must be a real maverick - a member of the clergy without any money. :rotf:

[cfell]

hmmm never thought about it like that... thanks, Ken.. there may be a Homily in there...