Öhlins Knowledge Centre - Front Suspension

Öhlins
Knowledge Centre

Öhlins Front Suspension

When you fit Öhlins suspension you fit over 40 years of World Championship-winning experience and know-how. Learn about the different types of Öhlins front suspension, from spring kits to cartridge kits and complete fork assemblies and how to adjust and maintain them.

Fork Spring Kits

A kit that upgrades the standard fork springs, complete with Öhlins top-caps, that can also incorporate spring preload adjusters. These components fit easily inside the original front forks.

Öhlins fork spring kits are the simplest, most cost effective way to improve the front-end performance of your motorcycle or scooter. The kit consists of replacement, high quality springs and Öhlins-branded fork top-caps.

The beautifully engineered top-caps often feature spring preload adjusters, which enable riders to stiffen or soften the “feeling” of the front suspension. The overall benefit of the kit is improved handling from enhanced front-end stability, especially under braking.

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Fork Cartridge Kits

A kit that not only upgrades the standard fork springs, but also provides upgraded compression and rebound damping mechanisms. These components fit easily inside the original front forks.

Öhlins fork cartridge kits go a step further, not only replacing the fork springs, but also the damping mechanism used to control the spring movement. While the cartridge design can vary depending on its intended end-use, the Öhlins-developed damping technologies fall into two main types: NIX and TTX.

NIX Technology

NIX cartridge kits are “open” cartridges, meaning they are not pressurised and the fork oil used to lubricate the internals of the fork leg are also used for damping. The NIX type of Öhlins cartridge kit is designed with the rebound damping control on the right leg and the compression damping control on the left leg.

When the fork leg compresses over a bump, the spring compresses and forces the oil to pressurise, opening the valve shims and flowing oil through the compression damping control. When the fork rebounds, the oil forces the compression shims closed and instead opens the rebound valve shims to flow back through the rebound control valve.

TTX Technology

TTX cartridge kits are “closed” cartridges, meaning they hold their own internal damping oil, spring-pressurised and separate from the fork’s lubrication oil. Pre-pressurising the oil not only prevents “cavitation”, but also enables the damping mechanism’s shims respond immediately upon fork movement, saving milliseconds of oil pressurisation to enhance suspension performance. With the oil pressurised by the spring and not gas, it also reduces the chance of leakage and so non-scheduled maintenance.

The “TT” part of “TTX” stands for Twin-Tube and describes the precision routing of the damping oil during compression and rebound phases. Instead of flowing through shim valves situated in the piston, it passes through Twin-Tubes to get to the compression valve, passing through and completing its journey to the other side of the piston. On rebound the flow reverses, passing this time through the rebound shim valve and on to the compression side of the piston. Thanks to the complex Twin-Tube design, the TTX type of Öhlins cartridge kit is able to have both compression and rebound damping adjustments on each leg.

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Front Forks

Complete front forks with either conventional or “upside-down” (USD) design, built to varying levels of specification depending on their intended use. These components replace the original front forks.

The ultimate front suspension upgrade is to replace the complete fork assembly with one of Öhlins many available options. Not only do Öhlins front forks employ the cartridge technologies explained above, but further enhance performance with precision engineered inner and outer fork bodies and sliders.

From the fine tolerances of high quality bearing surfaces to titanium nitride coated sliders and low friction seals, Öhlins forks provide immediately noticeable improvements to handling and the overall feeling of any motorcycle’s front-end.

Custom Fork Legs

Available in 43 or 48mm, conventional or USD and gold or Blackline finish, these universal front forks are intended specifically for custom builds. The NIX-type damper technology features compression damping in the left leg and rebound damping in the right leg, both with spring preload and all easily accessible at the top caps. This fork ensures great bump absorption and provides a smooth and comfortable ride and are designed with generic brake caliper and fender mountings that enable easy adaption by the bike builder.

MX & Enduro Fork legs

The Öhlins RXF 48S front fork legs are loaded with TTX damping technology and feature improved springs, seals and shim stack, with inner tubes finished with a titanium oxide treatment. A check-valve unit helps the fork stay extended without feeling too hard, improving the overall performance and front-end feeling and enabling the rider to push harder. The forks are fully adjustable in compression and rebound damping and spring preload.

Adventure Fork legs

Based on the race-proven RXF motocross fork and using the NIX 30 Adventure cartridge kit, the Öhlins Adventure fork feature gold-coloured, surface treated outer and inner low-friction tubes. They are adjustable in rebound damping on one leg, compression on the other and adjustable spring preload on both and to ensure a full 360 degree set-up, Öhlins carried out extensive testing of this fork both off-road and on the streets. The forks take all oncoming terrain in their stride, while providing grip and stability at high speeds and excellent comfort for long distance touring.

Supersport Fork legs

Packed with technical solutions developed in MotoGP and Endurance World Championship, the FGR 300 represents the pinnacle of front fork engineering. Building on the technology from the pressurised TTX 25 front fork cartridge kit, the reinforced outer tube adds stiffness to the chassis, crucial for complete high control in racing. Easily adjustable for both compression and rebound, together with a click setting function for the spring preload.

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Front Fork Fluid

Öhlins front fork fluid is specifically blended with easy air release and high resistance to foaming, essential prerequisites for high performance damping. Perfect for Öhlins front spring kits, cartridge kits and front forks, the fluid is available in the viscosities listed below.