K-tech vs Ohlins

I get that, and completely agree. But how much difference does it really make when an AMA guy can ride a bone stock 600 from 10 years ago and be faster than pretty much all of us on fully built 1000s with Ohlins or K-tech or whatever? The point I was trying to make is that when it comes to spending a few thousand $$, it's not worth debating whether you should pick K-tech or Ohlins because the difference at our level is negligible. They're all good! Someone like Josh Hayes may disagree but that's because he's got the skill to make use of every little difference to chase tenths of a second. When someone tells me that they improved 5 whole seconds in a single day, that means they're a LONG ways to go from the lap record or professional racer times (like 20+ seconds depending on the track) and investing in the rider is more important than investing in the bike.

As I said, in my case I switched to Ohlins (setup per Dan Kyle's specs who has tons of experience with suspension and geometry settings for my bike) from the stock Showas and it made 0 difference.

Last year Jake Holden came to my local track at a track day and his bike wasn't ready so to learn the track, someone offered him his 1098R. He had never been to that track before, never ridden that bike before, the bike was definitely not set up for him (he was probably a good 40-50 lbs lighter than the bike owner), and by his 3rd or 4th full lap he was already the fastest guy out there. Then he got a different bike (also not his and not set up for him) and came within 1 second of the lap record and was by far the fastest guy out there. Hence my original question....nobody's outriding their bikes or suspension, so what difference does it make whether you get K-tech or Ohlins or just get the stock ones properly set for your weight and riding style?

 

Both brands are very good. It's more important to have a tuner to work with, to help *you* go faster and make improvements.

It's worth paying a few extra bucks to buy suspension from a non "big box" type online store and have support after the sale. Have seen it far too many times, guys finding the cheapest price, then having no idea where to go once the parts are on the bike.

 

Buy the shock from who will be tuning it.... Your gonna pay more in service if you don't and that will eat up your difference in 2 days....

 

Look up Haydem Gillams results from 2014.... He won the Championship in a Field of R6's....... To each their own but your above statement is not all true.......:thumb: Ride what you have Josh... Or get what you want... Just make sure your still having fun and not turning all of this into work... Racing or not...:cheers:

 

Look, he's single and obviously making good money. Buy what you want Josh!

 

Ha! Not even close! I just started racing this year too (also 26)...and I'm not even in good shape! ...for me the only real issue is the expense that comes with it.

I've seen guys start racing much later than that. A friend of mine is planning on starting next year and he'll be 40. Another guy I know is in his early 60s and started getting into it (though not with a sanctioned racing org, just local stuff for fun, but still...he's gridding up for 8 lap races with others that are much younger).

Yeah you won't be the next Rossi or Marquez, but at 26, you'll be among the youngest people out there I bet. Most people that are younger don't have the financial means to do this, unless they have support from their parents, or they're good enough that they get lots of sponsors and they get some money back for winning.

 

EXACTLY. I have beaten people on 1198 Ducatis with a stock engine in an RC51 when I was racing (I am not fast, they were just slower). The difference between 15th and 5th in the 600 class is not the bike. Setup does help you get confidence and consistency though. Good luck and have fun :thumb:

 

It was already said, but the ohlins 30mm carts are really easy to install. The TTX shock is very nice as well. I know most of us are not at the elite level and most won't ever be but as you get faster you will see the difference in stock suspension and aftermarket. You coming from racing cars already know that. Stock is mass produced for a wide range of options and aimed at people not racing. The nice suspension will grow with your skill set and you will learn along the way how to adjust it and use it to your advantage. That being said when I started racing Thermas Man Suspensions is who I used and did a 20mm ohlins internals in stock forks and a 2 way adjustable penske shock on a 2005 cbr600rr and was way faster than my now Ducati1198 with Uber nice Ohlins. But I am old and fat now to. Hahaha.... Have fun and good luck with the racing, those were some of the best times on the track for me and met a bunch of great people.

 

Dude, I didn't start track days until age 44, and at 48 will be racing next year... Of course at age 21 in 1989 riding a ninja 600, there were NO other options. Be very happy, this is the time of plenty. :cheers:

 

almost exactly my age group

first time on track 44, turn 48 and even being slow as fuck all I wanna race so bad I can hardly stand it. The amount of shit I am doing wrong would fill a dump truck but damn if I am not gonna go racing eventually

As for suspension, I weigh around 250 on a 600RR. Unless they were designing a sumo bike not one single engineer in all of japan had me in mind when they spec'd out the suspension. I have preload run full, so an aftermarket shock is my future whether I can out ride the factory suspension or not, 'cause I am using too much of before I even hit the magic button. ALready running heavier Ohlins springs up front.

Just for depth of the installed user base and available knowledge I'll spend on Ohlin for the rear shock and hold off on a full ohlin's front end for now